A third of French people would suffer from sleep disorders, mainly insomnia. Behavioral and cognitive therapies can help regain sleep. How to do it? Who are they indicated?
THE Behavioral and cognitive therapies (TTC) make it possible to tackle the causes of insomnia And even to make sleep disorders disappear. “”This therapy will offer a speech space where the patient will be able to freely express himself on his discomfort and try to adopt the right behavior in front of his insomnia“, Specifies the psychotherapist Elise Dell’amore. How Is a session going? For whom?
How to choose therapy to fight insomnia?
Insomnia is a statement state that appears during the night. This is a Symptom assimilated to anxiety Or a state of insecurity, which expresses something that cannot be said otherwise, and which goes in the direction of a disruption of the biological rhythm night/day. “”Insomnia problems are often related to an anxiety of separating from the surrounding world Or find yourself facing yourself. Insomnia can also express the fear of death, explains the psychotherapist. The different approaches to treat sleep disorders (medical, biological, psychoanalytic) aim to understand as best as possible the physiological or somatic origins of insomnia“, She continues. You should know that insomnia can be common to multiple pathologies. “We must first spot the source of insomnia, see how it manifests itself, Then how it translates. Before heading to a type of therapy, we cannot therefore do the economy of the biological approach, nor the psychological approach“says the expert. While some will prefer a psychosomatic approach (biological + psychological), “Others will go to TTC which are rather based on the manifestation of the symptom and visible behaviors, without taking into account the unconscious root of insomnia“, She adds.
How does behavioral and cognitive therapy treat insomnia?
“”During the first consultation, the psychotherapist performs a prior interview intended to identify the origin of insomnia to verify that it is not a deeper disorder or trauma calling for a care of another nature“, explains Elise Dell’amore. In a TTC, there are two aspects: behavioral angle and cognitive angle. With the support of the therapist, the patient will hold a sleep book which will allow, after one or two weeks, to see the evolution the duration of sleep and to estimate an average of hours of sleep. “”The sleep book is used to become aware of his insomnia, and will allow the patient to be the most possible actor of his symptom. It plays on his motivation to continue his efforts as part of the TTC“, Specifies the psychotherapist. The cognitive angle is concentrated on the intellectual aspect of the disorder. By means of a questionnaire, the therapist will redefine a real definition of sleep, which will allow to alleviate the anxieties of the insomniac due to the daily fear of not being able to sleep. are understood to be a short duration : we usually recommend to perform A cure of around twenty sessionswith one or two sessions of 45 minutes a week. “”What makes attraction in this type of therapy is that it is a protocol that goes in the direction of treating a pathology in a few months, after a number of sessions defined in advance“Adds the expert.
Is behavioral therapy compatible with sleeping pounds?
Sleeping is taking medication help momentary which will act on the biological aspect of the disorder but which does not prevent doing a psychic work in parallel. Note that a brutal sleeping of sleeping pills would be harmful For the insomniac, both on the psychological and biological side. Indeed, “There is always a protocol to follow to stop treatment, as for anti-depressants. However, The sleeping pounding is quite possible with the fact of following a TTC : The insomniac will thus benefit from two aids in parallel, somatic and biological, until the mental aid takes over on drug aid. If psychic work is sufficiently in -depth, the patient will therefore no longer need any help“Concludes the expert.
Who can follow behavioral therapy for insomnia?
TTC can address All people sufferingof all ages and sufficiently motivated to invest in a mental treatment bringing obligations and rules to follow. Therapists trained in the practice of TCC are professionals health, psychiatrists or psychologists who exercise in hospital, medical-psychological or liberal center.
Thanks to Elise Dell’amore, psychotherapist.
