Barry Krakow, MD on Sleep and Trauma Part 2

IRT is an easy technique to learn and has a lot of power in fixing nightmares. Nightmares may linger because they become learned. imagery rehearsal therapy can help to unlearn them. Insomnia is a huge problem and the psychological issue of not being able to go back to sleep is a huge deal. People need to learn how to overcome it by changing a few behaviors and making their bedroom and bed sanctified. There are various methods of treating nasal congestion, and conservatives are usually nasal sprays and nasal strips. If you have conditioned sleeping responses that are making it difficult to fall asleep, gradually working on desensitization is key. Also, seeing if there are other factors that may be affecting your sleep, such as temperature, budget, or bedroom environment. There are many common symptoms of sleep disordered breathing that vary depending on the individual, and some treatments, such as nasal saline, are simple and inexpensive.

Barry Krakow, MD is a board certified sleep medicine specialist practicing in Savannah,
Georgia following a 30 year career in conducting research in psychiatric patients with
sleep disorders and treating these individuals with evidence-based pioneering techniques
to optimize care. His new practice involves an innovative sleep health coaching program.
Dr. Krakow’s career in sleep medicine started in 1988 when he joined the Department of
Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and collaborated on the
first randomized controlled trial on the innovative nightmare treatment protocol, Imagery
Rehearsal Therapy (IRT). His subsequent research team at the Sleep & Human Health
Institute has published extensively on IRT in the form of peer-reviewed articles, book
chapters, and landmark training manual, Turning Nightmares into Dreams, the most
widely used resource for patients and providers to learn the IRT methodology. Dr.
Krakow’s additional research and clinical practice on sleep disorders has again led to
extensive peer-reviewed publications demonstrating the independent co-morbid nature of
sleep disorders in mental health patients in general and PTSD patients in particular. His
pioneering efforts in evaluating and treating PTSD patients led the way in the recognition
of the unexpectedly high prevalence of sleep apnea in PTSD patients. As a result, his
research team and clinical practice models have established various techniques and
technologies to effectively treat these disorders in ways not customarily applied at
traditional sleep medical centers. Finally, since 2008 Dr. Krakow has conducted
numerous training workshops on IRT as well as on sleep disorders practice models for
mental health patients. Programs have been conducted at more than 25 military bases
and Veteran’s medical centers as well as 25 civilian mental health institutions. The most
extensive program effort occurred through AMEDD C&S in 2012-2014 at 10 different
military bases. Last, Dr. Krakow helped to initiate the first Nightmare Treatment
Symposium in July, 2016 involving the world’s leading nightmare treatment researchers
and specialists. His latest book on sleep and mental health published this year is Life
Saving Sleep: New Horizons in Mental Health Treatment.