Journal of psychosomatic research
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As the knowledge base in sleep disorders medicine has broadened, a subspecialty that we will refer to as "behavioral sleep medicine" area is emerging. This article will define this subspecialty area, provide some historical context for its emergence, review issues related to specialty training and clinical practice, and suggest needs for future research. ⋯ It suggests much about our approach to training, clinical practice, and research, and it appropriately implies that the field is open to PhD sleep specialists, MD sleep specialists, and other health care providers with the relevant training. Formally, behavioral sleep medicine refers to the branch of clinical sleep medicine and health psychology that: (1) focuses on the identification of the psychological (e.g. cognitive and/or behavioral) factors that contribute to the development and/or maintenance of sleep disorders and (2) specializes in developing and providing empirically validated cognitive, behavioral, and/or other nonpharmacologic interventions for the entire spectrum of sleep disorders.