If you’ve been finding it hard to fall asleep, stay asleep, or wake feeling rested, you’re far from alone. Sleep difficulties affect a huge number of people, often quietly – and they can take a real toll on how we feel day to day. At our therapy practice, we know how important good rest is to your wellbeing, and we’re here to support you in getting the sleep your body and mind deserve.
Let’s explore what may be getting in the way of rest – and how therapy can help you work through it.
Why Does Sleep Get Disrupted?
Sleep isn’t just about “switching off” – it’s a delicate process involving your body, brain, hormones, and even your beliefs. When you’re stressed, anxious, overstimulated, or carrying unresolved emotions, your nervous system doesn’t easily shift into “rest mode.”
Poor sleep can come from:
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Anxiety or overthinking before bed
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Rigid beliefs about needing to “sleep perfectly”
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Difficult habits like caffeine use or excessive screen time
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Physical tension in the body
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Nightmares or stress dreams
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A mismatch between your environment and your sleep needs
Sleep problems can create a vicious cycle: we feel tired and frustrated, which puts even more pressure on sleep — and the harder we try, the more it slips away.
Therapy-Supported Sleep Strategies That Really Help
Our therapeutic approach is grounded in science and self-compassion. Here are some key evidence-based strategies we might explore together:
1. Sleep Hygiene Tweaks
Simple changes can have a surprisingly big impact. You might try:
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Keeping your bedroom cool (around 19°C), which supports the body’s natural need to drop in temperature to fall asleep
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Taking a warm shower before bed to help your body cool more efficiently afterwards
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Reducing caffeine (including cola, chocolate, and some teas), which can linger in your system for up to 8 hours
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Limiting screens and bright lights in the hour before bed
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Getting daily sunlight, ideally in the morning, to help reset your sleep-wake cycle
2. Permission-Based Rest
Many people struggle with internal rules like “I don’t deserve rest” or “I’ve wasted the day.” In therapy, we gently explore these beliefs and create calming “permission rituals” to ease the transition into sleep.
We might use statements like:
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“I give myself permission to rest, even if everything didn’t get done.”
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“My body knows how to sleep; I don’t have to force it.”
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“Changing into my pyjamas is my cue to shift into rest mode.”
Pairing these with a small nightly ritual — like a warm drink, placing a hand on your chest, or dimming the lights — helps the nervous system feel safe enough to let go.
3. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
If your body feels tense or on edge, you might benefit from this soothing practice. Starting from your toes and moving up to your face, you’ll tense and release each muscle group. Visualising colours (e.g., red for tension, blue for calm) can add a deeper sense of regulation and release.
4. Cognitive Shuffling
Racing thoughts can keep the brain overstimulated. This technique tricks your mind into settling by using random, non-stimulating words:
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Choose a letter of the alphabet
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Count 8 heartbeats and say a word starting with that letter
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Repeat with unrelated words (e.g., Elephant… Energy… Envelope…)
This mimics the kind of mental drift that happens in early sleep stages.
5. Nightmare Re-Scripting
If nightmares are disturbing your rest, therapy can help you rewrite the “script.” This might involve:
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Recalling the nightmare
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Identifying what felt unresolved or frightening
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Creating a new version with safety, power, or resolution
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Practising visualisation of the new version before bed
Over time, this can reduce the frequency and intensity of distressing dreams — and help you feel more in control of your nights.
Sleep Isn’t Just Behavioural – It’s Emotional
Therapy can help uncover what’s sitting just beneath your sleep struggles. Are you carrying unspoken worries into bed with you? Do old patterns of shame or perfectionism whisper to you at night? Are you afraid of rest because your mind won’t be distracted anymore?
Together, we can build a relationship with rest that’s not about striving — but about softening.
How We Can Support You
In therapy, we work with you to understand both the practical and emotional roots of your sleep difficulties. Whether you’re dealing with chronic insomnia, post-burnout fatigue, stress-related sleep loss, or just can’t seem to switch off, we’re here to help.
You don’t need to “fix” your sleep before coming to therapy. We’ll meet you where you are — tired, wired, or somewhere in between.
If you have tried to improve your sleep but believe your mental health needs more support, feel free to reach out for a free assessment for low cost therapy.
Resources:
For more self-help tools, visit The Sleep Charity, a great evidence-based resource.
For more self-help tools, visit The Sleep Charity, a great evidence-based resource.
