Stress & Anxiety-Related Insomnia Therapy in Oregon
Take The Pressure Off Sleep
Stress can make it harder to settle into sleep, and worrying about sleep can make it even harder to fall back asleep. When this starts happening regularly, sleep can become another thing to think about during an already busy day.
CBT-I can help address the sleep patterns, behaviors, and thoughts that can keep this cycle going.
Stress Can Change the Way You Sleep
It’s normal for stress to affect your sleep from time to time. A busy period at work, a major life change, or simply having a lot on your mind can make it harder to settle down at night.
For some people, though, difficulty sleeping continues even after the original source of stress has passed. You may lie awake with your thoughts racing, wake during the night and immediately start thinking about everything you need to do tomorrow, or begin worrying about whether you’ll be able to sleep at all.
Over time, the connection between stress, wakefulness, and worry can become part of the sleep problem itself.
A Closer Look at What's
Affecting Your Sleep
Your sleep patterns can give useful clues about what's getting in the way of better nights. 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 Your Mind Is Busy
Trying to make yourself stop thinking rarely makes thoughts disappear. CBT-I can help you look at what happens when your mind is active at bedtime or during the night, and find a different way to respond.
What Happens When
You're Awake
If being awake in bed has become associated with worrying, frustration, or trying harder to sleep, those patterns can make it more difficult to return to sleep. CBT-I uses strategies to change what happens during those periods of wakefulness.
Worry About the
Next Day
A difficult night can quickly turn into thoughts about how tired you'll be tomorrow, whether you'll be able to get through work, or whether another bad night is coming. Reframing those predictions can help take some of the pressure off sleep.
Your Wind-Down Routine
A wind-down routine can help you shift toward sleep, but it doesn't have to mean following a rigid set of bedtime rules. Together, you can look at what helps you settle down and what may be keeping your mind overly-active.
Your Efforts to Get More Sleep
When sleep becomes difficult, it’s natural to try to make up for it by spending more time in bed, going to bed earlier, sleeping later, or taking naps during the day. While these efforts may seem helpful, they can sometimes make it harder to sleep at night. CBT-I can help you understand how these patterns affect your sleep and identify strategies that support more consistent, restorative sleep.
Working Through Stress-Related Sleep Difficulties
Understanding what's happening with your sleep is the starting point. 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, your thoughts and expectations around sleep, or other factors that may be getting in the way. The changes you make are grounded in the science of sleep and designed to support your body’s natural sleep system and help it get back on track.
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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.
Sleep Can Take Up
Less Mental Space
Improving sleep isn’t only about what happens between bedtime and morning.
For many people, one of the most meaningful changes after improving 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 know what to do to break the pattern.
Sleep can become something your body does naturally rather than something you have to constantly manage.
Focused Care for Perimenopause & Menopause-Related Sleep Concerns
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 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
Make Room for Better Nights
You can’t always control what’s happening in your life or whether your mind will be busy at the end of the day. Carrie can help you work on the part you can change: how those experiences affect your sleep.