Evidence

Care built on evidence.

NICE-aligned standards, published evidence, and an independent UK prescriber behind every decision.

View treatment plan

NICE-aligned, stepped care for chronic insomnia.

Stepped care means starting with assessment and the least intensive option that is likely to help. Scroll to walk through how that works.

  1. Assessment comes first Before anything else, we take a structured history of your sleep and your health. We look for what is really driving the problem, and for the things that would make treatment unsafe or unsuitable.
  2. CBT-i recognised as first-line NICE-aligned guidance treats cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-i) as the first-line approach for chronic insomnia. We tell you this plainly, and point you to it, rather than reaching straight for a prescription.
  3. Independent prescriber review Every case is reviewed by an independent, UK-registered prescriber who can approve, ask for more information, or decline.
  4. Ongoing reviews Care does not stop at the first decision. We keep reviewing whether treatment is still right for you, and we will help you stop safely if it is not.

What guides us

The guidance and bodies we follow.

NICE

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

The body that sets evidence-based clinical standards for care in England. Its Clinical Knowledge Summary on insomnia underpins our stepped-care approach.

Read the NICE insomnia summary

The Sleep Charity

Independent UK sleep support

A national charity providing trusted, independent advice and support on sleep. We point patients to its resources as part of joined-up care.

Visit The Sleep Charity

Royal College of Psychiatrists

Professional standards in mental health

The professional body for psychiatrists in the UK. Its guidance informs how we recognise and respond to mental health factors that affect sleep.

Visit the Royal College of Psychiatrists

The evidence base

Selected published evidence.

A short, non-exhaustive list of the guidelines and reviews that inform how we treat chronic insomnia. These are reference sources, not patient instructions.

  1. Riemann D, et al. European guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia. Journal of Sleep Research, 2017 (updated 2023).
  2. Qaseem A, et al. Management of Chronic Insomnia Disorder in Adults: A Clinical Practice Guideline from the American College of Physicians. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2016.
  3. Trauer JM, et al. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2015.
  4. Wilson S, et al. British Association for Psychopharmacology consensus statement on evidence-based treatment of insomnia, parasomnias and circadian rhythm disorders (updated). Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2019.
  5. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Clinical Knowledge Summary: Insomnia. NICE.

From standards to treatment

See these standards in practice.

This way of working is not abstract. It shapes the sleep treatment we prescribe for chronic insomnia: what it is, how it works, where it fits among your options, and who it is right for.

See the treatment

Find out if it could work for you.

A couple of minutes of questions, and you'll know whether Seona can help.

Start your free check

For adults with chronic insomnia · Free · Takes 2 minutes

This page is general information about how we work, not medical advice.