Treating Insomnia Using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBTi) Step-by-Step
CBT for insomnia is widely recommended and not widely delivered. A clinician can know the name, know it outperforms the alternatives, and still have no idea what to do on Monday with someone who has not slept properly in two years. The gap is not knowledge of the evidence. It is not knowing the protocol, and being reasonably nervous about the part where you tell an exhausted person to spend less time in bed.
Jessica Bergstrom is a clinical psychologist who works in a large health system and with first responder, military and veteran populations, where insomnia and PTSD arrive together. Over eight hours across two recorded days she teaches the protocol step by step, with the questionnaires and the reasoning behind each decision.
She starts with sleep itself: the stages, what the body does in each, what changes across the lifespan, and why nightmares cluster in the early hours, which is a useful thing to be able to explain to a traumatised client. Then diagnosis and assessment, and the Spielman model for what starts insomnia against what keeps it going, since the maintaining factors are what you treat. Then the protocol: stimulus control and sleep restriction, how to calculate an individual sleep prescription from a client’s actual sleep, the minimum you never prescribe below, and what to do when the prescription is not working. Then the cognitive half, working through the beliefs that produce the arousal that produces the insomnia, including the common myths worth correcting early. She finishes on comorbidity and complications, from bipolar presentations that need particular care to menopause, snoring partners and pets on the bed, and is clear about the clients for whom CBT-I is not the right treatment.
You’ll walk away with
- How to diagnose and assess clinical insomnia, with questionnaires provided to guide it
- Sleep structure explained well enough to teach a client: the stages, the cycles, and what changes with age
- Why nightmares cluster in the second half of the night, and why that is worth explaining to a client with PTSD
- The Spielman model: what starts insomnia, what maintains it, and why you treat the second
- Stimulus control, taught step by step rather than named
- Sleep restriction, including how to calculate an individual sleep prescription from a client’s actual sleep
- The floor you never prescribe below, and the presentations where that matters most
- What to do when a client cannot fall asleep at the prescribed time, and how to adjust
- The cognitive work: the beliefs that create the arousal that blocks sleep, and how to restructure them
- The sleep myths clients arrive with, and how to correct them without dismissing the distress
- Calming the mind and managing the stress that keeps someone awake
- Comorbid and complicating presentations, including bipolar, menopause, partners and pets
- Recognising the clients for whom CBT-I is not appropriate, and what to do instead
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CPD Information For Mental Health Professionals
Enjoy complete flexibility with 100% self-paced learning you can access anytime, anywhere, and on any device. This course is included with your Tatra Training membership, along with every other course in the library.
Included: a handout and assessment questionnaires you can use in practice.
Format: recorded across two training days, with participant questions throughout.
Course Duration: 8 learning hours
Certificate and CPD hours: On completion you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion to support your CPD records. Your certificates are yours to keep.
Assessment: Complete a short quiz at the end (80% pass mark), which you can resit as many times as needed.
Revisit Anytime: Come back to the course as often as you like while your membership is active, whenever you want a refresher for practice.
CPD Eligibility: This program may be suitable for CPD for professionals such as:
- Psychologists
- Counsellors and Psychotherapists
- Social Workers
- Community Workers
- Mental Health Nurses
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Occupational Therapists
CPD requirements vary between professional bodies, so please check with your association or credentialing body to confirm you can claim CPD hours/OPD points for this program and what evidence they require.
Course Content
Meet Your Instructor
Trauma survivors, first responders, and military personnel struggling with PTSD, insomnia, and complex anxiety presentations need clinicians who understand both the science of evidence-based treatment and the courage required for healing. Jessica Bergstrom has dedicated her career to mastering trauma-focused therapies, combining rigorous research training at Stanford University Medical School with extensive clinical experience serving veterans, crisis intervention, and high-stress populations.
As a Clinical Psychologist at Kaiser Permanente and telehealth provider through Session Sync, Dr. Bergstrom brings both institutional expertise and personalised care to her trauma-focused practice. Her training at the prestigious PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium, combined with research experience at Stanford's Psychology and Biobehavioral Research Lab and San Francisco State's Motivation and Emotion Research Lab, gives her deep understanding of how trauma affects both brain function and behavioral patterns. Her clinical experience across Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System, Veterans Affairs Jerry L. Pettis Memorial, and Contra Costa Crisis Center demonstrates her commitment to serving the most vulnerable populations.
Dr. Bergstrom's expertise spans PTSD and trauma treatment, anxiety disorders, depression, sleep disorders and insomnia, grief and loss, anger management, and stress-related conditions. Her evidence-based approach integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT for Insomnia, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure, EMDR, and Internal Family Systems therapy. She specialises in working with law enforcement and military populations, understanding the unique cultural and occupational stressors that affect first responders and veterans. Her approach recognises that effective trauma treatment requires both clinical skill and deep respect for the courage clients demonstrate in facing their wounds.
What sets her practice apart is authentic commitment to the healing journey. Embodied in her professional motto - "To get through it you must go through it; a journey for which I am honored to walk with you through" - Dr. Bergstrom doesn't shy away from the difficult work trauma recovery requires. Her collaborative approach creates the safe, non-judgmental space necessary for clients to face their most painful experiences while developing genuine resilience.
For your practice, expect to gain specific evidence-based trauma protocols, tools for treating trauma-related insomnia, and frameworks for working effectively with first responder populations. Her approach particularly benefits clinicians working with PTSD, those treating sleep disorders related to trauma, or practitioners wanting to develop specialised expertise with military and law enforcement clients.
Quick Win: Dr. Bergstrom's integrated trauma and sleep protocol addresses how PTSD symptoms and insomnia reinforce each other - the objective being to provide symptom relief faster by treating both conditions simultaneously rather than sequentially.
Qualifications
- PsyD, Clinical Psychology, PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium (APA-accredited)
- MS, Clinical Psychology, PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium (APA-accredited)
- BA, Psychology, San Francisco State University
- Licensed Clinical Psychologist, California
Professional Experience
- Clinical Psychologist, Kaiser Permanente, Walnut Creek, CA, current
- Clinical Psychologist, Session Sync (telehealth platform), 2017–present
- Clinical roles, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System
- Clinical roles, Veterans Affairs Jerry L. Pettis Memorial
- Therapist, Contra Costa Crisis Center
Research Background
- Research Assistant, Psychology and Biobehavioral Research Lab, Stanford University Medical School
- Research Assistant, Motivation and Emotion Research Lab, San Francisco State University
Clinical Specialties
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and complex trauma
- Anxiety disorders and panic attacks
- Depression and mood disorders
- Insomnia and sleep disorders (specialising in trauma-related sleep disturbances)
- Grief and loss processing
- Anger management and emotional regulation
- Life stress management and transitions
- College and work-related stress
- Health and wellness psychology
Specialised Populations
- Law enforcement personnel
- Military veterans and active duty service members
- First responders and emergency personnel
- Young adults navigating life transitions
- Crisis intervention clients
Evidence-Based Treatment Modalities
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- CBT for Insomnia (CBT-I)
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD
- Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) for PTSD
- Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy
Ready to master evidence-based trauma treatment while honoring the courage healing requires? Discover how Dr. Bergstrom's research-informed, experience-tested methods can enhance your ability to guide clients through their most difficult journeys toward genuine recovery and resilience.
Feedback & Reviews
This course includes:
- Lessons 7
- Topics 0
- Duration 8 hours
- Quizzes 1
- Language English