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Cognitive Hypnotherapy for Insomnia and Sleeping Problems
A complete treatment programme for insomnia.
Perhaps the most simple and obvious cause of insomnia is excess muscular tension and anxiety over sleeping.
Excess tension in the skeletal muscles increases the amount of activity across the whole nervous system - including the amount and "speed" or "volume" of our thinking. By learning how to relax the muscles directly and deeply - and retraining our body to a more relaxed state we can fall asleep quickly, stay asleep and awake refreshed.
By learning Tension Release Breathing (a rapid relaxation technique I developed based on the work of Dr. Edmund Jacobson) and self-hypnosis, clients are able to naturally and easily fall asleep as nature intended.
Insomnia ranges from a short term acute insomnia to long term chronic insomnia combined with obsessive rumination over sleep and sleep quality.
In some cases with two or three sessions the problem is solved and natural sleep response is restored.
More chronic cases should plan on six sessions.
Treatment Programme for Insomnia
Treatment programmes vary according the level and duration of the problem - however they typically involve:
i) Keeping a sleep diary. How long were you actually asleep?
ii) Learning rapid deep relaxation techniques
to lower stress, anxiety, agitation and muscular tension.
iii) Learning hypnosis and self-hypnosis to increase relaxation and build confidence (relaxation and confidence go hand-in-hand).
iv) Identifying and challenging negative beliefs about sleep.
v) Replacing negative beliefs with positive beliefs about sleep (using hypnosis).
vi) Sleep hygiene: avoiding stimulants in the evening (caffiene or psychological stimulants), lowering noise levels, lowering light levels, no activity apart from sleep or sex in the bedroom.
vii) Hypnotic suggestions for easier, deeper sleep.
viii) Stimulus Control: breaking/removing any negative associations between the bed/bedroom/going to bed and insomnia. Conditioning positive experiences about the bed/bedroom.
Additional elements may be introduced for those with more chronic issues.
Get help now for insomnia with a certified hypnotherapist
- with clinics in Central and North London.
Call now on 0800 8600 698
Or contact Mark by email here:
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In a Swedish study, 22 insomniacs were taught Edmund Jacobsons's progressive muscle relaxation: 82% reported a significant improvement in their symptoms. This was still evident a year later. In a 1999 study, 80% of people who learned a relaxation technique were able to drop their sleeping tablets.
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