Insomnia Coach® Podcast

Michelle spent 15 years researching sleep and trying different things to overcome her insomnia. However, the more she tried to control her sleep, the more it controlled her. Eventually, she realized that the sleep-related thoughts and behaviors she developed were only making the problem worse.

In this episode, Michelle shares the techniques that helped her overcome insomnia, including modifying behavioral techniques like sleep restriction and stimulus control to better suit her needs. She also talks about the difficulties she faced when changing her sleep habits, as well as the long-term benefits of abandoning all efforts to control sleep.

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Jennifer struggled with insomnia and felt discouraged after working with a sleep coach for four weeks with no improvement in her sleep. However, she did not give up and persevered with implementing techniques to build sleep drive, strengthen her body clock, and lower her arousal. Although she still found it challenging to fall back to sleep when waking up at night, Jennifer noticed that she was experiencing less daytime fatigue and her sleep was improving.

Throughout her journey, Jennifer changed her response to sleep-related thoughts and behaviors, which not only helped her sleep but also improved her quality of life. In this episode, she shares how she coped with setbacks by focusing on the process instead of progress and how she stopped striving for sleep, putting effort into sleep, and worrying about sleep.

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Jessica faced challenges with sleep after moving back to her hometown with her family. She tried different techniques and supplements to improve her sleep but found herself becoming increasingly obsessed with it when nothing worked. This was especially concerning as she was a stay-at-home mom with two small children. Jessica started to lose hope until she learned about the common thoughts and behaviors that perpetuate sleep disruption. This realization gave her hope to explore and challenge her beliefs about sleep while adopting behaviors that build sleep drive, strengthen the body clock, and reduce sleep-related anxiety.

As Jessica challenged her sleep-related thoughts and implemented helpful behaviors, she no longer thought about sleep as often, and it no longer controlled her life. She was able to do things she had put off due to concerns about how they might affect her sleep, which gave her a whole new perspective on life. She wants to encourage others who are struggling with sleep to challenge their beliefs about sleep and implement helpful sleep-related behaviors to improve their sleep and overall quality of life.

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Anafer struggled with insomnia her entire life, believing that she was born with it. Despite her health-conscious lifestyle, her sleep problems persisted, leading her to years of research and experiments. Unfortunately, these efforts proved futile.

Determined to address her sleep issues before starting her career in dietetics, Anafer came across my online coaching course. In this episode, Anafer shares her journey of ups and downs and the transformation she experienced as a result of addressing her sleep problems in a more workable way.

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Dr. Mendelson is a highly respected figure in the field of sleep research and medicine, with expertise in psychiatry and sleep medicine. He is renowned for his extensive research into sleeping pills and their properties, as well as the impact of medication on sleep.

During this episode, Dr. Mendelson provides insight into the history of sleeping pills, sharing how they work and outlining the potential risks associated with their use. Additionally, we delve into over-the-counter sleeping pills and supplements and explore a safer alternative to sleeping pills for chronic insomnia – cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), the recommended first-line treatment backed by evidence.

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For 60 years, Sally suffered from insomnia and relied on sleeping pills for a decade. She felt hopeless that she would ever have a restful night’s sleep. However, everything changed when Sally changed her approach and her response to insomnia.

Before making any changes, Sally only slept for about three hours a night. But now, she consistently gets around seven hours of sleep each night and rarely thinks about sleep. In this episode, Sally shares her journey towards better sleep after struggling with insomnia for so long. Her experience serves as a testament that it’s possible to overcome sleep issues and live a better life.

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Rick’s insomnia started in 2017 after retiring, leaving him waking up during the night and struggling to fall back asleep. The anxiety he felt every time he woke up made him worry about the next day, causing him to cancel social events and make other lifestyle changes to improve his sleep. He tried a variety of pills and supplements but none helped.

Luckily, Rick found evidence-based cognitive and behavioral techniques that changed the way he viewed sleep and implemented behaviors that improved his sleep in the long term. Over time, he began sleeping better without taking any pills or supplements. In this episode, Rick shares his techniques for improving his relationship with sleep, with the hope of helping others who suffer from insomnia.

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Anna had been experiencing short episodes of insomnia for five years, but when her mother fell ill and required surgery, Anna’s sleep problems worsened. She found it difficult to fall asleep and even after her mother recovered, Anna’s sleep issues persisted. Over the next two years, Anna tried various methods to improve her sleep, such as sleeping pills, supplements, relaxation techniques, light-blocking glasses, sound machines, and weighted blankets, but nothing seemed to work. Her ongoing worry and research about sleep only added to her stress.

In this episode, Anna shares her journey towards improving her sleep and provides insight into how she coped with setbacks along the way. Her experience shows that there is hope for those who struggle with insomnia, and that evidence-based techniques can be an effective way to improve sleep.

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Gretchen is a pediatrician and the mother of three children. Her sleep was regularly disrupted as she worked shifts during college and was on call during her pediatric residency.

After having children and then entering early menopause, Gretchen started to spend hours awake during the night. This led to sleep-related worry and anxiety that combined with work stress to make sleep more frustrating and more difficult.

In this episode, Gretchen talks about how changing the way she thinks about sleep and implementing constructive sleep-related behaviors helped her improve her sleep significantly — and how setbacks along the way didn’t lead to insomnia working its way back into her life. Gretchen went from believing she was the world’s worst sleeper to looking forward to going to bed at night! Gretchen did it — and you can, too!

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Dave often experienced difficulties falling asleep and staying asleep and this became more of a problem once he became a father. After an overseas trip, Dave’s sleep really took a turn for the worse — not only did he find it hard to fall asleep, he would also wake around 3:00 AM and find it very difficult (if not impossible) to fall back to sleep.

Fortunately, Dave found out about sleep restriction — a core component of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). In this episode, Dave shares his transformation and explains how sleep restriction improved his sleep and why consistency and persistence are so important if you want to enjoy better sleep for the long term.

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