Private Insomnia Treatment in London and Online Across the UK
Bad sleep rarely stays confined to the night. When you lie awake, wake repeatedly, or get up too early and cannot drift off again, the effects show up the next day in your concentration, mood, energy, work and relationships.Prof. Ahmed El-Missiry, a consultant psychiatrist, offers private assessment and treatment for insomnia through remote consultations available anywhere in the UK. He looks at your sleep pattern, your daily routine, your medical and psychiatric history, and the factors that may be keeping the problem going.The goal is not to get you through one good night. A careful assessment aims to find what is maintaining your sleep problem, so that treatment can bring lasting improvement.
Book an AppointmentWhat Is Insomnia and How Is It Treated?
Insomnia is ongoing difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early, with tiredness or impaired functioning during the day. It is considered long-term when it lasts three months or more. For long-term insomnia, current NICE work names cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) as the first-line treatment. Medication may be considered in selected cases after a clinical assessment.
You may benefit from insomnia treatment if you:
- Have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep throughout the night
- Wake up too early and struggle to return to sleep
- Feel tired or unrefreshed despite getting enough time in bed
- Experience stress, irritability, or anxiety because of poor sleep
- Find it difficult to concentrate, remember information, or stay alert
- Notice your sleep problems affecting work, relationships, or daily life
Our Insomnia Treatment Service
Comprehensive Insomnia Assessment and Treatment
A detailed psychiatric evaluation designed to identify the causes of insomnia, assess your sleep patterns, and create a personalised treatment plan that supports long-term improvements in sleep quality.
£ 250
- 45–50 Minutes
- Remote Consultation
- Comprehensive assessment of your sleep patterns and lifestyle habits
- Review of medical history and factors contributing to insomnia
- Personalised treatment recommendations based on your symptoms
- Guidance on CBT-I techniques, relaxation methods, and sleep hygiene
- Ongoing support to improve sleep quality and daytime functioning
Payment & Insurance
Klarna interest-free instalments are available for eligible appointments.Accepted Insurance Providers Aviva, AXA Health, Preferred Health Care Ltd., Vitality Health, Bupa UK, WPA, Allianz Worldwide Care.Pre-authorisation is required using GMC Number: 06032945.
How the Insomnia Treatment Process Works
Fill in a confidential questionnaire about your sleep habits, lifestyle, medical history, and current sleep concerns before your appointment.
Meet with your psychiatrist through a secure online consultation to discuss your sleep difficulties, daily routine, and treatment goals.
Your psychiatrist will assess your sleep patterns, identify contributing factors, and determine the most appropriate treatment approach based on your individual needs.
Receive tailored recommendations that may include CBT-I, relaxation techniques, lifestyle modifications, medication where appropriate, and practical strategies for improving sleep.
Regular review appointments help monitor your progress, refine your treatment plan, and support long-term improvements in sleep and overall wellbeing.
Why Choose Prof. Ahmed El-Missiry?
- Consultant psychiatrist with extensive experience in diagnosing and treating insomnia
- Evidence-based treatment using recognised clinical guidelines and CBT-I principles
- Personalised care plans tailored to your individual sleep challenges
- Compassionate, confidential, and patient-centred psychiatric support
- Ongoing follow-up to help achieve lasting improvements in sleep quality
- Convenient online consultations available throughout the UK
What Is Insomnia?
Insomnia means having trouble sleeping on a regular basis. It can look like taking a long time to drop off, waking during the night, waking too early and failing to return to sleep, or getting a night’s sleep that leaves you unrefreshed.
People experience it differently. Some cannot fall asleep at all, while others fall asleep easily and then wake again and again.
The daytime consequences matter just as much: tiredness, irritability, a drained feeling, poorer concentration and memory, and difficulty keeping up with normal responsibilities. The NHS describes insomnia as difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep, and notes that when it lasts, it can seriously affect daily life.
What Does Insomnia Feel Like?
A single rough night is not insomnia. People with insomnia often recognise several of these:
- Lying awake for a long time before sleep comes
- Waking several times overnight
- Waking far earlier than intended
- Being unable to fall back asleep
- Sleep that feels shallow or unrefreshing
- Dreading bedtime or worrying about whether you will sleep
- Daytime fatigue
- Poor concentration and difficulty staying alert
- Irritability or mood changes
- Low motivation
- Struggling at work or at home
How often this happens, and for how long, helps a clinician judge whether it is insomnia and what might be behind it.
When Does Poor Sleep Become Insomnia?
Almost everyone sleeps badly now and then. Stress, travel, illness, a change of routine or a noisy bedroom can all disturb sleep for a while.
Insomnia is a more serious matter when the problem continues and starts to cause distress or daytime difficulties. Long-term insomnia is usually defined as sleep problems lasting three months or longer, and both how often they occur and how much they affect your days are taken into account.
An assessment with a psychiatrist can establish whether your sleep problems fit insomnia, or whether another condition is contributing.
What Causes Insomnia?
Persistent insomnia seldom has one cause. Psychological, physical, behavioural and environmental factors often combine.
Stress and anxiety. A busy, worried mind finds it hard to power down at night. Over time, worrying about sleep itself can become part of the problem.
Depression and low mood. Sleep often changes in depression. Some people sleep less, while others sleep longer but still wake exhausted. When low mood and poor sleep appear together, the whole picture needs to be considered rather than the sleep problem alone.
Medication and substances. Certain medicines interfere with sleep, as can caffeine and nicotine. Alcohol may make you drowsy at first but tends to fragment sleep later in the night.
Physical health. Pain and other health conditions can make it harder to fall or stay asleep, which is why your medical history matters.
Changes in routine. Shift work, jet lag and irregular schedules can throw off your body clock.
Other sleep disorders. Insomnia-like symptoms can accompany conditions such as sleep apnoea and restless legs syndrome.
NHS information lists stress, anxiety, depression, lifestyle factors, medicines and other sleep disorders among the possible contributors.
How Is Insomnia Diagnosed?
No single test confirms insomnia. Diagnosis rests on an assessment of your sleep pattern together with your daytime symptoms, medical history, mental health, medication and lifestyle.
In a psychiatric assessment you may be asked about:
- Your usual bedtime and wake time
- How long it takes you to fall asleep
- How often you wake at night and for how long
- Whether you wake earlier than you want to
- How rested you feel in the morning
- Daytime tiredness and concentration
- Your work and daily routine
- Caffeine, alcohol and nicotine use
- Medication and other relevant substances
- Stress, anxiety and mood
- Earlier sleep problems and treatments
- Other physical or mental health conditions
The clinician will also consider whether another sleep disorder, or an underlying physical or mental health condition, might explain your symptoms better.
Why a Detailed Assessment Matters
Persistent insomnia can turn into a loop. After a bad night, you worry about being tired tomorrow, you spend longer in bed trying to catch up, and you become more and more preoccupied with whether sleep will come. That raises the pressure around bedtime and makes sleep harder still.
A thorough assessment identifies which factors are at work in your case, instead of assuming that everyone with insomnia needs the same treatment. It can also show whether insomnia is the main problem or a symptom of something else.
What Is Chronic Insomnia?
Chronic, or long-term, insomnia means sleep difficulties that continue for an extended period and interfere with daytime functioning.
It can be especially frustrating because people often try one approach after another without knowing what is keeping the problem alive. For some, the cause is mainly behavioural or linked to sleep timing. For others, anxiety, depression, medication, physical health or another sleep disorder needs to be considered.
That is why long-term insomnia is best assessed as a whole, rather than by counting hours of sleep alone.
CBT-I: The Recommended Treatment for Long-Term Insomnia
Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, known as CBT-I, is a structured psychological treatment designed specifically for persistent insomnia. Current NICE work identifies it as the first-line treatment for long-term insomnia. It combines behavioural, cognitive, educational and relaxation methods, which goes well beyond generic sleep-hygiene tips.
CBT-I may include:
Sleep education. Learning how sleep works and how habits, expectations and routines influence it.
Stimulus control. Rebuilding the link between your bed and sleep, and cutting back on activities that keep you awake there.
Sleep scheduling. Adjusting the time you spend in bed to match your actual sleep pattern.
Cognitive techniques. Spotting and addressing unhelpful thoughts and expectations about sleep that feed anxiety at bedtime.
Relaxation techniques. Using suitable breathing and relaxation methods to calm mental and physical tension.
Relapse prevention. Learning how to handle future rough patches so your gains last.
These elements should be adapted to you and not applied as a fixed formula.
Please note: Any treatment recommendation depends on your individual clinical circumstances. CBT-I principles can form part of a suitable plan where clinically appropriate.
Is Sleep Hygiene Enough?
Sleep hygiene helps, but persistent insomnia usually involves more than poor habits. Useful practices include a regular routine, sensible caffeine and alcohol intake, a comfortable sleeping environment and a calming wind-down before bed.
Long-term insomnia, however, often involves learned behaviours, unhelpful beliefs about sleep, irregular schedules and bedtime anxiety. This is why CBT-I differs from a list of tips: it uses a structured set of behavioural and psychological techniques aimed at whatever is maintaining your insomnia.
Can Anxiety Make Insomnia Worse?
Yes, and the two often feed each other. Worries about work, relationships or health make it hard to relax at bedtime. After several bad nights, many people start worrying about sleep itself, which raises alertness and makes dropping off harder.
For this reason, an assessment looks at both your sleep and any anxiety symptoms. If anxiety is a major part of what you are experiencing, you may want to read about our private anxiety assessment.
Insomnia and Depression
Sleep changes commonly accompany depression. You might struggle to fall asleep, wake during the night, or wake earlier than usual. Others sleep longer yet still feel tired.
When poor sleep comes with persistent low mood, loss of interest, hopelessness or reduced motivation, a wider psychiatric assessment may be the right step. See our private depression assessment.
Insomnia and ADHD
Some adults with ADHD report sleep problems. Difficulty with routine, racing thoughts, trouble switching off and inconsistent sleep schedules can all play a part.
Even so, insomnia and ADHD are separate conditions and should not be assumed to share a cause. If long-standing difficulties with concentration, organisation or impulsivity are also affecting you, an ADHD assessment may be worth considering.
Insomnia and PTSD
Trauma can disrupt sleep. People with PTSD may have nightmares, feel constantly on guard, suffer intrusive memories, or find it hard to feel safe enough to relax at night.
When sleep problems occur alongside trauma symptoms, the assessment should treat them as part of a wider pattern. Find out more about our PTSD assessment.
Insomnia and Bipolar Disorder
Sleep patterns are clinically important when assessing mood disorders. In bipolar disorder, periods of elevated mood can involve a reduced need for sleep, which is quite different from lying awake exhausted and unable to sleep.
So a psychiatric assessment may ask about earlier periods of unusually high mood, increased energy, changes in activity and other shifts in behaviour. Where appropriate, you can learn about our bipolar assessment.
Could Another Sleep Disorder Be Responsible?
Not every sleep problem is insomnia. Depending on your symptoms, the assessment may consider whether another sleep disorder needs investigating. Possible warning signs include:
- Loud or persistent snoring
- Waking up choking or gasping
- Someone noticing pauses in your breathing
- Heavy daytime sleepiness
- Unusual movements during sleep
- Ongoing uncomfortable sensations in the legs
- Sleep problems tied to shift work
- A severely delayed or irregular sleep schedule
Sleep apnoea, restless legs syndrome and circadian rhythm disorders may need a different assessment or treatment route. Specialist services such as UCLH assess insomnia alongside related sleep disorders and use specialist assessment to choose the right pathway. If your symptoms point to another sleep disorder, further medical assessment or referral may be appropriate.
Do You Need a Sleep Study?
Not everyone with insomnia does. A sleep study is usually considered when symptoms suggest another sleep disorder that needs investigating. Suspected sleep apnoea, for example, may call for measurement of breathing during sleep.
The decision depends on your symptoms and history, and a sleep study should not be assumed to be the first step for every poor sleeper.
What Is a Sleep Diary?
A sleep diary is a record of your sleep and waking over a period of time. It might note:
- When you go to bed
- Roughly when you fall asleep
- Night-time awakenings
- When you wake and when you get up
- Daytime naps
- Caffeine and alcohol intake
- Daytime tiredness
Diaries reveal patterns that memory alone often misses, and some specialist sleep services use them as part of assessment. Where helpful, your psychiatrist may suggest keeping one before or during treatment.
Can Medication Help With Insomnia?
Medication may be considered in some situations, but it is not automatically the first or only option. The right approach depends on the cause, duration and severity of your sleep problem, any other medical or psychiatric conditions, previous treatment and your circumstances.
The NHS notes that sleeping pills are now prescribed only rarely for insomnia and, when they are used, generally for short periods because of the risk of side effects and dependence. For long-term insomnia, current NICE work puts CBT-I at the centre of treatment. Any decision about medication should follow a proper clinical assessment.
How Our Private Insomnia Service Works
The service offers a structured psychiatric assessment focused on understanding your sleep difficulties and the factors behind them.
Before your appointment. You complete a confidential questionnaire about your sleep, lifestyle, medical history and current concerns, giving useful background in advance.
During your consultation. You speak with Prof. Ahmed El-Missiry by secure remote consultation. The conversation covers your sleep pattern, symptoms, daily routine, relevant medical and psychiatric history, and how poor sleep is affecting your life.
Clinical assessment. Your symptoms and circumstances are reviewed to identify likely contributing factors and to decide on a suitable treatment approach.
Personalised recommendations. Depending on your needs, these may include CBT-I principles, relaxation techniques, changes to sleep-related behaviour, lifestyle measures, medication where clinically appropriate, or further assessment.
Ongoing review. Follow-up appointments let you review progress and adjust the plan.
The current service is a 45-50 minute remote consultation at £250, including assessment of sleep patterns, lifestyle and medical history, personalised recommendations, CBT-I guidance and ongoing support.
Private Insomnia Treatment in London
If you are looking for private insomnia treatment in London, it helps to distinguish between general sleep advice and a clinical assessment.
London has specialist sleep services offering different kinds of assessment, including behavioural sleep medicine, CBT-I and investigation of other sleep disorders. UCLH, for instance, runs a dedicated insomnia and behavioural sleep medicine service, and private providers in the capital offer sleep-medicine assessments and specialist pathways.
Prof. El-Missiry’s service is delivered by remote psychiatric consultation, so patients in London and across the UK can be seen without travelling to a clinic. The right route depends on your symptoms, and if they suggest a sleep disorder needing specialist investigation, further assessment may be recommended.
Online Insomnia Treatment Across the UK
A remote consultation lets you talk through persistent sleep problems from home. The service is open to patients throughout the UK, and an online assessment can cover the same ground as a face-to-face one:
- Your sleep pattern
- Symptoms and daytime effects
- Mental health
- Medical history
- Medication
- Lifestyle
- Previous treatment
- Anything else affecting your sleep
If your symptoms suggest that in-person investigation or a sleep study is needed, this can be discussed during the assessment.
What Happens After an Insomnia Assessment?
No single treatment suits everyone. Depending on your assessment, next steps might include:
- Behavioural strategies
- CBT-I principles
- Relaxation techniques
- Changes to your sleep routine
- Treatment of an underlying mental health condition
- Medication where appropriate
- Further medical investigation
- Referral to a specialist sleep service
- Follow-up psychiatric care
The purpose of the assessment is to understand your situation and identify the most suitable next step.
Fees and Appointment Details
| Service | Private Insomnia Consultation |
|---|---|
| Fee | £250 |
| Length | 45-50 minutes |
| Format | Remote consultation |
| Availability | Online, across the UK |
Insurance: Aviva, AXA Health, Preferred Health Care Ltd., Vitality Health, Bupa UK, WPA and Allianz Worldwide Care are currently listed. Pre-authorisation is required, using GMC number 06032945. Self-funded appointments can be paid using the payment options currently offered by the practice.
Frequently Asked Questions About Insomnia Treatment
What is the best treatment for insomnia?
It depends on the cause and pattern of your insomnia. For long-term insomnia, CBT-I is recognised as a first-line treatment, combining behavioural, cognitive, educational and relaxation approaches.
What is CBT-I?
CBT-I stands for cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia. It is a structured treatment that targets the behaviours, thoughts and routines that keep insomnia going. Components can include sleep education, stimulus control, sleep scheduling, cognitive techniques and relaxation.
Is CBT-I better than sleeping tablets?
They are different approaches, and the right one depends on the individual. Current NICE work identifies CBT-I as first-line for long-term insomnia, while medication may have a role in selected cases after clinical assessment.
How is insomnia diagnosed?
Through your sleep history, symptoms, daytime functioning, medical and psychiatric history and other relevant factors. No single test diagnoses it.
How long must insomnia last to be called chronic?
Long-term insomnia is generally linked with symptoms lasting three months or more. How often it happens and how much it affects your days also count.
Can anxiety cause insomnia?
Yes. Anxiety and persistent worry can make it harder to fall or stay asleep, and insomnia can in turn increase worry about sleep, creating a cycle.
Can depression cause insomnia?
Yes. Sleep disturbance can accompany depression. Some people sleep poorly, while others sleep longer but stay tired and unrefreshed.
Can ADHD cause sleep problems?
Adults with ADHD may have difficulty with sleep timing, routines or mental restlessness. Persistent insomnia should still be assessed in its own right.
Do I need a sleep study for insomnia?
Not necessarily. A sleep study is usually considered when symptoms suggest another disorder, such as sleep apnoea. Whether you need further testing depends on your clinical assessment.
Can insomnia be treated online?
Remote assessment suits many adults with insomnia. This service provides remote consultations across the UK.
How long is the consultation?
The current service lists a 45-50 minute remote consultation.
How much does private insomnia treatment cost?
The listed fee is £250 for a 45-50 minute remote consultation.
When should I see a psychiatrist about insomnia?
Consider an assessment when sleep problems persist, affect daytime functioning, interfere with work or relationships, or come with anxiety, depression, mood changes or other mental health symptoms.
When to Seek Urgent Help
A private insomnia consultation is not an emergency service. If you are in immediate danger, are having thoughts of harming yourself or someone else, or need urgent mental health support, contact emergency services rather than waiting for a routine appointment.
If severe sleep difficulty comes with major changes in mood, unusual behaviour, confusion or other worrying symptoms, urgent clinical assessment may also be appropriate.
Sources and Clinical Notes
This page gives general information about insomnia and private psychiatric treatment. It does not replace an individual medical assessment. It should be read alongside current UK guidance, including:
- NHS, Insomnia
- NICE, Depression in adults: treatment and management, where depression and sleep symptoms overlap
- NICE, current work on CBT-I for insomnia
- UCLH, Insomnia and Behavioural Sleep Medicine service
NICE’s 2026 work describes CBT-I as a first-line treatment for long-term insomnia, with behavioural, educational, cognitive and relaxation components. UCLH’s specialist service describes assessment followed by CBT-based treatment for many patients.
Ready to Sleep Better?
If poor sleep is affecting your health, mood, concentration or daily life, a detailed assessment can help you understand your sleep pattern, pinpoint what is contributing, and discuss suitable treatment.
Book your private insomnia consultation with Prof. Ahmed El-Missiry.