A Basic 3 day seminar on Insomnia

I would like to share some information with you regarding the availability of CE trainings for CBT-I, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia. We have several non-profit educational offerings that we're hoping will be of interest to your membership and that you'll be willing to recommend this to your constituency via your list serve, blog, or newsletter.

Why is the treatment of insomnia of interest? After a long while and lots of debate, the answer is clear: Insomnia is now classified as a disorder (vs. a symptom) in the DSM-5 and the ICSD-3. The implication of this change is that chronic insomnia should be treated as primary disorder regardless if it occurs comorbidly with other disorders. This significant change in perspective came about through meticulous research that has demonstrated that insomnia:

- is often a prodrome or possible risk factor for a variety of medical and psychiatric disorders

- severity varies independently of the "Parent Disorder" (aka comorbid disorders)

- does not tend to remit, even with successful treatment of the "Parent Disorder", and therefore serves as a risk factor for relapse

- responds very well to CBT-I, regardless of whether it is a primary disorder or comorbid with other disorders

- produces significant gains in illnesses that occur co-morbidly with it (this is esp. clear for depression).

Given these factors, the sheer prevalence of insomnia (about 10% of the population, 50% of primary care patients, and about 80% of Axis 1 disorders) and the recent press (both popular and professional) about CBT-I, it is our hope that the leadership of your clinical society will view CE education of the types we offer as useful. If so, please feel free to distribute the information below.

The educational activities that may be of interest to your membership are as follows:

A Basic three day seminar (http://www.med.upenn.edu/cbti/index.html)
An Advanced three day seminar (http://www.med.upenn.edu/cbti/index.html)

If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to visit our web site or to write me directly.

Sincerely
Michael Perlis
Associate Professor, Psychiatry - University of Pennsylvania
Director, Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program - University of Pennsylvania