Do You Need a Sleep Coach?

Sleeping for eight hours of quality, uninterrupted sleep every night can improve every aspect of our mental and physical health and allow us to lead our healthiest, happiest lives.  However, nearly 50% of the world are now suffering from sleep deprivation and missing out on the life-enhancing benefits of sleep.

The cause of sleep deprivation is multifaceted and highly individualised, therefore it is impossible to have a one size fits all approach when helping someone to improve their sleep. While we are quick to seek out professional advice for many of our health concerns, many of us never get help or wait too long to improve our sleep. It can be hard to know where to start to identify exactly what is causing your sleeping issues. It can also be difficult to get into a new habit of prioritising your sleep. However, the longer we are sleep deprived the greater the health consequences and the longer it can take to bring your sleep back into balance, especially if you have developed a more serious sleep disorder.  It’s important to take action as soon as possible to improve your sleep with a tailor-made, client-centred solution from our sleep coach.

Quite simply put, a great sleep coach can help you identify and address any of your sleep-related issues to help you wake up ready to achieve in any area of your life. Whether your goal is to be more efficient in your workplace, a better parent or partner or prevent you from getting the numerous diseases that are caused by sleep disturbances, improving your sleep can help you feel more joy, vitality and satisfaction.

What is a Sleep Coach?
We are usually exposed to the word ‘coach’ when we are following a rugby game or the Olympics. The reality is that you do not have to be a high-performance athlete to need a coach. People can uses coaches to help them to achieve any goal. Coaches are chosen based on their expertise, guidance and advice that they can share with the person to help them achieve their goals or in our case their “dreams”.

However, not all coaches are created equally. A great coach has to have certain levels of qualifications and education as well as practical experience of working with real people. There are some that are globally recognised and one such globally esteemed institution is the International Coaching Federation. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) is the leading global organisation for coaches and coaching. It is dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high standards, providing independent certification and building a worldwide network of trained coaching professionals. ICF defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential. The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity and leadership”.

We all have goals we want to reach, challenges we’re striving to overcome and times when we feel stuck. Partnering with a coach can set you on a path to greater personal and professional fulfilment.

Sleep coaching here at the SleepDrops Sleep and Wellness Centre is based on the same ICF coaching principles and is often a life-changing experience. People that have worked with our sleep coach are now enjoying eight hours of quality sleep consistently and often say they didn’t understand just how sleep deprived they really were or how it was really impacting their ability to look, feel and function at their best.

Q and A with Sleep Coach, Dr Anitha Vivekanandan

How Do I Work as a Sleep Coach?
My aim as your sleep coach is to improve your sleep in a holistic approach. I work with work adults, children or families. Typically, the first session is usually an in-depth interview in person but can also be conducted via the phone or an internet based meeting platform if more convenient.

At this first meeting, I will gather information to identify any common physical, mental or environmental challenges that may be causing your sleep difficulties. It is at this first meeting I will also ask you to share with me your goals for your sleep. I will then provide informed guidance and support you to make changes in specific areas relevant to you. With your help I will then devise and develop a plan to ensure it meets your needs, is achievable and encompasses what is important to you so that you are motivated to make the realistic and sustainable behaviour changes you need to achieve your sleep goals. More often than not, my clients report a big difference in their sleep and other aspects of their lives after only a few visits and are genuinely grateful for the huge improvement they’ve made by making a few small but significant changes.  In each follow-up session, we will establish how well the plan has worked for you and continue to make further enhancements as you progress.

What Unique Skills & Experience Do I Bring To Sleep Coaching
I am actually a qualified and experienced Ear, Nose & Throat Surgeon and lecturer/researcher and gave up medicine to follow my passion to help people sleep. I am an ICF Certified Life Coach, a BBT-i Practitioner, as well as a Heal Your Life® workshop facilitator and all of these unique skills and experiences, inform my coaching service to create a tailored plan for my clients.

Brief Behavioural Therapy (BBTI) is an updated version of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Because BBTI is so effective, it is able to be delivered over four consecutive sessions (instead of the usual 6 or 8 needed for CBT-I). BBT-I utilises two critical behavioural principles that can help you reset your sleep-wake cycles so you can enjoy deeper, longer and consistent sleep again.

This scientifically validated approach is balanced by the holistic philosophy known as Heal Your Life®. Heal Your Life is based on the work of Louise Hay, one of the pioneers that incorporate the mind-body connection into healing. Her work is highly recognised and practised by thousands of practitioners worldwide. Sleep can sometimes require healing at a deeper level, and I use all of these skills and principles to help you sleep better.

Here’s a testimonial from one of my recent clients: