Cognitive Therapy, a component of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), is a type of psychotherapy. Cognitive Therapy focuses on ways you are thinking about a particular problem that might, in the long run, be making the problem worse. It involves exploring beliefs, attitudes, or perceptions you might hold that may be reinforcing the problem and then finding alternative ways of viewing the issue that can foster a more balanced perspective. This may in turn reduce your level of concern or anxiety. This is important because we sometimes have a tendency to assume the worst about things that are really bothering us which can render us less effective at managing them.

The next goal of the therapy is to then develop practical, workable strategies to help improve the situation. Through education and a number of mental techniques, Optisom's ProjectZ corporate sleep health solution offers an array of cognitive strategies that can help you adopt less negative thoughts and beliefs about sleep and insomnia.

Cognitive Therapy and Thought Processes

The cognitive approach to sleeping better means learning about how your perceptions and spontaneous thoughts influence the way you think, feel, and behave about insomnia. For example, when people feel upset or distressed, they tend to have unclear thinking about the reality of their situation. If you feel frustrated or anxious about your sleeping habits, it makes it more difficult to develop a healthier, more productive attitude about how to resolve the issue. Plus, worrying about not sleeping in the middle of the night is almost certain to make falling asleep even more difficult. A worried mind leads to a worried body and neither of these conditions are compatible with falling asleep.

Optisom's ProjectZ corporate sleep health solution is designed to help you identify and modify thoughts that may be triggering anxiety about not sleeping so that you can address them directly. Having tools available to you to manage problematic thoughts can empower you to have more control over your ability to facilitate sleep.

Cognitive Therapy Meets Behavioral Therapy

As the name “cognitive behavioral therapy” for insomnia (CBTi) implies, the method involves two components. First, the cognitive piece, which we have just discussed, helps you to identify and alter any thoughts, beliefs, or expectations about your sleep that might be fueling anxiety or leading to poor decisions about managing sleep that may be reinforcing your insomnia. The second element is behavioral therapy which involves using the insights and new perspectives gained through the cognitive process to establish and reinforce new sleep-promoting behaviors.

This is a powerful  “1-2 punch” that has been shown, in numerous controlled studies, to be highly  effective at resolving insomnia. Optisom's ProjectZ corporate sleep health solution is comprised of these clinically proven CBTi techniques that can help you achieve optimal sleep!

References

Beck Institute, “Cognitive Therapy.” http://www.beckinstituteblog.org/cognitive-behavioral-therapy/

Appalachian University, “Brief Overview of Cognitive Therapy.”  http://www1.appstate.edu/~hillrw/Dep%20Cognitive/cogthe.html