Available for the 25-26 training year
CLINIC OVERVIEW:
Insomnia is a very common and costly condition. At least 10% of Americans suffer from insomnia, and it costs the US workforce $63.2 billion a year in lost productivity. Furthermore, insomnia increases the risks of depressive, inflammatory, metabolic, cardiovascular, and neurocognitive disorders. Unfortunately, insomnia often remains untreated or inappropriately treated only with hypnotics.
The UCLA Insomnia Clinic was established to fill this important gap in healthcare. Based on the decade-long research and delivery of insomnia treatments by clinician scientists at the UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, we envisioned a clinic providing behavioral treatments of insomnia, which are safe and effective. Among these treatments, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is the first-line treatment as recommended by the American College of Physicians with proven short- and long-term efficacy. Research at UCLA has demonstrated that Mindfulness-Based Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (MBBT-I) is also effective in the treatment of insomnia with a greater patient acceptability. Thus, with the support of the UCLA Cousins Center and the UCLA Mindfulness Awareness Research Center (MARC), we developed an insomnia clinic solely dedicated to the provision of effective behavioral treatments. Among the sleep clinics in academic and community settings in the Greater Los Angeles area, the UCLA Insomnia Clinic is unique in providing behavioral insomnia treatments such as CBT-I and MBBT-I.
Our professionals at the UCLA Insomnia Clinic strive to deliver high-quality and evidence-based behavioral treatments for insomnia using not only the knowledge accumulated by the scientific community but also making the most of the expertise derived from our own longstanding clinical research.
Website: https://www.uclahealth.org/resnick/insomnia
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
Insomnia Clinic will offer a 4-month elective of 6 hours/week or a 6-month elective of 4 hours/week, thus 100 hours in total. The training will primarily focus on individual CBT-I, but training in group CBT-I may become available if there is a strong interest and commitment by interns. In addition to the didactic and training activities on the principles, content, and delivery of CBT-I, the interns will also have lectures on:
1. Diagnostic assessment of insomnia
2. Selection of CBT-I or MBBT-I based on the patient profile and preference and the characteristics of insomnia
3. Management of hypnotic medications prior to and during behavioral treatments
4. Principles and content of MBBT-I: lectures about but no training in delivery of MBBT-I will be provided due to the training requirements for this modality.
DAY, TIME, AND LOCATION:
The main clinic activities including didactics will take place on Thursday afternoons (1pm-5pm) in 300 Medical Plaza building, but individual CBT-I sessions may be flexibly scheduled throughout the week in 300 Medical Plaza or Semel Institute according to the availability of interns’ time, attendings’ time, and office space. Depending on the COVID-19 situation and the patients’ preference, therapy can be conducted using Zoom videoconference.
HOURS PER WEEK/DURATION OF ELECTIVE: Flexible, 6 hours/week for 4 months or 4 hours/week for 6 months.
FACULTY AND STAFF:
Director: Joshua H. Cho, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
Jeffrey Young, PhD
Stephanie Kremer, PhD
Marina Samaltanos, Administrative Support
DIVERSITY TRAINING:
Consistent with the diversity of the UCLA Health patient population, trainees will be working with individuals from diverse backgrounds, including but not limited to patients who are racial and ethnic minorities, and sexual and gender minorities. Interns are expected and trained to treat all patients with respect, regardless of patient race, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other diverse characteristics. At the same time, in supervision and didactic activities, we also emphasize awareness and consideration of these factors to shape and adapt the treatment approaches for the maximum benefit of patients. Interpretive services are not a part of this training program.
TRAINING PROVIDED:
Interns will first have didactics and shadow an attending delivering 7 weekly individual sessions of CBT-I; after this intense and close learning opportunity, interns will deliver individual sessions on their own with a real time supervision by an attending through a one-way mirror or a video conference. After the conclusion of each session, there will be individual supervision by an attending. There will also be a monthly clinical case conference for interaction and discussion between all attendings and trainees. The training will primarily focus on individual CBT-I, but training in group CBT-I may become available if there is a strong interest and commitment by interns.
SUPERVISION PROVIDED:
Method of Supervision: Direct observation
Format: Individual
Hours Per Week: 3.5 or 5.5 hours per week depending on the elective duration; all the sessions will be supervised in real time using Zoom chat comments and there will be a brief face-to face supervision immediately after each session; there will also be a 1-hour clinical case conference per month
Days and Times: Flexible (see “Day, Time, and Location” above)
Names of Supervisor(s): Jeffrey Young, PhD, Stephanie Kremer, PhD, and Joshua Cho, MD, PhD