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CBT for Insomnia with Pain

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CBT for Insomnia with Pain

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is cited as the optimal treatment for Insomnia with Pain 

Nonspecific chronic spinal pain (nCSP; hereafter pain) is a leading cause of disabilities in individuals around the world. Insomnia is often seen in patients struggling with pain and can negatively impact their quality of life. Given that sleep problems and chronic pain are closely connected, addressing insomnia in therapy may improve treatment outcomes.  

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTi) has previously been established as an effective treatment for targeting sleep difficulties, and best-evidence pain management (BEPM) has been cited as the optimal treatment for nCSP. Recently, findings published in “JAMA Network Open” highlight how combining the two treatments yielded significant and clinically meaningful changes in nCSP patients facing sleep challenges.  

As insomnia has been shown to impede treatment effects in individuals suffering pain, targeting sleep using CBTi may increase the effectiveness of BEPM treatment. More specifically, integrating CBTi and BEPM has been shown to have a host of benefits, including improvements in the severity of insomnia, sleep quality, beliefs about sleep, depressive symptoms, and physical fatigue in patients with chronic pain. Considering the detrimental impact of sleep problems on daytime functioning and overall well-being, integrating CBTi with BEPM treatment is recommended for patients suffering from pain and insomnia. 

To read the full article in JAMA Network Open, click here.  

Written by Jill Malik, MA 

Edited by Nick Crimarco, PhD 

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What Is Cognitive Behavior Therapy?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a type of treatment that is based firmly on research findings.  It places emphasis on changing your cognitions (thoughts) or behaviors (actions) in order to effect change in how you feel. These approaches help people in achieving specific changes or goals.

Changes or goals might involve:

A way of acting: like smoking less or being more outgoing;
A way of feeling: like helping a person to be less scared, less depressed, or less anxious;
A way of thinking: like learning to problem-solve or get rid of self-defeating thoughts;
A way of dealing with physical or medical problems: like reducing back pain or helping a person stick to a doctor’s suggestions.

Cognitive behavioral therapists usually focus more on the current situation and its solution, rather than the past. They concentrate on a person’s views and beliefs about their life. CBT is an effective treatment for individuals, parents, children, couples, and families. The goal of CBT is to help people improve and gain more control over their lives by changing behaviors that don’t work well to ones that do.

How to Get Help

If you are looking for help, either for yourself or someone else, you may be tempted to call someone who advertises in a local publication or who comes up from a search of the Internet. You may, or may not, find a competent therapist in this manner. It is wise to check on the credentials of a psychotherapist. It is expected that competent therapists hold advanced academic degrees. They should be listed as members of professional organizations, such as the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies or the American Psychological Association. Of course, they should be licensed to practice in your state. You can find competent specialists who are affiliated with local universities or mental health facilities or who are listed on the websites of professional organizations. You may, of course, visit our website (www.abct.org) and click on “Find a CBT Therapist”

The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) is an interdisciplinary organization committed to the advancement of a scientific approach to the understanding and amelioration of problems of the human condition. These aims are achieved through the investigation and application of behavioral, cognitive, and other evidence-based principles to assessment, prevention, and treatment.