Practitioner Course

Upheaval-Induced Sleep Disturbance

Support your patient’s who have sleep disrupted by any stress, especially a high perceived threat load.
Format

Online Course
1 lesson

Availability

12 Months OR Subscriber Pass

Duration

1.5 hours total

Presenter

Catherine Darley

About this course

We are living through a period of profound global change. Political turbulence, economic instability, environmental disruption, and rapid social transformation are reshaping the daily lives of millions of people. For many people, one of the most immediate casualties of this upheaval is sleep. And we all know that when sleep is affected, everything is affected.

Dr Catherine Darley is a naturopathic physician who has specialised in sleep medicine for over two decades. She works with individuals and clinicians to address the full spectrum of sleep disorders, with a particular interest in the relationship between psychological stress, environmental disruption, and sleep health.

In this interview, Catherine explores what she calls Upheaval-Induced Sleep Disturbance: the particular pattern of sleep dysfunction that emerges not from a single traumatic event, but from sustained and unresolved threat. She explains that our nervous systems were never designed to handle the kind of chronic, abstract, and ever-present stressors that many of our patients are experiencing.

Catherine introduces the concept of Threat Load as a more clinically useful framework than generalised stress, and explains how hypervigilance, circadian dysregulation, and disrupted self-regulation can lock our patients into a cycle that is difficult to break without deliberate, structured support. This is an insightful and practically-grounded conversation with a clear structured approach to support your patient’s who have sleep disrupted by any stress, especially a high threat load.
What you receive:
  • A personalised certificate of completion including continuing education hours
  • Clear protocol explanations from some of the world's top practitioners
  • Clinical pearls for improved practice results
  • Access to your audio and video recordings via the App Store
  • A downloadable PDF of the presenter’s slides
  • Links to all referenced research papers and useful clinical handouts
  • Access to the community hub where you can get answers to your questions

From this course you will learn

  • Why chronic societal upheaval produces distinct sleep disturbances, and which types are most common
  • How disrupted sleep creates a spiral of worsening function across relationships, impulse control, and workplace performance
  • What Threat Load means and why it is a more clinically useful framework than the broad concept of stress
  • How hypervigilance operates at night, and how to help patients distinguish between a sleep problem and a safety-detection problem
  • Whether a dysregulated circadian rhythm drives Threat Load, or the reverse, or both
  • Which patient groups are most vulnerable to upheaval-induced sleep disturbance
  • The short- and long-term consequences of trauma-disrupted sleep
  • How to take a more directive coaching role with patients whose daily functioning is compromised by poor sleep
  • Practical strategies for reinforcing sleep-promoting behaviours during periods of crisis
  • Natural and behavioural interventions for restoring self-regulation through better sleep
  • How to support patients with comorbid conditions such as anxiety disorders or chronic pain
  • Special considerations for children, older adults, and pregnant women
  • The risks of relying on sleep medications and aids during a crisis

What's in this course

Your Presenter

Dr Catherine Darley

Dr Catherine Darley is a leader in integrative sleep medicine. She founded The Institute of Naturopathic Sleep Medicine, Inc in 2003, and since then has helped people of all ages sleep well using behavioral and naturopathic approaches for sleep disorders. The impact of light and the built environment on sleep is extensive, and deepened her appreciation of Nature Cure. Her expertise lies in profoundly effective lifestyle and behavioral change. Behaving in accordance with these principles allows patients all the benefits of good health, without the negative side effects of pharmaceuticals.

She is an expert and dynamic speaker, teaching a wide range of groups through engagement, storytelling, and with a clear explanation of the mechanisms of disease and treatment protocols. Dr Darley is published in professional journals, is quoted in popular magazines, and appeared on TV to share her sleep knowledge.
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