Help for sleep problems in children, teens and adults
Poor sleep makes anxiety, mood and attention worse, and those problems make sleep worse in turn. Treating sleep directly can help everything else improve.
Common sleep problems
- Taking a long time to fall asleep, often with racing thoughts or worry
- Waking too early and not being able to get back to sleep
- A sleep schedule that has drifted later, common in teens
- Bedtime struggles, or needing a parent present to fall asleep
- Sleeping too much, or feeling unrested despite enough time in bed
How I treat it
I start by looking at the root causes. Sleep problems are often tied to anxiety, depression, ADHD or its treatment, screen habits, or schedules that work against the body clock.
For insomnia, the first-line treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). It uses practical techniques, such as adjusting time in bed and changing the habits and thoughts that keep sleep from coming, and it often works better over the long run than sleep medication. For younger children, I focus on routines and on helping parents respond to night-time difficulties consistently.
Medication has a limited role in children's sleep. When I recommend it, I explain why, and we plan for how long it will be used.
Not sure where to start?
A free 15-minute phone consultation is a low-pressure way to talk through what is going on and whether my practice is a good fit.