Why Can’t I Get 8 Hours? Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
Why Can’t I Get 8 Hours? Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
As a therapist, I specialize in insomnia treatment for a pretty simple reason: I have it.
Now, everyone on the planet has had a bad night of sleep. That’s just part of the human experience. What we call acute insomnia, a few rough nights here and there is normal. Unless you’re planning on living in a monastery, you’re going to toss and turn occasionally. But for some people, sleep becomes more than just a passing issue it turns into a chronic problem and serious source of stress.
When sleep becomes a struggle:
Stop me if this sounds familiar:
You spend the whole day feeling exhausted.
You finally crawl into bed... and boom, a switch flips.
Suddenly, you’re wide awake.
You lie there frustrated, anxious, and convinced something must be wrong with you, like your sleep system is broken.
You are not alone.
Millions of people struggle with chronic insomnia and many people turn to the internet for answers (I do, too). But let’s be honest, the internet can be a judgy place, and few topics get as loaded as sleep. You’re bombarded with advice, rules, and routines that make it sound like if you’re not getting eight uninterrupted hours of sleep a night, you’re doing something wrong. It’s easy to end up feeling like a failure.
So here’s the bad news: for a lot of people all this effort just leads to more anxiety and makes it harder to sleep. Trying to sleep is a lot like trying not to think of a pink elephant, the more effort you put in the more your mind races.
Here’s the good news:
Your sleep system isn’t broken.
There’s nothing wrong with you.
And you don’t need to beat yourself up for watching tv or not getting enough fiber in your diet.
What is CBT-I?
As a licensed therapist who works specifically with people dealing with chronic insomnia, I use a proven, evidence-based approach called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). This is not just another sleep hack or trendy bedtime routine. CBT-I is an evidence-based, short-term treatment that’s been clinically proven to work across a wide range of populations.
CBT-I has been clinically validated in numerous studies and shown to be effective for:
Adults with chronic insomnia
People living with anxiety, depression, or PTSD
Individuals managing chronic pain or ADHD
Even those with sleep apnea or in recovery from substance use
Best of all, CBT-I isn’t a lifelong commitment. A typical course is just six weeks.
How CBT-I Works
In CBTi, we leverage your body’s natural biological processes (specifically your deep sleep drive and internal circadian clock) to restore healthy sleep patterns.
Through structured, collaborative work, we use techniques like:
Sleep diaries & thought records: to track patterns and beliefs about sleep
Time-in-bed restriction: to strengthen sleep efficiency
Stimulus controls: to strengthen your sleep drive and break the mental association between the bed and wakefulness.
Why Work with a CBT-I Therapist
CBT-I is more than sleep hygiene, it’s a structured therapeutic process that helps you:
Understand and reframe anxious thoughts about sleep
Rebuild trust in your body’s natural ability to rest
Reduce nighttime anxiety and rumination
Improve sleep quality without relying on medication
So if you're lying awake wondering what's wrong with you, I want you to hear this loud and clear: There’s nothing wrong with you. Your sleep system just needs some support and CBT-I gives us the tools to do exactly that.
Because life in a place like New York City is stressful enough. Sleep shouldn’t be.
-Written by Matt Nitzberg
