What if the sleep problem isn’t actually a sleep problem?
If you can’t fall asleep, wake during the night, watch the clock, dread bedtime, or lie there worrying about tomorrow, you already know how exhausting the struggle can become.
Sometimes the fear of not sleeping becomes part of what keeps you awake.
Fear creates pressure.
Pressure creates more effort to control sleep.
More effort can create more tension.
And the cycle continues.
What if the way forward isn’t trying harder to sleep, but changing your relationship with sleep?
40 minutes · Zoom · no charge · no obligation.
Online from Maui, serving Washington State and beyond, or in person in Kahului.
5.0 ★ · 78 Google reviews
When sleep becomes something you have to fight for
Maybe you recognize some of this:
- You’re exhausted, but when you finally get into bed, your mind wakes up.
- You can fall asleep sometimes, but other nights feel completely unpredictable.
- You wake during the night and immediately start calculating how many hours are left.
- You find yourself thinking, “What if I don’t sleep tonight?”
- You dread bedtime because you already expect another difficult night.
- You’ve tried medications, supplements, sleep apps, meditation, specialists, therapy, or every sleep tip you could find.
- You’re frustrated because the harder you try to solve sleep, the more pressure you seem to create.
- You worry about tomorrow — work, parenting, concentration, mood, functioning — before tomorrow has even arrived.
If this is familiar, it doesn’t mean your body has forgotten how to sleep. It may mean that sleep has become associated with pressure, vigilance, fear, or effort.
The reframe
Sleep doesn’t always respond well to force.
The movement here is from forcing to allowing, control to trust, fear to greater safety, and fighting to helping.
Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with me?” we can begin asking, “What’s happening here?”
You may not need to become someone different.
You may need a different relationship with sleep.
What may be keeping sleep stuck
Sleep anxiety. After enough difficult nights, anticipation can become part of the experience: “I’m probably not going to sleep.” The fear of being awake can keep the system alert.
Trying to force sleep. The harder you try to make yourself sleep, the more tension you may create. Sleep is not something we consciously do. There is a difference between trying and helping.
Not feeling safe at night. Repeated insomnia or emotionally intense nighttime experiences can contribute to a sense that nighttime is unsafe. Your body may not be trying to prevent you from sleeping; it may be trying to keep you safe. This is one possible pattern, not a universal explanation.
Carrying too much into bed. Worry, pressure, unresolved emotion, self-criticism, responsibilities, relationship concerns, work stress and overthinking don’t necessarily disappear when your head hits the pillow. Your bedtime doesn’t begin at bedtime.
40 minutes · Zoom · no charge · no obligation.
How we work together
First, I listen and observe. I want to understand you, the pattern you’re experiencing, and what may be relevant.
We look at when the sleep disturbance began and what may have contributed to it, including physical and emotional factors.
We look at your sleep routine, the pattern of the problem, rumination, worry, sleep anxiety, your mindset around sleep, and your relationship with sleep itself.
This gives me a fairly quick sense of whether I can help and what direction the work should take. If I don’t think I’m the right person to help, I’ll tell you.
From there, we work with what may be keeping the system stuck. Depending on what we find, that can include emotional load, fear, tension, anxiety, perspectives around sleep, and creating a greater sense of peace and safety.
The work may include metaphors, stories, hypnotic language, anxiety work and new perspectives. For deeper work, I may also use hypnosis and breathwork.
Between sessions, you may learn breathwork, meditation or self-hypnosis. Recordings, including customized recordings when appropriate, may also be part of the work.
In simple terms:
- Understand the person↓
- Understand the sleep disturbance↓
- Identify what may be keeping it going↓
- Shift the underlying emotional load and relationship with sleep↓
- Learn tools you can continue using yourself
What hypnosis means here
Hypnosis is somewhat like being between fully awake and fully asleep. The body begins to slow down and relax as though it were falling asleep, while you remain aware of what is happening.
Awareness becomes more detached. That deeper state can make it easier to work at what I describe as the subconscious level, where many automated responses operate.
The point isn’t anything mystical or magical. It’s about creating an experience in which you may not have to fight old patterns in the same way.
What may become possible
There are no guarantees, and every person is different. But the work can create a different experience of sleep: less fear and tension, a calmer mind and body, greater trust, and a sense that you are not broken.
A central shift can be from “There’s something wrong with me” toward:
I’m not broken. I can learn to relate to sleep differently.
Ugo’s own sleep story
More than 13 years ago, after my first daughter arrived, I had moved to a new country, was building my practice, and was carrying enormous pressure to provide for my family. And I would just lie there all night, unable to fall asleep.
One night, a sentence arose:
Stop trying to be who you are not.
I accepted where I was.
My body softened.
The pressure melted.
And I fell asleep.
That experience stayed with me. It shaped how I came to understand the relationship between pressure, anxiety and rest—and eventually became part of how I work with people who are struggling with sleep.
I’ve been doing this work for 15+ years. The tools may vary from person to person, but the starting point is the same: understand what is actually happening before deciding what needs to change.
Real people. Real shifts.
“I am sleeping better than I have in years. I can hardly believe the change.”
— Lindsay W.Read the full review
“Working with Ugo has hands down been the best decision I’ve made in helping heal my chronic insomnia. I’ve tried so many things over the years, and nothing has helped me sleep better more consistently like working with Ugo. My attitude towards sleep has completely shifted, and I am sleeping better than I have in years. I can hardly believe the change. I can’t recommend working with Ugo highly enough!”
“I went from repeated sleepless nights and constant worry, to a feeling of inner peace and acceptance that I haven’t had in years.”
— Sean F.Read the full review
“Ugo is an extremely compassionate and calming presence. His understanding of the brain-body connection combined with his intuitive and gentle approach, gave me the tools I needed to work through a rather intense period of insomnia I was experiencing. I went from repeated sleepless nights and constant worry, to a feeling of inner peace and acceptance that I haven’t had in years. I’ve had many versions of therapy throughout my life, and Ugo was able to teach me more in just a few sessions than I’ve learned from years with certain therapists.”
“After 15 years of trying everything from sleep meds to seeing sleep specialists, I was pretty desperate.”
— Hsiao Min P.Read the full review
“I’d been struggling with insomnia that was getting progressively worse — after 15 years of trying everything from sleep meds to seeing sleep specialists, I was pretty desperate. I will not claim to know how it works, but Ugo was able to help me transition from being doubtful about being able to sleep naturally to somehow being able to doze off without the struggles I’d been encountering for too many years. From being skeptical (but desperate) from so many years of failed attempts, Ugo has been incredibly effective in helping me recover my ability to sleep. I highly recommend seeing Ugo as he is very competent at what he does — everything ranging from his skills and experience to his very calm/poised demeanor are quite impressive.”
“I’ve tried everything from cognitive therapy, natural sleep aids, drugs, meditation, and nothing worked long term.”
— Joan R.Read the full review
“I went to see Ugo because I’ve struggled with insomnia most of my adult life, I’ve tried everything from cognitive therapy, natural sleep aids, drugs, meditation, and nothing worked long term. I was so frustrated, my body felt sick all the time, I couldn’t concentrate, and my mood had hit an all time low, I was at the end of my rope! A friend recommended Ugo, and while I was skeptical I decided to give it a go, I really had nothing to lose. I was impressed with how much time he took to get to know me and how easy it was to talk to him. The treatment has a flow and rhythm that feels very healing, I’m not sure exactly how it works I just know it works! I would highly recommend Ugo he went above and beyond my expectations.”
5.0 ★ · 78 Google reviews
These are individual experiences. Results vary from person to person.
Ways to work together
Four-Session Sleep Intensive
$1,200
Four focused sessions for an acute sleep problem.
Installments available.
Three-Month Sleep Program
$4,500
A deeper program for chronic sleep problems and sleep-related anxiety.
12 sessions, with the additional support and resources included in the deeper work.
Installments available.
Four sessions can be enough to create meaningful movement. Sometimes, as we get into the work, we discover that the pattern has been around longer or is connected to more than sleep alone. If that happens, the four-session process can open naturally into the deeper three-month work.
The three-month work isn’t simply more sessions. It gives us continuity over time, support between sessions, and room to work with patterns that may have been developing for years.
Your first step is a 40-minute Zoom conversation. We’ll talk about your sleep pattern, its history, what you’ve tried, sleep anxiety, and your relationship with sleep. It’s a chance for both of us to see whether the work is a good fit.
40 minutes · Zoom · no charge · no obligation.
Frequently asked questions
What if I’ve tried everything for insomnia?
Many people who come to this work have already tried medications, sleep specialists, therapy, meditation, supplements or other approaches. We won’t assume your problem has the same cause as someone else’s. We’ll look at your particular pattern and what may be keeping it going.
Can’t I just relax?
If “just relax” worked, you probably wouldn’t be looking for help. The issue usually isn’t knowing that relaxation is useful. It’s that trying to relax can become another thing you have to make happen.
Is the first consultation free?
Yes. The first 40-minute Zoom conversation is free. There is no obligation to continue.
Could my sleep problem be medical?
Some sleep problems have a physical or medical cause, and hypnotherapy isn’t a substitute for medical care. If something in your history suggests a medical evaluation would help, I’ll say so. Part of the first conversation is determining whether this approach fits your situation.
Do I have to be hypnotized?
No one is forced into hypnosis. We first understand what is happening and determine what kind of work makes sense for you. Hypnosis is one tool within the work, not the whole process.
Is the three-month program right for everyone?
No. The four-session work may be the right place to begin for an acute sleep problem. The deeper program is for people whose sleep difficulty is more chronic or connected with anxiety and patterns that need more time and continuity.
Are installments available?
Yes. Installment options are available for both programs. The exact arrangement can be discussed when we talk.
40 minutes · Zoom · no charge · no obligation.
You don’t have to spend another night fighting with sleep.
Sometimes the first step is simply having a conversation with someone who understands that the problem may be about more than sleep.
What if the sleep problem isn’t actually a sleep problem?
What if you don’t have to try harder?
What if sleep could stop being something you fight for?
40 minutes · Zoom · no charge · no obligation.
Online from Maui, serving Washington State and beyond, or in person in Kahului.
