What is Insomnia?

Insomnia is a sleep disorder characterised by a persistent difficulty falling asleep and/or maintaining the sleep.

In the short term, sleep deprivation will cause a substantial reduction in your mental performance. Mental tasks such as memory recall, concentration, reasoning skills, mental arithmetic, and lateral thinking all become impaired.

Research suggests that longer term sleep deprivation can also increase the risk to your physical health and may contribute to heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

Chronic tiredness can also make you much more accident prone. It has been linked with depression and weight problems, and it worsens other mood related problems like anxiety and stress.

Common symptoms of insomnia may include:

• Trouble falling asleep
• Waking up during the night with difficulty getting back to sleep again
• Waking too early in the morning
• Feeling unrefreshed after waking
• Sleepiness during the day
• General tiredness
• Irritability
• Problems with concentration
• Memory problems

For many people the start of their sleep problems follow a major life stress, a build up of anxiety, or a disruption of some kind. Major life stress can include a death of a loved one, moving home, loss of employment, change of job, relationship problems, financial problems, a physical illness, exam stress, birth of a child etc. Insomnia is also a common symptom of some short term or longer term chronic mental issues such as anxiety or depression.

Common causes of insomnia can include:

• Major life stress such as a change or loss of job, a death, divorce, moving home
• Illness
• Emotional discomfort
• Worrying about sleep
• Depression
• Anxiety/Worry
• Chronic stress
• Health concerns
• Physical pain
• Environmental factors like noise, light or extreme temperatures
• Certain medicines
• Switching from a day to night shift
• Jet lag
• Exercising or eating too close to bedtime
• Coffee, energy drinks, or recreational drugs

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Initially people will often find they can't get to sleep because their mind is racing at a hundred miles an hour with thoughts about their problems. After a period of poor sleep, people can also become concerned about how well they will sleep, or how well they will cope if they don't sleep. They now have two problems, the original problem, and the problem with sleeping to worry about. This is often enough to start the worry cycle.

Worry Cycle

For the majority of people with insomnia, it is the worry about your inability to sleep, and how you will cope the next day, that becomes a major factor in maintaining your insomnia, and keeping you awake. This is because worry, stress and anxiety are part of the fight or flight response, which trigger the release of stress related hormones, which stimulate both your body and mind into alertness and action. The more you worry about not sleeping, the more stress hormones your body releases, and because your mind and body are now highly stimulated, it becomes very difficult to get to sleep. Even if you get off to sleep, the stress, worry and anxiety can cause broken and poor quality sleep leaving you feeling unrefreshed in the morning.

During the day you feel exhausted, and this of course can cause you to worry even more about not sleeping. As you didn't sleep well the previous night, you will most likely find yourself thinking about whether you will sleep tonight, and so you inadvertently restart the worry cycle all over again and end up not sleeping for a further night. This very quickly develops into a self sustaining worry cycle which can persist long after the original cause of the sleep problem has gone.

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one."
Elbert Hubbard

Due to the way worry, anxiety and stress function, it is difficult to control them head on. It is natural for us to try to rationalise our way out of our problems, but all that does is add even more mental activity, which simply keeps you awake. You've probably already tried that approach and failed miserably.

"The tree that does not bend with the wind will be broken by the wind"
Chinese proverb

Usually the more you think about and try to control your sleep, the worse it actually gets! I wonder if you could you imagine just how useful it would be for you to learn new and different ways to think and react so that your insomnia just faded away and no longer seemed a problem?

When you are committed to make the inner changes you need to manage your sleep, simply phone me on 0161 881 4333 or to make an appointment now.

Click here to find out more about the insomnia treatment

Sleep Disorders

Many sleep disorders are purely psychological in nature, or have biological and psychological elements. As a psychotherapist I am able to help you with the psychological aspects of your sleep disorder.

Unless you can directly link the start of your sleep problems to a specific cause such as job loss, financial problems, bereavement, stress etc. you should discuss your symptoms with your doctor first so that a full medical assessment can be made.

Dysomnias

Characterised by disturbances in the quantity, quality, or timing of the sleep.

• Insomnia (Primary, Secondary, Transient, Acute and Chronic)
• Hypersomnia
• Narcolepsy
• Breathing-Related Sleep Disorder
• Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorder

Parasomnias

These are unusual or abnormal activities that take place during sleep. The sufferer may be unaware of the unusual behaviour, and it is usually a partner or family member that alerts them to the problem.

• Night Terror Disorder
• Sleepwalking Disorder
• Sleeptalking
• Bruxism (teeth grinding)
• REM Sleep Disorder
• Night Sweats

"One who fears failure limits his activities.
Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again."
Henry Ford

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The Treatment

The Insomnia treatment is available at the Manchester practice, and also online through Skype. The treatment combines various helpful approaches, and is highly tailored to your unique individual requirements. So the exact form of treatment and number of sessions will vary from person to person. However significant improvements can often be made in as little as 6 to 8 one hour sessions, for more deep rooted or complex problems, 8 or more may be required.

A combination of approaches is effective when dealing with sleep issues:

• Psychological interventions such as psychotherapy, counselling, CBT, hypnotherapy & NLP
• Helps you change your thoughts, behaviours and emotional responses:
  • Helps you work through psychological issues that may be contributing to your insomnia, such as depression, anxiety, stress, bereavement etc.
  • Helps you to change how you think about sleep and insomnia, so that your worries about it don't maintain or worsen the problem.
  • Helps to positively change your perceptions of past events and future worries.
  • Helps to disassemble the negative feedback loops, and self reinforcing and self sustaining aspects of the anxiety and worry cycle so that you can quieten your mind and body and get to sleep.
  • Building your self-esteem, self-worth and self confidence so you worry less.
  • Changing limiting beliefs.
  • Changing your perceptions of others, and what you think they think of you, so you worry less.
  • Change what you feel about yourself and your abilities.
  • Learn emotional state management.
• Sleep Education
  • Provide information about sleep, such as the quantity and quality needed, the biology of sleep, the sleep-cycle, and possible causes of sleep disruption etc.
  • Often a better understanding can help reduce anxiety and help you to begin to make positive changes to your sleep patterns.
• Sleep Hygiene Education
  • Sleep hygiene refers to your bedtime routines, and the various behavioural and environmental factors that can influence your sleep. Managing these can help improve both the duration and quality of your sleep.
  • Our sleep/awake patterns are part of our circadian rhythm (our body clock) and are regulated by the hypothalmus. This can be influenced by a number of external factors, including exposure to daylight/darkness, meal times, certain types of food and drink, temperature, exercise and other environmental factors and activities.
  • Making adjustments to routines surrounding our sleep can therefore help entrain a more healthy natural circadian rhythm.
• Sleep Restriction
  • Managing when you go to bed and when you get out of bed, in order to begin to gradually retrain healthy sleep patterns.
  • Limiting the activities in bed just to sleeping or relaxing. The bed and ideally the bedroom, should not be associated with any stimulating activity.
• Mental & Physical Relaxation
  • Learn ways to physically and mentally relax/ground/centre yourself and be more mindful.
  • Helps to quieten a racing mind and a tense body. Which reduces stress and anxiety, and therefore lowers stress related hormones which can interfere with sleep.

The treatment combines sleep education, relaxation, psychotherapy, Counselling, Hypnotherapy, NLP, and CBT which are individually recognised as highly successful ways of changing peoples behaviours and perceptions and I'm sure you can imagine the amazing benefits of combining these powerful techniques, allowing you to quickly and easily change the thoughts and behaviours you currently have so you just find yourself changing in beneficial ways.

I am a professional qualified and experienced Integrative Psychotherapist, Advanced Hypnotherapist, Life Coach, and a Licensed NLP Master Practitioner. I combine all my skills and experience to produce a treatment that is tailored to your needs.

(See the consultation fees page for standard session prices and discounts.)

When you are committed to make the inner changes you need to learn about, manage and take control your insomnia, simply phone me on 0161 881 4333 or to make an appointment now.

When considering the rest of your life, what value do you place on your well-being?

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Booking is easy

NOTE: Before booking it is very important that you get your symptoms diagnosed by a medical practitioner or doctor, as insomnia or sleep problems may also be symptoms of other conditions.

I recommend booking an Initial Consultation/Assessment Session first. This gives us the chance to begin to explore your issues and your requirements further, give you honest answers to any questions you might have, give you a realistic estimate of the number of sessions you may require and begin the process of change.

I practice from a consulting room in my home located in Chorlton in South Manchester, close to junction 7 & 8 of the M60 and the end of the M56. I also practice from a clinic on Harley Street in London.

When you are ready to make the inner changes you need, simply phone me on 0161 881 4333 or to make an appointment now.

If you can't travel to me then I am available worldwide for online therapy and coaching via Skype.

Please consider joining the email mailing list to be kept up to date with upcoming events.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Corporate Work

My services can also be combined and tailored to your group or corporate needs, and range from EAP (Employee Assistance Programme - one to one therapy, counselling or coaching sessions) through to bespoke group training, workshops, and outdoor activities and retreats.

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Nigel Magowan
BSc(Hons) UKCP(CIT) MCCP DABCH MCAHyp GHR SQHP MHA AMPM
Solution-Focused Integrative Psychotherapist, Life Coach, Licensed NLP Master Practitioner, Ecotherapist, Accredited Supervisor and Advanced Hypnotherapist

About Nigel Magowan

Nigel Magowan is a professional and experienced Solution-Focused Integrative Psychotherapist, Life Coach, a Licensed NLP Master Practitioner, an Advanced Hypnotherapist and Ecotherapist. Nigel has trained with some of the best trainers. He combines all his training, skills and experience to produce a treatment that is tailored to your exact needs. He uses an integrative solution focused approach to his work which can bring about results in a much shorter time. He is an Approved Anxiety UK Therapist. He has also received additional specialist training in treating insomnia and sleep disorders, working with addictions, treating IBS, anger management, controlling pain, stress management techniques, and ecotherapy. Nigel is also a fully trained and a GHR accredited supervisor and offers supervision to complementary therapists.

Nigel holds a recent enhanced CRB certificate.

Since 2002 he has had his own busy full-time Psychotherapy, Counselling, Life Coaching, NLP and Hypnotherapy practice in Chorlton, South Manchester, and Harley Street, London. Within easy traveling distance of Altrincham, Ashton, Bolton, Buxton, Didsbury, Fallowfield, Gatley, Glossop, Hyde, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Manchester City Centre, Oldham, Preston, Rochdale, Sale, Stretford, Whalley Range, Wilmslow, Withington and other towns in Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and the Greater Manchester and the North West area.

He specialises in helping people with anxiety, panic attacks, stress management, insomnia and sleep disorders, addictions, anger, IBS, depression, pain control, confidence and self esteem, insomnia and sleep disorders, public speaking and performance anxiety, fears, phobias, eating disorders, and study and sport performance enhancement.

He is a a UKCP Candidate in Training; a full member of the Community for Contemporary Psychotherapy; a senior member of the General Hypnotherapy Register, a full member of the Hypnotherapy Association; an Approved Anxiety UK Therapist; a Professional Member of the Association for Neuro-Linguistic Programming (ANLP); the NHS Directory of Complementary & Alternative Practitioners; the UK Register of IBS Therapists

He practices according to the Community for Contemporary Psychotherapy, General Hypnotherapy Standards Council, ANLP and Hypnotherapy Associations code of ethics, and has full Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Qualifications and Training

Continuing Professional Development
Current and on-going training and supervision, keeping my skills fresh and at the cutting edge

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Clients come to me from all over the North West of England, see below for a list of areas covered:

Greater Manchester: Chorlton ~ Didsbury ~ Fallowfield ~ Flixton ~ Eccles ~ Irlam ~ Salford ~ Swinton ~ Pendlebury ~ Worsley ~ Walkden ~ Cadishead ~ Bury ~ Bolton ~ Farnworth ~ Little Lever ~ Kearsley ~ Wardley ~ Monton ~ Orrel ~ Barton ~ Boothstown ~ Dumplington ~ Baguley ~ Benchill ~ Burnage ~ Blackley ~ Beswick ~ Clayton ~ Crumpsall ~ Levenshulme ~ Longsight ~ Northenden ~ Rusholme ~ Sharston ~ Withington ~ Woodhouse Park ~ Wythenshawe ~ Westhoughton ~ Blackrod ~ Kearsley ~ Horwich ~ Prestwich ~ Ramsbottom ~ Radcliffe ~ Tottington ~ Whitefield ~ Whalley Range ~ Carrington ~ Victoria Park ~ Old Trafford ~ Cheetham Hill ~ Tamesdie ~ Ashton under Lyme ~ Denton ~ Reddish ~ Stalybridge ~ Hyde ~ Oldham ~ Royton ~ Saddleworth ~ Rochdale ~ Heywood ~ Littleborough ~ Castleton ~ Milnrow ~ Middleton ~ Wardle ~ Wigan ~ Ashton-in-Makerfield ~ Golborne ~ Billinge ~ Winstanley ~ Leigh ~ Standish.

North Trafford: Davyhulme ~ Firswood ~ Flixton ~ Gorse Hill ~ Lostock ~ Old Trafford ~ Stretford ~ Trafford Park ~ Urmston.

South Trafford: Altrincham ~ Ashton-on-Mersey ~ Bowdon ~ Broadheath ~ Brooklands ~ Carrington ~ Dunham Massey ~ Hale ~ Hale Barns ~ Oldfield Brow ~ Partington ~ Sale ~ Sale Moor ~ Timperley ~ Warburton ~ West Timperley.

Stockport: Adswood ~ Bramhall ~ Bredbury ~ Brinnington ~ Cheadle ~ Cheadle Hulme ~ Compstall ~ Davenport ~ Edgeley ~ Gatley ~ Heaton Moor ~ Heaton Norris ~ Heaton Chapel ~ Heaton Mersey ~ Hazel Grove ~ Heald Green ~ Heavily ~ High Lane ~ Marple ~ Offerton ~ Poynton ~ Reddish ~ Romiley.

Cheshire: Alderley Edge ~ Adlington ~ Ashley ~ Bucklow Hill ~ Handforth Dean ~ High Legh ~ Knutsford ~ Mere ~ Mobberley ~ Ollerton ~ Plumley ~ Tatton ~ Pickmere ~ Wilmslow ~ Warburton ~ Woodford ~ Lymm ~ Dunham ~ Massey ~ Chester ~ Crewe ~ Northwich ~ Daresbury ~ Warington ~ Winsford ~ Widnes ~ Wirral ~ Nantwich ~ Sandbach ~ Middlewich ~ Congleton ~ Alsager ~ Macclesfield ~ Prestbury ~ Goostrey ~ Pickmere ~ Mottram St.Andrew ~ Mobberley ~ Chelford ~ Tytherington ~ Bollington ~ Alsager ~ Tarporley ~ Davenham ~ Great Appleton Thorn ~ Budworth ~ Little Budworth ~ Frodsham ~ Holmes Chape ~ High Legh ~ Disley ~ Grappenhall ~ Appleton ~ Croft ~ Thelwall ~ Penketh ~ Glazebury ~ Winwick ~ Culcheth ~ Saint Helens ~ Over Peover ~ Lower Peover ~ Church Lawton ~ Cranage ~ Stockton Heath.

Cumbria ~ Lancashire ~ Merseyside ~ Derbyshire ~ Staffordshire ~ Peak District ~ North Wales ~ North West.

SCN,pineal,melatonin,seratonin,tryptophan

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