Evidence-Based Insomnia Treatment in Oregon
When Sleep “Effort” Takes Up Too Much Space.
When you’ve been struggling with sleep for a while, it can start to feel like sleep is always on your mind. How did you sleep last night? Will tonight be better? How many more hours do you have left until morning? What will tomorrow feel like?
CBT-I is an evidence-based approach to chronic insomnia that looks at both what’s happening with your sleep and the thoughts, habits, and expectations that can keep the cycle going.
A Different Way to Approach Sleep
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) considers the thoughts, behaviors, routines, and expectations that surround sleep and can sometimes keep difficult nights going.
Carrie uses this evidence-based approach to help you understand your sleep, identify what’s getting in the way, and make focused changes based on what you discover.
A Closer Look at What
Keeps Sleep Going
Your sleep patterns can give us clues about what's getting in the way of better sleep. CBT-I looks at those patterns alongside the thoughts, behaviors, and expectations that may be keeping insomnia going.
That might mean exploring:
What Happens When You're Awake
After enough nights of lying awake, the bed can start to feel like a place where you worry, get frustrated, or try harder to fall asleep. CBT-I uses strategies to help change that association and make sleep come naturally again.
How Much Time You
Spend in Bed
More time in bed doesn't always mean more sleep. Often, narrowing your time in bed can make sleep less fragmented and more consolidated. As sleep improves, that window can gradually expand.
What You Expect
From Sleep
It can be easy to get caught up in the idea that you should sleep eight uninterrupted hours every night. Instead of chasing a number, CBT-I can help you understand how much sleep actually leaves you feeling rested and rethink expectations that may be creating unnecessary pressure.
What Happens in
Your Mind at Night
If you immediately think 'tomorrow is going to be awful' when you wake up in the middle of the night, falling back asleep becomes harder. CBT-I can help you notice those patterns, question whether they're actually true, and respond to difficult nights with less stress.
How You Wind Down
A good wind-down routine isn't necessarily about putting away every screen, going to bed at the same time, or following a perfect checklist. It's about finding ways to help your mind and body shift toward sleep.
How You Respond to a Difficult Night
After a difficult night, it can be easy to spend more time thinking about sleep and worrying about whether it will happen again. CBT-I can help you respond to those nights in ways that support your sleep rather than reinforce the cycle.
Working Through Insomnia
The first step is a conversation about your sleep, your routines, and what you’d like to change. From there, the work becomes a process of noticing patterns, trying targeted strategies, and seeing how your sleep responds.
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Start With Your Sleep
Your first full session allows Carrie to learn more about your sleep, routines, experiences, and goals. You'll then begin tracking your sleep to create a clearer picture of what's happening from night to night.
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Make Focused Changes
Your sleep patterns help guide what comes next. You may work on your sleep schedule, what happens when you're awake at night, thoughts and expectations around sleep, or other factors that are getting in the way.
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Review and Adjust
Follow-up sessions give you a chance to look at what's changing, talk through what's difficult, and adjust your approach. Most people work with Carrie for about 4–8 sessions following the initial intake.
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Build Confidence Around Sleep
As you learn more about your sleep and practice new strategies, the goal is to feel more confident handling difficult nights without letting them take over your thoughts or your day—or turn into a longer period of insomnia.
Sleep Can Take Up
Less Mental Space
Improving insomnia isn’t only about what happens between bedtime and morning.
For many people, one of the most meaningful changes after improving their sleep is that they simply think about sleep less. You may still have an occasional restless night, but instead of spending the next day worrying about it—or spending the evening worrying about whether it will happen again—you can feel more confident that you know what to do.
Sleep can become something that comes naturally rather than something you have to constantly manage.
Focused Care for Chronic Insomnia
Carrie Bader is an occupational therapist with a Master’s in Occupational Therapy and a Master’s in Public Health. She completed specialized CBT-I training through Stanford’s Sleep Health & Insomnia Program and is a Certified Health Education Specialist.
Her work combines sleep training with a collaborative approach to care, helping you understand what’s happening with your sleep and identify changes that fit your goals.
- Master’s in OT Occupational Therapy
- Master’s in Public Health Health Education
- Stanford CBT-I Training Sleep Health & Insomnia Program
- CHES Certified Health Education Specialist
Spend Less Time Thinking About Sleep
Carrie can help you build practical tools for when nights get difficult and spend less time worrying about what happens when you can’t sleep.