The Rise of Adult Sleep Coaching: When Online Advice Fails
In an era where sleep hygiene has become received wisdom and advice is just a click away, a paradoxical trend is emerging. Growing numbers of adults with no prior history of insomnia are seeking professional help through one-to-one sleep consultants, as generic online guidance fails to address their unique needs.
From Online Overload to Personalised Solutions
Thorsten, who experienced sudden, disruptive changes to his sleep patterns, represents this new cohort. "I devoured advice and implemented it all," he said. "From the moment I got out of bed, virtually everything I did was tailored towards getting a good night's sleep the following night." Despite his efforts, he found himself waking inexplicably at 4.30am every few weeks, leading to mistakes at work, irritability at home, and serious concerns about long-term health impacts.
It was a colleague who suggested he try a sleep coach. "It was the first I'd heard of sleep coaches for adults," Thorsten admitted. "When I asked around, it turned out a load of my colleagues had used one over the past two to three years. It was like this hidden world I'd never known existed."
Addressing an Unmet Need
Stuart Thompson, founder of the Still Method, launched his adult sleep consultancy two years ago in direct response to this growing demand. "I was getting so many adults asking me for sleep training that I realised there was a new and real need that was not being catered for," he explained.
"I'd never seen people like this before," Thompson continued. "A cohort who had never struggled with sleep previously but were unable to help themselves, despite spending considerable time researching all tricks of the trade, as regards achieving consistent, quality sleep." His breakthrough came when he realised these clients were "drowning in too much information" and that tailored help wasn't optional but a necessity.
The Limitations of Generic Advice
Katie Fischer, a sleep consultant based in London, has witnessed her business boom over the last two to three years. "People come to me saying: 'I've got perfect sleep hygiene; I do everything right but I'm still not sleeping,'" she said. "That's where a sleep coach comes in. We help them cut through the online ocean of advice – much of which is not professionally underpinned – and understand their unique patterns and needs."
Fischer highlights how sleep coaching has evolved from a luxury reserved for newborns to a service sought by diverse demographics. "Now we're seeing everyone from shift workers to executives, all struggling to sleep," she noted.
Breaking the Cycle with Holistic Support
Kerry Davies, known as the Sleep Fixer, emphasises that sleep coaches provide an intense focus to break negative cycles. "Sleep coaches look at client's whole 24 hours – habits, mindsets, daily stressors," she explained. Davies even advises clients to step away from wearable sleep trackers, noting that "sleep trackers often increase anxiety, which only makes things worse."
The scale of sleep problems in the UK underscores the need for such services. Recent data reveals that the average adult reports just three days a week of good-quality sleep, with 14% saying they don't get enough to function on any day, and 38% experiencing mental health impacts at least weekly.
Why Personal Coaching Works
Amy Cheseldine of the Good Sleep Method attributes the success of sleep coaches to accountability and adaptability. "People often understand what to do but fail to apply it consistently – or they do loads of things but miss the one small thing that will really help," she said. "Coaches also adapt plans to real life – shift work, caregiving, stress. Online advice can't do that."
Fischer points out that misinformation in online advice can be particularly damaging. Common harmful examples include:
- The insistence that everyone needs eight hours' sleep
- The belief that an early bedtime helps when struggling to sleep
- Unnecessarily cutting out enjoyable elements like caffeine, which isn't universally harmful
- Overstating the impact of blue light when content is calming
Simple Solutions Through Professional Guidance
While sleep coaches typically see clients for an average of four sessions, some find resolution much quicker. Thorsten needed just one session to identify his issue. "It took just one session with a coach to realise I was simply going to bed too early," he revealed. "I now understand that I only need seven hours of sleep a night, so if I go to bed at 10pm, I'm going to have a disturbed night or I'm going to wake up in the early hours. I needed a later bedtime. It really was that simple."
As sleep continues to be recognised as fundamental to overall health and wellbeing, the rise of adult sleep coaching represents a significant shift towards personalised, professional support in an area where generic advice increasingly falls short.
