Strategies for Improving Your Sleep: Guidance from Psychologist and Insomnia Expert Dr. Shelby Harris

Sufficient high-quality sleep is key to health and well-being at every age. Yet many parents are chronically sleep-deprived, with women three times more likely than men to struggle with insomnia. Consequences include difficulty with mood regulation, memory, learning, weight gain and other health problems. Too often the strategies we use to try to relax and wind down before bed (a glass of wine, binge-watching a favorite TV show, chatting on social media) end up exacerbating sleep difficulties. But there are simple steps we can take right now to begin to establish patterns that will allow us to get the quality sleep we need and, in turn, ensure that our children do the same.   Dr. Shelby Harris, psychologist and author of The Women’s Guide to Overcoming Insomnia, brings a wealth of concrete, research-based strategies to her discussion with Marti & Erin in this Mom Enough episode. Beyond these ways to build good sleep patterns at home, Dr. Harris also emphasizes that, even if you have a clinical level of insomnia that requires professional help, the first line of treatment probably should not be medication. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to be highly effective and safe and should be tried first. Don’t miss this important and informative discussion about an issue that disrupts so many lives.   How are you and your family doing when it comes to sleep? What new things did you learn in this interview with Dr. Shelby Harris? What steps could you take to improve your family’s patterns around bedtime and healthy sleep?   Related Resources: For The Women's Guide to Overcoming Insomnia, click here.