Allegheny Health Network introduces program to treat insomnia
Allegheny Health Network launched a new program to treat patients with insomnia.
AHN said the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTI) program is a new, evidence-based treatment program to help patients with insomnia improve their sleep quality and quantity without the use of medication.
CBTI is a type of psychotherapy which helps patients to identify and replace the thoughts and behaviors that make it difficult for them to fall asleep or stay asleep, AHN said.
“We know that the overall health and wellbeing of a person is dependent upon several factors, but none is more critical than a person’s ability to regularly get enough sleep,” said Family Medicine Physician and Vice Chair of the AHN Primary Care Institute Amy Crawford-Faucher, MD. “Without the use of medication, many patients can see significant improvements just by thinking differently about sleep, combined with making behavioral and/or environmental changes that will set them up for a better night’s rest.”
“It can be really hard to slow down our thinking. We call that Cognitive Arousal, where our thoughts are kind of going when we should be shutting down and going to sleep,” said Sue Goble, behavioral health consultant supervisor for Allegheny Health Network.
Patients can access the AHN CBTI program via the AHN Primary Care Institute, AHN Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Institute or the AHN Medicine Institute.
“We have a part of our brain that is our ‘deep sleep drive,’ so sometimes our sleep drive isn’t as optimized as it needs to be, so we have some techniques,” Goble said.
Enrolled patients participate in four to six sessions with AHN psychologists or behavioral health consultants (BHCs) who are specially trained in the CBTI modality, AHN said. Caregivers help patients to think differently about sleep, and work with them to implement changes related to lifestyle and/or sleep routines.
“[If you can’t sleep], get up out of the bed and do something relaxing,” Goble said. “One of the worst things we can do is lay in the bed and toss and turn, toss and turn…because we are training our brain to stay awake at night.”
The CBTI program is a blended effort between the AHN Primary Care Institute, AHN Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Institute and Highmark Health.
“The AHN CBTI program is yet another example of AHN’s and Highmark Health’s commitment to increasing access to comprehensive, patient-centered care that goes beyond the traditional treatment confines. We are pleased to offer this treatment modality which stands to positively impact the lives of countless patients across our region,” said Vice President, AHN Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Institute, Doug Henry, Ph.D.
To learn more about CBTI at AHN, talk to your physician or call 412-DOC-TORS.
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