It is now more than 25 years since I first began working on this project,
and I have many, many people I would like to thank.First of all, I am deeply indebted to Professor Murray Johns (Founder and former Director,
Sleep Disorders Unit, Epworth Hospital, Melbourne) without
whom this "Sleep Better Without Drugs" self-help program would
not have been possible.
Thank you to Jan Pentland, Consultant-in-Chief, for
her innumerable helpful comments, her creative and practical
suggestions, and her patient and unwavering support; they were
absolutely invaluable.
Thanks to many people from the medical profession for their
helpful and supportive comments, including Dr. Brendan Nelson
(then President, Australian Medical Association),
Professor John Murtagh (then Medical Editor, Australian Family
Physician), Dr Ian Brighthope (President, Australian College
of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, and author of You Can
Sleep Soundly Every Night Without Drugs), Dr Alex Wodak (Director,
Alcohol and Drug Service, St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney), Dr
Andrea Mant (Clinical Director, Drug and Alcohol Program, ESAHS,
Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney).
I am indebted to Professor William Dement (Director, Sleep Disorders
Clinic and Research Center, Stanford University, California, and
Chairman, U.S. National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research);
and Dr Tom Roth (Director, Sleep Disorders Center, Henry Ford Hospital,
Detroit, Michigan, and former Director, U.S. National Sleep
Foundation) for their assistance.
Thank you to Dr Nicholas Cooling (GP, Risdon Vale, Tasmania), Dr
Ian Grant (GP, Wangaratta, Victoria), Dr J.G. Wijeyesekera
(GP, Ballina, NSW), and the many other General Practitioners
(Family Physicians) around Australia who used an earlier version
of the "Sleep Better Without Drugs" program with their patients,
and took the time to give me valuable feedback on how the program
might be improved to make it more effective and more user-friendly
both for physicians and for their patients who suffer from insomnia.
Thanks to Emeritus Professor George Singer, Anne
Kotzman, Mike Tyrell, Sue Hosking, Alison Talbot, Della Broderick-
Brown, and many other Psychologists and Counselors around
Australia who used an earlier version of the program with their
clients, or who read an earlier version of the Sleep Better Guide,
and offered helpful suggestions as to how the program might be improved.
I am indebted to Professor Richard Bootzin (Northwestern University,
Illinois, USA), whose path-breaking research on stimulus control treatment
for insomnia, and whose single cassette program "Self-management techniques
for controlling insomnia" provided the basis for parts of the "Sleep Better
Without Drugs" program.
I am indebted to Professor Margot Prior (Psychology Department,
La Trobe University), who supervised the clinical masters thesis in
which I evaluated Professor Bootzin’s tape; and to the 159 insomnia
sufferers around Australia who volunteered to use the Bootzin tape
and provided me with data on their sleep. It was this thesis
(begun in 1983) that got me started on the road that has led to the
creation of the "Sleep Better Without Drugs" self-help program.
Thanks to the Medical Benefits Fund (MBF) for recommending
"Sleep Better Without Drugs" to their members.
Thanks to Ken James, George and Gayle Vermont, Tim Morawetz (Canada)
Evi Morawetz and Deborah Morawetz for their assistance at different stages
of the project.
Last, but certainly not least, thank you to the hundreds of insomnia
sufferers who have sought my assistance over the years in treating their
sleeping problems, and who have helped to educate me regarding what works
and what does not. Without them, too, the "Sleep Better Without Drugs"
self-help program would not have been possible.
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