A free health psychology sleep handout for adults whose brain or body will not settle at night. Includes a wind-down protocol, ABC game, worry window, body settling tools, emotional containment, sleep hygiene audit, bad night plan, and sleep setup checklist.
When Sleep Will Not Come is a free handout for adults whose nights are not going the way they want. It offers evidence-informed sleep tools drawn from CBT-I and health psychology, including a wind-down protocol, cognitive shifting tools, worry containment, body settling, and a simple plan for what to do when sleep still will not come.
Want deeper support? Pair this free handout with When the Body Changes the Rules or When Pain Keeps You Up for more health psychology tools around sleep, symptoms, pain, and nervous system activation.
FREE HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY SLEEP HANDOUT
This handout offers practical CBT-I informed tools for falling asleep, staying asleep, calming racing thoughts, settling the body, and making a bad-night plan.
We are not chasing perfect sleep. We are building trust that sleep will come.
Wind-Down Protocol
A predictable 30–60 minute routine to help the brain and body recognize that sleep is coming.
ABC Game and Cognitive Shifts
Boring-on-purpose mental tools for racing thoughts, including the ABC game, counting backward, and mental walk-throughs.
Worry Window
A structured way to give worries a scheduled place earlier in the day so they do not take over bedtime.
Body Settling Tools
Includes 4-6 breathing, progressive muscle release, temperature management, and nervous system downshifting.
Big Emotions at Night
A way to name grief, fear, loneliness, regret, or anger without letting the feeling run the whole night.
Bad Night Plan and Sleep Checklist
A step-by-step plan for hard nights, including breathing, shifting the channel, parking the worry, settling the body, getting out of bed if needed, and setting up the sleep environment.
This handout is a psychoeducational sleep support resource and is not a substitute for medical care, sleep medicine evaluation, CBT-I treatment, psychotherapy, crisis support, or individualized clinical guidance. If sleep problems are persistent, worsening, severe, connected to safety concerns, or associated with symptoms like breathing issues, chest pain, fainting, mania, or significant daytime impairment, consult a medical or mental health professional.