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Therapy in a Nutshell

This Skill Treats Insomnia 80% of the Time

Therapy in a Nutshell

Therapy in a Nutshell -Emma McAdam

Mental Health, Education, Health & Fitness:mental Health, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.8658 Ratings

🗓️ 24 October 2022

⏱️ 5 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Learn more in one of my in-depth mental health courses: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.co... If you were to ask someone, “What’s causing your insomnia?” they might say something like: “my stress, anxiety, my brain won’t shut off”, maybe they think it’s their cat waking them up or they drank too much coffee or they watched a scary movie before bed. And granted, all of these things can mess with your sleep for a night or two, or more, but they aren’t the thing that causes chronic insomnia. In most cases chronic insomnia is caused by 1 bad habit where you accidentally trained your brain not to sleep. Staying in bed awake. This is the worst thing you can do for your insomnia. And it’s the key to one of the most effective treatments for insomnia, CBT-I, an evidence based treatment for insomnia that has shown up to 80% effectiveness at relieving insomnia.  Looking for affordable online counseling? My sponsor, BetterHelp, connects you to a licensed professional from the comfort of your own home. Try it now for 10% off your first month: https://betterhelp.com/therapyinanuts... Support my mission on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therapyinanut... Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.therapyinanutshell.com?utm_medium=YTDescription&utm_source=YouTube Check out my favorite self-help books: https://kit.co/TherapyinaNutshell/bes...  Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health. In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction. And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/c... If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your local emergency services. Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hi and welcome to the Therapy in a Nutschell podcast. I'm Emma McAdam, a licensed marriage and family

0:05.2

therapist, and it's my mission to create easy to understand educational content about therapeutic skills

0:10.9

and topics that anyone can use in their daily life. Stay tuned until the end of the video

0:15.7

to learn more about my mental health courses, discounts, and other news related to therapy in a nutshell.

0:21.7

I hope you enjoy the episode. Each podcast episode comes from a corresponding video you can find

0:27.6

on the Therapy in a Nutshell YouTube channel. Also, these podcasts are educational and don't replace

0:33.6

the advice or direction you may be receiving from a therapist or other health professional.

0:38.7

All right, let's jump in.

0:40.5

Hi everyone, I'm Emma McAdam. I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist and I make mental

0:44.3

health education videos. If you were to ask someone what's causing your insomnia, they might

0:50.1

say something like, oh, my stress, my anxiety, my brain won't shut off, maybe they think it's

0:56.1

their cat waking them up, or they drink too much coffee, or watched a scary movie before bed.

1:02.2

And granted, all of these things can mess with your sleep for a night or two, or more, but they

1:08.3

aren't the thing that causes chronic insomnia.

1:11.6

So in most cases, chronic insomnia is caused by one bad habit

1:16.6

where you accidentally trained your brain not to sleep.

1:20.6

The bad habit is staying in bed awake.

1:23.6

This is the worst thing you can do for your insomnia,

1:26.6

and it's key to one of the most effective treatments for insomnia,

1:30.3

CBTI, an evidence-based treatment for insomnia that has shown up to 80%

1:35.3

effectiveness at relieving insomnia.

1:37.3

You see, when you lie in bed awake, maybe you went to bed too early,

...

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