Treatments and supplements · Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
Does CBT for insomnia actually work better than sleeping pills?
What we can tell you today: how thoroughly this has been studied.
Thoroughly studied
23 studies, of which 5 bring together the results of several trials in people. This is as strong as evidence gets.
5 Repeated evidence 5 studies
4 Large controlled trial 15 studies
3 Small study in people 3 studies
This says how thoroughly something has been studied — not whether it works for you. What each study actually found is in the study itself, and in the plain-language write-ups we are adding.
Appears under: Sleep, energy and the brain
The studies
- 5 Repeated evidence
Components and Delivery Formats of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Insomnia in Adults: A Systematic Review and Component Network Meta-Analysis.
2024 · JAMA psychiatry · 452 participants · manufacturer helped fund this
- 5 Repeated evidence
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia Comorbid With Psychiatric and Medical Conditions: A Meta-analysis.
2015 · JAMA internal medicine
- 5 Repeated evidence
Approaches to the assessment of adherence to CBT-I, predictors of adherence, and the association of adherence to outcomes: A systematic review.
2022 · Sleep medicine reviews · 102 participants
- 5 Repeated evidence
Challenging beliefs for quality sleep: A systematic review of maladaptive sleep beliefs and treatment outcomes following cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.
2023 · Sleep medicine reviews
- 5 Repeated evidence
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Mood and Insomnia in Persons With Dementia: A Systematic Review.
2021 · Alzheimer disease and associated disorders
- 4 Large controlled trial
Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia has sustained effects on insomnia, fatigue, and function among people with chronic heart failure and insomnia: the HeartSleep Study.
2022 · Sleep · 175 participants
- 4 Large controlled trial
Depression prevention via digital cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia: a randomized controlled trial.
2020 · Sleep · 358 participants
- 4 Large controlled trial
Cognitive behavioral therapy, singly and combined with medication, for persistent insomnia: a randomized controlled trial.
2009 · JAMA · 160 participants
- 4 Large controlled trial
Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia prevents and alleviates suicidal ideation: insomnia remission is a suicidolytic mechanism.
2022 · Sleep · 658 participants
- 4 Large controlled trial
Dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep (DBAS) mediate outcomes in dCBT-I on psychological distress, fatigue, and insomnia severity.
2023 · Sleep medicine · 1,073 participants
- 4 Large controlled trial
Digital App Based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy CBT-I Course Improving Insomnia and Sleep Hygiene: A Randomised Controlled Trial.
2026 · Journal of sleep research · 191 participants · manufacturer helped fund this
- 4 Large controlled trial
Impact of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia disorder on sleep and comorbid symptoms in military personnel: a randomized clinical trial.
2019 · Sleep · 151 participants
- 4 Large controlled trial
Effectiveness of one-week internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia to prevent progression from acute to chronic insomnia: A two-arm, multi-center, randomized controlled trial.
2023 · Psychiatry research · 192 participants
- 4 Large controlled trial
Sleep-specific outcomes attributable to digitally delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia in adults with insomnia and depressive symptoms.
2024 · Behavioral sleep medicine · 1,149 participants · manufacturer helped fund this
- 4 Large controlled trial
A randomized controlled trial comparing sleep hygiene advice with a self-help book focusing on cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia: a study among patients with prescribed hypnotics from the GP.
2026 · Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 125 participants
- 4 Large controlled trial
Intraindividual variability in sleep schedule: effects of an internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia program and its relation with symptom remission.
2021 · Sleep · 303 participants
- 4 Large controlled trial
Digital cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (dCBT-I): Chronotype moderation on intervention outcomes.
2022 · Journal of sleep research · 1,721 participants
- 4 Large controlled trial
Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia treatment attrition in patients with weekly nightmares.
2023 · Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official pu · 110 participants
- 4 Large controlled trial
Long-Term Maintenance of Therapeutic Gains Associated With Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia Delivered Alone or Combined With Zolpidem.
2017 · Sleep · 160 participants
- 4 Large controlled trial
The impact of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia on cognitive performance and amyloid beta in older adults: A randomized controlled trial.
2026 · Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's · 100 participants
- 3 Small study in people
Treating insomnia improves depression, maladaptive thinking, and hyperarousal in postmenopausal women: comparing cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI), sleep restriction therapy, and sleep hygiene education.
2020 · Sleep medicine
- 3 Small study in people
Cognitive behavioral therapy vs. Tai Chi for late life insomnia and inflammatory risk: a randomized controlled comparative efficacy trial.
2015 · Sleep
- 3 Small study in people
Preventing postpartum insomnia: findings from a three-arm randomized-controlled trial of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, a responsive bassinet, and sleep hygiene.
2024 · Sleep