Insomnia & Sleep Therapy · Ages 5 and up
The harder you try to force sleep, the more it slips away. Rest can become natural again.
When sleep won't come, or won't stay, everything else gets harder. Chronic insomnia wears down your mood, focus, and health, and the harder you try to force sleep, the more elusive it can feel.
What it looks like
How insomnia can show up
Insomnia is more than the occasional bad night. Often it shows up as some mix of the following.
- Ongoing trouble falling asleep at night
- Waking through the night and struggling to drift back
- Waking too early and unable to return to sleep
- Daytime fatigue that wears on mood and focus
- Frustration and worry that build around sleep
- A cycle of anxiety about sleep that keeps you awake
Retraining your body to rest on its own
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is the most effective, longest-lasting treatment, more so than sleep medication for most patients. Our clinicians help you reset the habits and thought patterns around sleep, so rest becomes something your body does again on its own.
Insomnia frequently comes with anxiety, depression, or stress, and it often overlaps with them. We treat the sleep difficulty and the bigger picture together.
We treat sleep difficulties across ages 5 and up, tailoring the approach to each stage of life. CBT-I here is provided by Karen Shockley, LCPC.
Our approach
How insomnia treatment works at LodeStone
A whole-picture, coordinated path, not a one-size-fits-all plan.
Understand the whole picture
We start by learning your sleep patterns, the worries that surround them, and how the difficulty affects your days.
Reset habits and thoughts with CBT-I
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia helps you change the habits and thought patterns around sleep, so rest returns on its own.
Coordinate the care
Because insomnia so often travels with anxiety, depression, or stress, we treat the sleep and the bigger picture together, in step with any prescriber.
Not sure where to start? Get answers and we will match you with the right clinician.
We provide this care in person at our Hinsdale and Woodstock offices, and by telehealth across Illinois. We are in-network with BCBS PPO, Blue Choice, Aetna, Medicare, and United Behavioral Health, and we verify your benefits before your first visit.
A closer look
Understanding chronic insomnia, and why trying harder backfires
Occasional bad nights are part of being human. Chronic insomnia is different: the sleeplessness itself becomes the pattern. The bed becomes a place where you work at sleeping, the mind learns to switch on the moment the light goes off, and each anxious glance at the clock feeds the next. Sleep is one of the few things effort actively ruins, which is why the way out is retraining, not trying harder.
Why sleep hygiene alone isn't enough
By the time most people reach us, they've already banished screens, bought blackout curtains, and cut afternoon coffee. Sleep hygiene is sensible, but for chronic insomnia it rarely reaches the engine: a conditioned link between bed and wakefulness, and a sleep drive scattered by irregular hours and compensating naps. CBT-I rebuilds both, which is why it outperforms sleep medication for lasting results and is the recommended first-line treatment.
Sleep trouble at every age
Children fight bedtime or can't sleep alone; teens drift hours out of phase with school mornings; adults wake at 3 a.m. to a mind that won't stand down; older adults find sleep thinner and earlier than they want. We treat sleep difficulties from age five up, fitting the plan to the person and the season of life.
Your first steps
What to expect when you start
CBT-I is structured and brief, and it asks something of you. Here's what that actually looks like.
Before your first visit
Start with the get-answers form or a phone call. We'll match you with a clinician and verify your insurance benefits before your first visit, so cost is never a surprise.
Mapping your sleep
Your clinician will take a close history and have you keep a simple sleep diary for a week or two. That record, not memory, is what the plan gets built on, and it's usually eye-opening.
The retraining weeks
You'll follow a structured plan: a consistent sleep window, getting out of bed when sleep won't come, and unwinding the effort around sleep. The first weeks can feel counterintuitive; most people then feel sleep begin to consolidate.
Good to know
Insomnia treatment: frequently asked questions
What exactly is CBT-I?+
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia is a short, structured program that retrains the two things chronic insomnia breaks: the association between bed and sleep, and the pressure that builds your natural sleep drive. It's the first-line treatment recommended ahead of sleep medication, and its results last after the sessions end.
How long until I sleep better?+
CBT-I is one of the briefer treatments we offer: a matter of weeks, not months, for most people. The early weeks can feel like a step backward as the schedule tightens, which is normal and temporary, and your clinician will walk you through it.
Can it work if I'm already taking sleep medication?+
Yes. Many people start CBT-I while on sleep medication, and some later choose to taper once sleep steadies. Tapers are planned carefully with the prescriber, and because prescribing and therapy live under one roof here, that coordination is straightforward.
My child can't fall asleep alone. Is that insomnia?+
Sometimes, and sometimes it's worry wearing a bedtime costume. Trouble sleeping alone is often separation anxiety, and bedtime battles can have other drivers too. We start by figuring out which it is, then treat the right thing.
Will my insurance cover insomnia treatment?+
We are in-network with BCBS PPO, Blue Choice, Aetna, Medicare, and United Behavioral Health, and we verify your benefits before your first visit so you know exactly what to expect.
Does CBT-I work over telehealth?+
Yes, notably well. The work happens in your own bedroom and your own routine anyway, so video sessions fit it naturally. We offer telehealth across Illinois and in-person care in Hinsdale and Woodstock.