BEHAVIORAL-ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF INSOMNIA - A REVIEW WITH AN EMPHASIS ON CLINICAL-APPLICATION

We reviewed behavioral and related nonpharmacologic treatments for ins omnia, as well as salient diagnostic and assessment issues. The paper evaluates the scientific status of the existing literature, giving gre ater weight to the literature of the past decade, and offers practical , clinical recommendations for assessment and treatment that derive fr om the literature. We found that treatments for insomnia, namely relax ation, cognitive behavior therapy, stimulus control, sleep restriction , and sleep hygiene are all effective to varying degrees, and it is bo th practically feasible and clinically desirable to favor a tailored p ackage treatment approach rather than relying on unitary interventions . Overall, we underscored the importance of comprehensive, development ally tuned assessment, and we concluded that behavioral treatment of i nsomnia has demonstrated strong success. Promising areas for future in quiry include comparing nonpharmacologic vs. hypnotic treatments and e xploring the utility of very brief and self-help interventions.