CBT-I Sleep Therapy in Brooklyn & Queens, NY

CBT-I sleep therapy for adults experiencing chronic insomnia, racing thoughts at night, and anxiety about sleep. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is an evidence-based, medication-free treatment that helps reset your sleep patterns and restore healthy, sustainable rest.

CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) is a structured, evidence-based treatment designed specifically for chronic insomnia. Instead of medication, it works by retraining your brain and body to restore natural sleep patterns through behavioral and cognitive techniques.

If your nights feel endless, if you dread getting into bed because you know you’ll just lie there awake, or if you’re exhausted but somehow can’t fall (or stay) asleep, this isn’t “just a bad week.”

It might be insomnia.

Insomnia can feel like your mind refusing to shut down, your body buzzing when you’re desperate for rest, or waking up multiple times with no idea why. For some, it shows up as pacing thoughts about tomorrow, fear that you’ll “never sleep again,” or the heaviness of going through the day on an empty tank.

Why Can’t You Fall Asleep Even When You’re Exhausted?

Quick Facts:

Who It’s For: Adults struggling with chronic insomnia, night anxiety, difficulty falling asleep, or waking throughout the night

Common Concerns: Sleep onset insomnia, middle-of-the-night waking, early waking, racing thoughts at night, dread around bedtime, and sleep-related anxiety

Approaches Used: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), sleep behavior restructuring, cognitive sleep work, and evidence-based strategies that retrain the brain and body for natural sleep

CBT-I is the gold-standard treatment for insomnia, backed by decades of research, often more effective than medication. It isn’t about forcing sleep it’s about helping your system remember how to settle, soften, and restore itself.

What Does Insomnia Feel Like?

Insomnia can be loud and overwhelming, or quiet and chronic. It shows up differently for everyone, but many people describe:

  • Lying awake for hours, even when exhausted

  • Waking up throughout the night

  • Panic or dread when bedtime approaches

  • Racing thoughts (“What if I can’t sleep again?”)

  • Feeling wired-tired — physically exhausted but mentally alert

  • Worrying all day about how you’ll sleep at night

  • Feeling like your sleep drive is “broken”

  • Snapping at loved ones or struggling to focus because you’re depleted

  • Fear that you’ll never get back to “normal” sleep

If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not failing your nervous system is stuck in a loop that CBT-I can help shift.

“Sleep comes naturally once the body feels safe; it’s the struggle to force safety that keeps us awake.”

How CBT-I Helps With Insomnia

Insomnia isn’t just a nighttime problem it’s a full-body pattern that affects your days, identity, confidence, & emotional world. CBT-I offers a structured, compassionate space to understand why your sleep is disrupted & how to repair it.

  • Why your sleep system became dysregulated

  • How anxiety, fear, and anticipation affect your nights

  • The role your circadian rhythm and sleep drive play

  • How your beliefs about sleep shape your patterns

  • How your body responds to nighttime stress (and how to calm it)

  • How to re-establish trust between your brain and your bed

In our work together, we’ll explore:

Therapy for Anxiety

Our Approach to CBT-I Sleep Therapy

We take an informed, collaborative, and nonjudgmental approach that meets you right where you are.

  • Sleep diaries & thought tracking

    To understand your patterns and the beliefs shaping your nights.

  • Time-in-bed restriction (sleep restriction therapy)

    To rebuild your sleep efficiency and strengthen your natural sleep drive.

  • Stimulus control

    To re-train your brain to associate the bed with sleep — not stress, scrolling, or wakefulness.

  • Psychoeducation about the sleep system

    So you understand what’s happening in your brain and body — and why it’s fixable.

You don’t need perfect discipline. You don’t need to “try harder.” You just need a process that actually works.

Local and Virtual Sessions Available

We offer sleep therapy in person both at my Williamsburg office as well as my office in Ridgewood Queens, serving clients in neighborhoods like Bushwick, Park Slope, Brooklyn, and Crown Heights.

If you’re not able to make the commute or prefer the comfort of your own space, We also offer secure telehealth therapy throughout New York State.

Why MindfulSelf Therapy

Our approach is informed, integrative, and nonjudgmental. We understand that creatives often process the world with heightened sensitivity, deep emotional nuance, and unique internal rhythms.

  • Initial Assessment: Review sleep history, habits, stress patterns

  • Sleep Tracking: Use sleep diaries to identify patterns

  • Sleep Window Adjustment: Strengthen sleep drive

  • Behavioral Shifts: Implement stimulus control strategies

  • Cognitive Work: Reduce sleep anxiety and catastrophic thinking

  • Integration: Stabilize sleep and reinforce long-term habits

How does CBT-I work step by step?

We’re not just therapists, we’re collaborators in your self-discovery, here to support your voice, vitality, and creative integrity.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • No. If sleep is impacting your life, that’s enough.

  • Most people begin noticing changes within the first few weeks. A full CBT-I protocol typically spans 6–8 sessions.

  • Yes. A major part of CBT-I is reducing the anxiety that keeps your system alert at night.

  • In person and virtual sessionl are both available but are the in-person slots are limited. Please inquire if you’d like in person to see if any in-person sessions are open.

  • There is a 48 hour cancellation policy. f you cancel with less than 48 hours' notice, or do not show up for your session, you will be charged the full session fee. We will always do my best to try and reschedule you within the same work week to avoid this, but it may not always be possible.

  • American Psychological Association — Stress and Burnout (Creative and High-Pressure Careers)
    https://www.apa.org/topics/stress

How to Start

If you’ve been living with insomnia for so long that it feels like your “normal,” you deserve to know it doesn’t have to stay this way.

CBT-I sleep therapy can help you rebuild your confidence, your rhythms, and your sense of calm.

We invite you to:

Book a free 15-minute phone consultation

Ask questions about how therapy works

Tell us a little about your creative world, or nothing at all, we'll meet you wherever you are

Book a Session