The Role of Acceptance and Mindfulness in the Treatment of Insomnia

The present article explores possible reasons why acceptance and mindfulness techniques may be beneficial in the treatment of insomnia. First, it is argued that sleep is facilitated by cognitive deactivation, with less controlled information processing as compared with daytime functioning, and correspondingly more acceptance of spontaneously occurring physiological and mental processes. Second, it is argued that mindfulness practice, in the form of nonjudgmental observation of spontaneously occurring physical and psychological processes, may be an effective way of training the skills of cognitive deactivation. As a complement, psychoeducational methods are advocated to help the client develop a more functional schematic model of sleep and sleeplessness.