Insomnia isn’t just about sleep, it’s about whether your mind and body feel safe enough to rest.

Many of the women I work with have already tried sleep hygiene tips, supplements apps and routines. While these can be helpful, they often fall short when the real issue isn’t physical, it’s an over-alert nervous system.

At night, when the world goes quiet and the rational mind softens, the brain’s protective system takes over. If your system has learned to stay vigilant, through stress, burnout, hormonal change or past emotional strain, sleep can start to feel impossible. Insomnia is commonly fuelled by…

Anxiety about not sleeping.

Overthinking and mental looping at night.

Hormonal shifts, particularly during perimenopause and menopause.

Long-standing patterns such as control, perfectionism or people-pleasing.

A nervous system that no longer recognises it’s safe to let go.

Your system is doing its best to protect you, even when protection is no longer needed. At Break Free we don’t fight insomnia or try to force sleep. Instead, we work gently with your nervous system, helping it relearn safety. When safety returns, sleep often follows naturally.

Through therapeutic hypnosis and acceptance-based support, I help your nervous system settle rather than struggle. We work on reducing the fear around wakefulness, loosening anxious thought patterns, and creating a sense of safety in the body so sleep is no longer something you chase or force. When the pressure to ‘sleep properly’ lifts, the system can finally soften, and rest becomes possible again.

ACT has been clinically proven to reduce insomnia severity by teaching acceptance and reducing sleep anxiety.

Hypnotherapy can reduce cortisol, the stress hormone, and improve sleep onset and sleep quality.

Therapeutic sleep stories can do more than just help you drift off, they can help you gently reframe the limiting beliefs that keep you stuck, night after night.

Guided imagery & cognitive distraction…studies show these techniques help quiet racing thoughts, shorten sleep onset and reduce nighttime awakenings.

Cognitive Distraction …becoming absorbed in stories can shift emotional states, calm the nervous system and reduce stress.

Safety & Co-Regulation…feeling emotionally safe activates the body’s ‘rest-and-digest’ system, supporting deeper, more restorative sleep.

Narrative and Storytelling… engaging with stories activates brain networks related to language, imagination and emotion, helping shift attention away from rumination.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a science-backed therapy that focuses not on eliminating insomnia but on changing how we relate to it.

ACT teaches you how to…

Stop fighting with sleep and allow wakefulness without panic.

Defuse from racing thoughts, instead of being controlled by them.

Ground yourself in the present moment, rather than spiralling into ‘what ifs.’

Take compassionate values-based action to support rest.

Trust that you don’t need perfect sleep to function or be okay.

Instead of trying to ‘win’ at sleep, ACT helps you create a peaceful relationship with it.

Hypnotherapy is a deeply relaxing, clinically proven approach that helps you…

Calm an overactive nervous system.

Rewire negative beliefs like ‘I’ll never sleep again.’

Create new subconscious associations with bedtime and rest.

Access deeper relaxation states even if sleep doesn’t come immediately.

Release stored emotional tension and increase inner safety.

It can be especially powerful for..

Hormonal insomnia.

Nighttime anxiety.

Emotional trauma from past sleep loss.

The ‘wired but tired’ cycle many women describe.