Welcome Letter

Welcome to my DIY sleep treatment course!

Hi there, my name is Stephanie and I’m a Sleep Physiologist and founder of the Sleepyhead Clinic. Through years of study, many many patients kindly sharing their experiences with me and successfully treating their sleep problems, and my own experiences, I have created this do-it-yourself sleep treatment guide. It is not based on the sleep hacks you hear lots about in the media (After all, you know they don’t work), but more the evidence base and science. Unlike a complicated textbook, the language of this course is easy to follow and realistic to follow. Unlike much of the media coverage on sleep out there, I won’t be scaremongering you about NOT sleeping. This is a positive, be kind to yourself, empower yourself and take control kind of course! 

This course requires commitment to the strategies as much as possible to develop healthier sleep, and you have already taken the first step. So well done!!! The evidence shows us that if you can follow it as much as possible, even when it gets hard, it can improve your sleep consistently and in the long term. As with most habitual changes, things can feel worse before they get better. This is normal. As your current sleeping pattern is rather engrained – your body has got used to sleeping poorly and it has become a habit – it does take a while to get used to, and for your brain and body to accept the changes. Unlike a crash diet, which rarely has lasting results, this is not a simple switch but more of a gradual, healthy lifestyle change. With all this in mind, life always gets in the way and creates challenges for us, despite our best intentions – and that’s OK. We are only human! Don’t worry if you can’t stick to it all the time. It’s all a learning curve and once you start to see differences it becomes easier and easier. While it’s interesting and useful to tease out when the sleep problem started and what you have already tried, these sessions are not to evaluate or discuss the past in detail. After all, you have probably already tried this to some degree and it has not resulted in better sleep in the long term.

This course is designed to make you the sleep expert and if now is not a good time to start the course, you can use it as ‘study’ instead – prepping for when you will undertake it. It can work with you when you need it to. While this course is very evidence-based and safe, it is always up to you what you take on. The programme is here to highlight what can be done to improve sleep, sticking to all the evidence-based, tried-and-tested strategies. 

IMPORTANT: You have a legal obligation not to drive or operate heavy machinery if you are feeling sleepy. This course is designed to build up the sleep drive and, in the short term, this can lead to extra sleepiness during the day. It is important that you do not drive or operate heavy machinery should you start to feel sleepy during the day.