Submitted by nick.gazard on

Clergy Support Trust is delighted to announce a pilot partnership with the online provider Sleepstation aimed at helping those Anglican clergy and their spouses/partners who are struggling with poor quality sleep or insomnia.

Sleepstation offers a web-based programme which starts with a detailed assessment and sleep review to determine who would benefit from the online therapy programme (cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, or CBTi).

Approved by the NHS in the UK since 2012, the six-week online CBTi programme of support is provided by a team comprised of sleep coaches, therapists and experts, and is overseen by a clinician.

Clergy Support Trust has agreed to fund this pilot programme as a free service to Anglican clergy and their spouses/partners. We are also providing a free downloadable sleep guide.

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Sleepstation desktop and mobile

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Sleepstation support

We have launched this initiative following our online clergy sleep survey earlier this year, to which we had 169 responses (80% from serving clergy). Key highlights were:

  • 76% of respondents felt they needed 7-8 hours of sleep a night.
  • 68% got at least 7 hours of sleep a night, but almost 20% got 6 hours or less.
  • Average sleep time was just over 7 hours, with women sleeping slightly longer than men.
  • Insomnia affected 45% of respondents at least 2-3 times a week, with no real difference between younger and older (55 years+) respondents.
  • 64% had not tried anything to address their sleep issues. Only 7% had found something that worked, while 23% found something that partly worked.
  • 41% of respondents would be fairly or very interested in a Clergy Support Trust sponsored CBT programme for sleep, both for themselves and for their spouses/partners.
  • There was a sense that sleep issues had got worse during the COVID-19 lockdown. Young children are also, predictably, a factor affecting sleep quality.

Overall, we sensed from the survey that quantity of sleep was not such an issue. Rather, the key problem was poor quality sleep, affecting alertness and mood during the day.

Details and Register