Behavioral Sleep Medicine

Behavioral sleep medicine is a branch of psychology that focuses on the evaluation and treatment of sleep disorders. Behavioral sleep medicine specialists address behavioral, psychological, and physiological factors that are interfering with sleep. Most approaches in behavioral sleep medicine are based on cognitive behavioral therapies, and they are supported by scientific data. This means that the interventions that are used by behavioral sleep medicine specialists at BASE have been shown to be effective in treating sleep disorders.

Cognitive aspects of treatment may include modifying how you think about sleep and your difficulties sleeping. Behavioral interventions may look like changing your sleep schedule, improving your daytime routines, and eliminating habits that interfere with sleep. Treatment may also include improving your sleep environment; for instance, making your bedroom cool and dark.

Behavioral Sleep Medicine or Medication?

For some disorders, behavioral treatments are the first-line treatment. These include:

Insomnia
Difficulty sleeping and nighttime awakenings in children
Circadian rhythm disorders
Difficulty tolerating CPAP

In fact, a recent study analyzed 13 trails (823 participants) and found that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) was more beneficial than medication in the long term (Furukawa et al., 2024), and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests CBT-I without concurrent medication as the gold standard treatment for insomnia (Buysse et al., 2026).

We do not provide medication management as part of our sleep medicine services, but we do work closely with your sleep medication provider. As your sleep improves, it is common to taper off of sleep medications, and we will create a taper plan in consultation with your medication provider. This taper will be closely monitored by your behavioral sleep medicine provider at BASE.

What is Behavioral Sleep Treatment like?

Behavioral sleep medicine treatments are usually short-term, between 4 and 12 sessions. Your therapist will first assess your sleep difficulties, and they will ask you to start tracking your sleep and some daytime behaviors. Maintaining a sleep diary is a key component of successful sleep treatment, as it helps identify patterns, see improvements, and modify treatment as needed. During active treatment, your clinician will focus on thoughts and behaviors that are interfering with sleep, and will help you modify those using evidence-based interventions. If you are a parent seeking treatment for your child’s sleep difficulties, the interventions will focus on how you can reinforce good sleep for your child and extinguish any negative sleep habits.