Condition
Insomnia & Sleep — therapy online across the UK
Struggling to fall asleep, stay asleep, or wake up rested? There's a structured, evidence-based way through it.
1 in 3
adults report insomnia symptoms
First-line
NICE-recommended treatment: CBT-I
70-80%
of CBT-I patients see improvement in research studies
Weeks
typical course length for CBT-I
Understanding it
About Insomnia & Sleep
Insomnia involves persistent difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early, along with daytime effects like fatigue, low mood or poor concentration. Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the leading psychological treatment, addressing the thoughts, habits and body clock patterns that keep sleep difficulties going — often more effectively, and more sustainably, than medication alone.
Insomnia often starts with a genuine trigger — stress, illness, a new baby, shift work — but persists because of the habits and worry that build up around trying to fix it. Watching the clock, staying in bed awake, napping to compensate, and worrying about the next night's sleep can all keep the problem going long after the original trigger has passed.
The bed can become associated with wakefulness and frustration rather than sleep, particularly if you spend long stretches lying awake there. This learned association is one of the most common maintaining factors and is directly addressed in CBT-I.
Anxiety about sleep itself — 'I need eight hours or tomorrow will be ruined' — activates the same stress response that makes falling asleep harder, creating a self-fulfilling cycle. Reducing the pressure around sleep is often as important as any specific technique.
Insomnia frequently coexists with anxiety, depression and chronic pain, and can be either a symptom or a driver of these — treating the sleep difficulty directly often improves the other conditions too.
How it shows up
You might recognise some of this
Nobody has all of it. Most people recognise a handful — and that's enough to start.
How it shows up
- Taking a long time to fall asleep most nights
- Waking frequently or too early and struggling to get back to sleep
- Lying awake worrying about not sleeping
- Daytime fatigue, irritability or poor concentration
- Relying on naps, alcohol or medication to manage sleep
What sessions involve
- A sleep diary to identify your specific pattern
- Sleep restriction and stimulus control techniques to rebuild the bed-sleep association
- Addressing anxious or unhelpful beliefs about sleep
- Relaxation and wind-down strategies
- Adjusting sleep habits and environment
What changes
- Falling asleep more quickly and with less anxiety
- Fewer or shorter night-time wakings
- Reduced reliance on medication over time
- More consistent, restorative sleep
Signals
When this helps
- Difficulty falling or staying asleep
- Early waking
- Sleep-related anxiety
- Daytime fatigue linked to poor sleep
- Reducing reliance on sleep medication
The work
How therapy helps here
Rebuilds a strong association between bed and sleep
Addresses the worry and habits keeping wakefulness going
Provides a structured, time-limited path to more consistent sleep
The evidence
What the research actually says
Plain-English summaries of the guidance our therapists work from.
CBT-I is the recommended first-line treatment
NICE and international sleep guidelines recommend cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia as the first-line treatment, ahead of sleeping tablets, for adults with persistent insomnia.
Effects tend to last longer than medication
Research comparing CBT-I with sleep medication consistently finds that CBT-I produces more durable improvements, as it addresses the habits and beliefs maintaining insomnia rather than only sedating in the short term.
Improves related mental health symptoms
Because sleep and mood are closely linked, treating insomnia directly is associated with improvements in anxiety and depressive symptoms as well.
What to expect
How a course of therapy usually unfolds
A guide, not a script — your therapist shapes this around you.
- 1
Sleep assessment
Tracking your sleep pattern through a diary to understand your specific difficulty.
- 2
Stimulus control and sleep restriction
Rebuilding a strong association between bed and sleep, and consolidating sleep into a more effective window.
- 3
Addressing sleep-related anxiety
Working with unhelpful beliefs and worry about sleep that keep the nervous system activated.
- 4
Habit and environment adjustment
Reviewing routines, light, screens and wind-down habits that affect sleep quality.
- 5
Maintenance
Consolidating gains and planning for occasional disrupted nights without relapsing into old patterns.
Worth saying
Common worries, honestly answered
“Everyone needs exactly eight hours of sleep.”
Sleep need varies between people; the more useful measure is how you function during the day, not a fixed number.
“Lying in bed resting is nearly as good as sleeping.”
Lying awake in bed can reinforce the bed as a place of wakefulness — CBT-I often recommends getting up until sleepy rather than lying there.
“Sleeping pills are the only real solution.”
Medication can help short-term, but structured psychological treatment addresses the underlying pattern and tends to produce more lasting results.
Between sessions
Small things that genuinely help
None of these replace therapy — but they're a gentle place to begin today.
- Keep a consistent wake-up time, even after a poor night
- Get up if you're lying awake for more than 20 minutes, and return when sleepy
- Avoid checking the clock during the night
- Reduce caffeine and screens in the few hours before bed
- Reserve the bed for sleep, rather than working or scrolling there
FAQs
Frequently asked
Find the therapist who fits
Answer 10 short questions and we'll match you within 48 hours — no card needed to start.