Introduction to Sleep Medicine at One to One Wellness
Sleep medicine refers to the practice of improving sleep for better rest, mood, and restoration. Without proper sleep, the body has trouble restoring and healing properly.
Whether you are struggling with a sleep disorder such as insomnia or sleep apnea, or dealing with other conditions such as PTSD or chronic pain that interrupt your sleep, our sleep medicine program is designed to address causes and contributing factors impacting your sleep.
Our sleep medicine practice focuses on enhancing restful and restorative sleep to support mood and healing to boost resilience. If you or a family member is struggling to sleep sufficiently or feel fatigued even after a full night of sleep, we can help you find the cause and achieve better rest.
Book Appointment
What Is Sleep Medicine?
Sleep medicine is a practice that focuses on improving restful and restorative sleep through a variety of therapies and sleep hygiene practices.
At One to One Wellness, a sleep medicine psychiatrist provides assessments and helps build a treatment plan that helps you to achieve better rest and relieve daytime fatigue. Depending on the cause of your sleep disturbances, your sleep medicine psychiatrist may work together with other practitioners to address underlying conditions such as mental health issues or chronic pain.
What Does Sleep Medicine Help Treat?
Sleep medicine helps to treat sleep disorders, such as insomnia, circadian rhythm disruptions, sleep apnea, and other conditions that disturb restfulness, such as PTSD and chronic pain.
Our general sleep medicine services are available to any adult struggling with sleep issues who is covered by third-party insurers, including WCB and RCMP benefits.
Our Veterans’ Pain Management Program also includes a sleep medicine component, addressing insomnia, nightmares, circadian disruption, chronic pain, and mood symptoms, which often overlap with sleep disturbances.
What to Expect During a Sleep Medicine Appointment
Sleep medicine begins with a thorough assessment of your situation to determine the greatest impacts interrupting your sleep and which treatments may be the most effective.
Following your assessment, we’ll work with you to develop a personalized treatment plan that may include specific sleep therapies, improved sleep hygiene practices, referrals to other practitioners, and a review of current medications.
Each part of your treatment, including the assessment, may vary in length and number of sessions. This is generally determined by the complexity of your situation and how many other factors may be present. Your sleep medicine practitioners will keep you updated throughout the process so you’re aware and informed about your treatment timeline and any suspected conditions.
The assessment period may take one or more sessions, depending on your needs. The assessment includes a structured clinical interview that focuses on your sleep schedule, symptoms, medications, substances, and medical and mental health history.
We’ll use tools such as a sleep diary, usually over 1 to 2 weeks, which quantifies timing, total sleep time, awakenings, and sleep patterns. We may ask you to complete specific screening questionnaires based on the symptoms you report, such as insomnia severity, daytime sleepiness, fatigue, restless legs, sleep apnea risk, and PTSD-related sleep disturbance.
If you track your sleep with a fitness tracker, we can also review this data with you; however, your sleep diary and symptoms will drive decision-making for treatments.
Your treatment plan will be personalized based on your assessment results. Some of the possible therapies and treatments that may be incorporated in your plan include:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
- Stimulus control
- Sleep restriction or sleep compression (used carefully and individualized to the person)
- Cognitive strategies to ease a racing mind, worry, and sleep-related anxiety
- Improve sleep hygiene (such as establishing a sleep schedule, winding down properly, addressing any habits that interfere with sleep, etc.)
- Circadian rhythm interventions as needed
- Wake-time anchoring (establishing a consistent wake-up time)
- Light timing and evening light reduction
- Strategic activity and meal timing to support rest
- Nightmare-focused approaches when relevant (often in collaboration with psychology)
- Medication review (when a physician is involved), including deprescribing when appropriate, and careful consideration of interactions with pain or mood medications
- If obstructive sleep apnea is suspected, care often involves coordination with your primary care provider or sleep lab pathways and support with adherence once diagnosed
Patients will likely have a simple home plan incorporated with their overall treatment plan, including:
- Sleep diary tracking
- One or two targeting behavioural changes to focus on during the week
- A consistent wake time (wake-time anchoring)
- A wind-down routine that’s realistic, not aspirational
- Light and screen guidance tailored to your schedule
Virtual Sleep Medicine Appointments
Virtual sleep medicine appointments are also available. All you need is access to a laptop or tablet with a microphone, camera, and a steady internet connection.
Most sleep care can be provided virtually with comparable outcomes to in-person sessions for insomnia-focused treatment. In-person visits may be recommended for complex cases or when integrated same-day care with other providers is beneficial.
Virtual sleep medicine appointments are provided via Jane App or telephone. We will ask you to share your contact information, and your physiotherapist will contact you at your scheduled appointment time.
Support Your Overall Wellness Through Better Rest
Sleep problems rarely exist in isolation. Many people experiencing chronic pain and complex conditions may also experience disturbances to their sleep and rest. Your sleep medicine provider will often work together with other practitioners to provide comprehensive care that addresses your overall wellness. This may include:
- Psychology: Psychologists can support mental health-related conditions that impact sleep, such as anxiety, depression, trauma or PTSD-related sleep disturbances, nightmare treatment, and CBT-I treatment.
- Nurse practitioner or physician: Medical practitioners can assist with medical screenings, medication reviews, comorbidity management of other conditions, and refer patients for sleep apnea testing when needed.
- Physiotherapy: Physiotherapists can provide pain management strategies, recommend activity pacing or graded activity, and address factors that drive nighttime pain or restlessness.
- Occupational therapy: Occupational therapists can provide guidance and support for routines, fatigue management, return-to-function planning, shift work supports, and environment adjustments, combined with your sleep medicine treatment plan.
- Massage therapy or osteopathy: Both treatments can support symptom management for pain and muscle tension, improve relaxation and restoration, and promote nervous system balance. These are recommended in conjunction with sleep medicine, not as a primary treatment for insomnia.
- Interdisciplinary case review: Particularly useful when sleep is blocking progress in pain rehabilitation, mood recovery, or return to work. An interdisciplinary case review refers to multiple practitioners from various disciplines who collaborate to build a comprehensive treatment plan.
At One to One Wellness, sleep medicine is often delivered as part of an interdisciplinary plan alongside primary care, psychology, and rehabilitation providers when sleep disruption is intertwined with pain, stress, mood, or function.
As each case is unique to the individual and may be caused, influenced, or exacerbated by a combination of factors, your sleep medicine plan will be highly personalized. Contact us for more information or book a free screening with our team to learn more.
Partnering with
the Community
Our team is dedicated to educating the Halifax community and Canadians across the country, collaborating with supportive networks nationwide. We’re proud to work with:
Visit Our Location
We’re located in the Vertu building, located on Dresden Row and Artillery Place in Downtown Halifax. Underground parking is available.
Many of our practitioners also offer virtual appointments. Contact us to learn more about online sessions.
Our Address
- 1535 Dresden Row Suite 210
- Halifax, NS B3J 3T1
Contact Information
- Phone: 902-425-3775
- Fax: 902-425-3774
- Email: admin@121wellness.ca
Hours of Operation
About Us
Services
Conditions Treated
One To One Wellness
- 1535 Dresden Row Suite 210
- Halifax, NS B3J 3T1
- 902-425-3775
- 902-425-3774
- admin@121wellness.ca