This title is due to be published on the 18th February 2025. You can if you wish, order it now at our special pre-publication price and we will deliver it to you as soon as it becomes available.

Sleep disturbances and trauma are intrinsically linked—so why aren’t therapists trained in sleep repair?

Anyone who has suffered from trauma knows what it means to have sleepless nights. In fact, research has shown that at the heart of both trauma and sleep disorders is a dysregulated brainstem with heightened sympathetic nervous system activity. Yet, current trauma treatments largely ignore this profound interconnection between trauma and sleep. Putting Trauma to Sleep proposes that incorporating a therapeutic TABS model (traumatic events, attachment disturbances, bodily symptoms, sleep repair), therapists can better aid their clients in both healing from trauma and restoring sleep.

With practical clinical approaches and illustrative case examples, sleep specialists Jaan Reitav and Celeste Thirlwell demonstrate how therapists and their clients can integrate sleep repair into trauma work by enhancing parasympathetic nervous system tone and actively attending to shock reactions in the body. Dysfunctional sleeping patterns have been ignored for too long within the psychotherapy sphere; this indispensable resource will transform readers’ understanding of both sleep and trauma therapy.