Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia & Sleep Anxiety in California
Therapy for Insomnia and Anxiety in California
If your mind turns on at night, your sleep feels unpredictable, or you’ve started to feel anxious about sleep itself, you’re not alone ...and this is treatable!
I help adults in California break the cycle of insomnia and sleep anxiety using structured, evidence-based therapy (CBT-I and ACT-I).
This is not about trying harder to sleep.
It’s about helping your system relearn how to sleep.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation
California therapist specializing in insomnia, sleep anxiety, and nighttime overthinking, using CBT-I and ACT-I to help adults sleep more consistently.
If This Sounds Familiar
• You feel exhausted but “wired” at night
• Falling asleep takes too long, or you dread going to bed
• You wake up during the night and can’t shut your mind off
• You’re tracking or thinking about sleep constantly
• Sleep is affecting your mood, patience, or ability to focus
• You’ve tried different strategies and still feel stuck
If this sounds familiar, you’re likely dealing with a pattern of insomnia and sleep anxiety — not a lack of effort.
What I Help With
• Chronic insomnia
• Sleep anxiety (feeling “wired and tired”)
• Difficulty falling or staying asleep
• Overthinking at night
• Fear or dread around sleep
• Daytime fatigue related to poor sleep
• Anxiety that worsens at night
I specialize in treating insomnia and sleep anxiety using CBT-I and ACT-I.
How Sleep And Anxiety Are Connected
Sleep and anxiety often reinforce each other.
When sleep becomes inconsistent, the brain becomes more alert at night.
That alertness makes it harder to fall asleep, which then increases anxiety about sleep.
Over time, this creates a cycle:
poor sleep → more anxiety → more difficulty sleeping
This is why focusing on sleep can have a meaningful impact on anxiety, mood, and daily functioning.
How Sleep Therapy Works
Sleep-focused therapy uses structured, evidence-based approaches such as CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) and ACT-I (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Insomnia).
Rather than adding more “sleep tips,” this work focuses on identifying and changing the patterns that keep the sleep cycle stuck — including how your body, mind, and habits have adapted around sleep.
The goal is to help your system relearn how to sleep, naturally and consistently.
I work with three common and overlapping patterns:
Insomnia & Sleep Disruption
Stop treating sleep like a nightly emergency.
Evidence-based CBT-I and ACT-I helps reset your sleep system, break the cycle of nighttime anxiety, and rebuild trust with your bed. Whether you’re dealing with long-term insomnia, early-morning awakenings, or sleep anxiety, we use proven strategies to help your mind and body learn how to rest again.
Anxiety & Overthinking
Train your brain to stand down, day and night.
If your mind spends all day in “What if?” mode, it’s no surprise that bedtime feels impossible. We work on chronic worry, rumination, overthinking, and the stress patterns that keep your nervous system in high alert. You’ll learn tools to calm your mind and body both during the day and at night.
High Achievers & Perfectionism
Recover from burnout without losing your edge
High achievers often push through stress without realizing how much it fuels anxiety and sleep disruption. Together, we work on people-pleasing, performance pressure, boundary challenges, relationship tension, and the patterns that keep you running on adrenaline — even when you’re exhausted.
Sleep is often the loudest symptom, but it’s rarely the whole story.
Why This Approach Works
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is considered the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia.
It works by targeting the underlying patterns that disrupt sleep, rather than masking symptoms.
In my work, I also integrate ACT-I (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Insomnia) and mindfulness-based strategies to help reduce the struggle with sleep and calm an overactive mind at night.
Research shows CBT-I can be as effective as medication in the short term and more effective over time, with longer-lasting results.
Even if sleep has been a struggle for a long time, these patterns can change.
What Working Together Looks Like
1) Free 15-minute consultation
A brief, low-pressure conversation to understand what you’ve been experiencing, answer your questions, and see if this feels like a good fit.
2) Assessment and plan
We map out your sleep patterns and identify what’s keeping the insomnia cycle going. This may include short-term tracking so the work is tailored to you.
3) Weekly sessions (most clients: 6–10 sessions)
We use structured strategies to improve sleep consistency, reduce nighttime anxiety, and rebuild confidence in your ability to sleep. Most people complete this work in 6–10 sessions.
4) Completion and next steps
Once sleep stabilizes, treatment wraps up. Some clients choose to continue working more broadly on anxiety or related areas.
Therapy is structured, practical, and collaborative.
Most clients can expect:
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Short-term, goal-focused treatment
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Weekly online sessions
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Clear tools you can use right away
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Attention to both sleep patterns and what is fueling them
Sessions are held securely online and available to clients throughout California.
About Anissa Bell LMFT
Therapy works best when you feel connected to the person you’re working with. Here’s a little about me and how I show up in this work.
I’ve been a therapist for more than sixteen years, helping people untangle anxiety, chronic worry, and the stress patterns that keep them on edge.
As my work evolved, I developed a strong focus on insomnia and sleep anxiety, combining evidence-based approaches such as CBT-I and ACT-I with grounded conversations about the pressures, habits, and relationships that shape how you live, and how you sleep.
I help clients understand what’s actually driving their sleep and anxiety struggles, build practical skills that fit real life, and make changes that feel doable rather than overwhelming.
As a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), I’m trained to understand how thoughts, emotions, stress, and relationships influence the nervous system and daily functioning. This includes evidence-based treatment for anxiety, behavioral change, and the patterns that commonly contribute to sleep problems.
What Changes When Sleep Improves
When sleep stabilizes, people often notice changes beyond just nighttime:
• clearer thinking and improved focus
• more stable mood and emotional regulation
• less anxiety around bedtime
• more energy and consistency during the day
Sleep is foundational. When it improves, many other areas of life become easier to manage.
Therapy Across California
All sessions are conducted via secure telehealth for adults located in California.
Beyond Sleep
Many people begin this work to address insomnia.
As sleep improves, it often becomes clearer how factors like anxiety, overthinking, perfectionism, or relationship stress are connected to nighttime patterns.
If it feels helpful, we can continue working together more broadly.
There’s no expectation to do this — the sleep-focused work is structured and time-limited — but for some people, it becomes a natural next step.
Ready to Talk About Your Sleep?
If insomnia has started to take over your nights or your days, a brief consultation can help clarify next steps.
In a free 15-minute call, we can talk about:
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What has been happening with your sleep
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Whether therapy is a good fit
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What kind of support may help