Shannon has always considered herself a “good sleeper.” She’s rarely had trouble falling or staying asleep, but in recent years that’s all changed. In fact, she’s been known to joke that if she could, she would completely skip the time period from 11pm to 7am. She’s chalked it up to a natural part of aging, but that’s not necessarily accurate. There are many physical and mental causes of insomnia, and many of them can be addressed and remedied with the help of an experienced counselor in Marietta.
Counseling for Insomnia in Marietta
Insomnia is a common, albeit unpleasant, sleep disorder. Insomnia can make it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, or sleep long enough. If you begin experiencing insomnia, seeing a therapist is actually one of the first logical steps to take. A qualified counselor will help you identify and change any beliefs that may be impacting your ability to sleep (Mayo Clinic). For example, if you think you can’t go to sleep before midnight, the very belief may be affecting your ability to go to sleep before that time.
It is easy to feel all alone when you are struggling with insomnia. Even if you sleep in the same bed as a partner, that person is likely fast asleep while you are staring at the ceiling trying to find a way to fall asleep. The feelings that come along with a lack of sleep are difficult enough to deal with on their own – you don’t need to add loneliness to the situation. With that in mind, talking to an insomnia counselor may be just the thing you need to correct the issue and get back to sleep successfully.
As someone who fights some degree of insomnia, you probably don’t need to be reminded of how many side effects can be experienced when sleep is at a minimum. Do the points on the list below look familiar?
- Irritability
- Inability to focus on basic tasks
- Weight gain
- Impatience
- Drowsiness in the middle of the day
You may be suffering from those side effects and more if you are having trouble getting a good night’s sleep. It’s hard to enjoy your day-to-day life without getting enough sleep to function properly, so you should be looking for a solution to your insomnia problem as soon as possible.
One potential solution is the insomnia counseling that we offer here in Marietta. Our qualified counselors in Marietta will be happy to take the time to learn about your specific case, and they can then offer their suggestions for helping you sleep once again. There are no guarantees that therapy is going to be the right treatment to get you back to sleep, but it is a great place to start. Rather than feeling like you are all alone in the world when it comes to dealing with insomnia, you can have a qualified and experienced counselor on your side.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Addressing Insomnia
In order to change your sleep patterns, you’ll have to make some changes while awake. A night of sleeplessness is one thing, but multiple nights over time can reinforce the belief that you “just don’t sleep well.” By making changes to your behavior, you’ll retrain your subconscious out of that negative belief and improve your sleep patterns.
We’ll also talk with you to determine if there’s something deeper going on. For example, insomnia is often linked to anxiety. You may not think of yourself as an anxious person, but it’s entirely possible that your difficulty sleeping is related to some unrecognized stress and anxiety. We’ll help you determine the root cause of your insomnia, whatever it is, in order to create a plan to restore your healthy sleep patterns.
Some techniques include (Mayo Clinic):
- Setting a consistent bedtime and wake time. Going to bed at the same time each night gets your body in the habit of falling asleep at the same time every day. The same applies to setting the alarm for the same time daily, even on weekends.
- Sleep restriction: it may sound odd, but by restricting the time you spend in bed, you’ll actually become extra tired, which will make sleeping the next night easier. After your sleep patterns improve, the time spent in bed will be gradually increased.
- Caffeine and alcohol reduction. Removing the stimulus that is caffeine may seem like an obvious step to take, but alcohol, despite being a depressant, actually leads to more disruptive sleep (Mann).
- Increased exercise.
- Adjusting your sleep environment. Ideally, your bedroom should be dark and cool, without a television.
- Relaxation techniques, including meditation.
As with therapy for any other disorder, counseling for insomnia is not an instant fix. But, with consistent effort, it is possible to see significant improvement.
Thriveworks Marietta Counseling for Insomnia
Being chronically tired from insomnia is exhausting and stressful. Thriveworks Marietta counselors have successfully helped many patients overcome insomnia and all its side effects, and we want to help you too. Learning more about our therapy services is as simple as picking up the phone and giving us a call. Once you decide to take that step, we will be happy to speak with you regarding your treatment options, and we can explain more about exactly what it is that insomnia counseling can do. Thank you for your time, and we hope to work with you soon.
Further Reading
Mann, Denise. “Alcohol and a Good Night’s Sleep Don’t Mix.” January 2013. WebMd.com.
Mayo Clinic. “Insomnia treatment: Cognitive behavioral therapy instead of sleeping pills.” Mayoclinic.org.
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