97: Sleep Science Today with Andrew Colsky - Episode 9797: Sleep Science Today with Andrew Colsky - Episode 97
UK Health Radio Podcast
Sleep specialist Kathryn Hansen talks with host Andrew Kolsky about how medical and behavioural approaches together can improve sleep diagnosis, treatment and long-term outcomes. The conversation outlines real clinical cases, multidisciplinary teamwork and formal training routes in behavioural sleep medicine, suggesting ways professionals and patients might think more broadly about sleep care.
45:18•28 Jul 2026
Why Sleep Needs Both Medicine and Mind: Kathryn Hansen on Behavioural Sleep Care
Episode Overview
- Sleep problems often involve both medical factors and behavioural patterns, so treating only one side limits results.
- Sleep apnoea and insomnia can be worsened by anxiety, depression and myths about snoring or sleep safety.
- Behavioural sleep providers use cognitive and behavioural therapies to help people relearn healthier sleep habits over time.
- The Society of Behavioural Sleep Medicine offers multidisciplinary education, networking and research-focused events for clinicians.
- Structured credentials, including diplomate status and CBT-I certification, aim to keep behavioural sleep care evidence-based and safe.
“"You can't treat one without the other."”
Curious about how others manage their sleep struggles and find practical help? This episode of Sleep Science Today puts the spotlight on how medical and behavioural care can work hand in hand to improve long-term sleep health. Sleep expert Kathryn Hansen, executive director of the Society of Behavioural Sleep Medicine, shares her journey from early epilepsy research in the 1960s to shaping modern sleep practice.
She talks about identifying quiet and active sleep, the early days of REM research, and the breakthrough use of CPAP in sleep clinics, all framed through real hospital experience and night-shift observations. A big theme here is that sleep problems rarely sit in a single box. Kathryn describes sleep as a "confluence of the systems" — cardiovascular, neural, pulmonary and behavioural — and stresses that you "can't treat one without the other".
Using sleep apnoea and insomnia examples, she shows how anxiety, depression, trauma and everyday myths around snoring can sabotage treatment if the behavioural side is ignored. You’ll hear a clear breakdown of the difference between a medically focused sleep doctor and a behavioural sleep provider, with concrete stories: from patients terrified of dying in their sleep to someone locking their bedroom door because of abuse at home.
These cases underline why thorough assessment and psychological support can be as crucial as scans, scopes and devices. Kathryn and host Andrew Colsky also walk through the growing field of behavioural sleep medicine: multidisciplinary membership, research meetings, case-based training, and formal credentials such as diplomate status, CBT-I certification and structured coaching qualifications aimed at keeping patients safe and care evidence-based.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your sleep issue is "in your body" or "in your mind", this conversation suggests it may be both, and that good care respects the whole person. Could this be the prompt you need to look at your own sleep through a more complete lens?
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