CBT-I Techniques
Evidence-based behavioral tools — stimulus control, sleep restriction, cognitive reframing.
Stimulus control: 5 rules to retrain your bed
Stimulus control teaches your brain to associate the bed with sleep again. The rules are simple, the practice is hard, and the evidence behind it is decades deep.
Sleep restriction: the counterintuitive fix that works
Sleep restriction sounds like the opposite of what an insomniac needs. It's actually one of the most powerful CBT-I techniques, and it works through a simple biological mechanism.
Cognitive restructuring for racing nighttime thoughts
Cognitive restructuring is the part of CBT-I that targets the thoughts feeding your insomnia. The technique isn't positive thinking — it's accuracy.
The relaxation response: a 10-minute nightly practice
The relaxation response is a learned ability to shift your nervous system out of arousal and into a calmer state. It's one of the few CBT-I tools you can use in bed without making sleep worse.
Why CBT-I is the first-line treatment, not pills
When CBT-I is compared head-to-head against sleeping pills in clinical trials, the behavioral approach wins on durability, side-effect profile, and long-term outcomes. The U.S. medical establishment changed its official guidance in 2016.