Recommendation of the european academy for cognitive-behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) for high quality training for health professionals

European clinical guidelines clearly identified Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) as first line of treatment for insomnia disorder. Yet, despite these indications, so far CBT-I is rarely offered in clinical practice and pharmacotherapy is still the dominant clinical practice. In order to promote a change in clinical practice, a Task Force of the European Sleep Research Society and the European Insomnia Network was established with the aim of enabling a Europe-wide system of CBT-I training and training centre accreditation. This, in turn, would correspond to a wider offer of CBT-I in Europe, to similar standards and with comparable levels of dissemination within countries. Specifically, this would be achieved by extending knowledge and skills relating to insomnia and its psychological treatment from the area of sleep medicine to the areas of clinical psychology, evidence-based psychotherapy and psychiatry, as well as primary care and health care practice (e.g., general practicioners, paediatricians). It is the Academy's suggestion that, in Europe, expert providers of CBT-I would be by definition health professionals with a recognized licence to provide clinical psychology/psychotherapy/mental healthcare. Moreover, expert providers of CBT-I should have further received qualification and associated supervised education and practice in sleep medicine and sleep-related aspects of clinical psychology. The Academy has identified different levels of CBT-I providers expertise, depending on clinical qualification and target patient population. Furthermore, the Academy provided minimal criteria for high quality CBT-I courses directed towards health professionals. This chapter aims at summarizing the deliberations and the initiatives of the CBT-I Academy to promote training and knowledge of CBT-I to health professionals.