Sleep has a vital role to play in immune system response, mood regulation and memory formation. If the sleep system is undermined we see effects across all of these domains. Poor or disrupted sleep has been implicated in immunological disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Poor sleep is also associated with mood disruption and anxiety. Periods of insomnia have been shown to predict the onset of depressive episodes. Poor sleep will affect our performance at work, as it is associated with higher error rates, reduced productivity, and impairment in our capacity to read social cues. Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder, second only to pain among reasons for people to seek medical advice.

As the field of sleep medicine advances, the vital importance of sleep is becoming ever more recognised. Cognitive behavioural therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is the recommended first-line treatment for insomnia. It has demonstrated efficacy in a range of clinical populations. This course provides participants with the knowledge needed to apply CBT-I in their clinical practice.

The course includes a basic grounding in the physiology of sleep-wake regulation. Following this you will be led through the behavioural and then cognitive components of CBT, working with case examples to illustrate how the therapy can be adapted to specialist populations (such as those with sleep and post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and psychosis).