MSU author aims to break cycle of nightmares, insomnia
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.—A Mississippi State University faculty member is reaching national audiences with an upcoming book that tackles a deeply human challenge—the fundamental need for restful sleep.
MSU Psychology Professor Michael R. Nadorff, in collaboration with co-author and board-certified psychologist Courtney Worley, offers a research-based workbook to help readers overcome chronic nightmares and insomnia.
Nadorff and Worley help readers reclaim their sleep with “The Nightmare and Sleep Disorder Toolkit: A Workbook to Help You Get Some Rest Using Imagery Rehearsal Therapy and Other Evidence-Based Approaches” to be published by New Harbinger Publications Oct. 1.
“Although nightmares affect nearly 20% of children and 10% of adults, few mental health providers know how to treat nightmares. Thus, our goal was to ensure that everyone has access to empirically-supported treatments for this debilitating disorder,” Nadorff said.
Drawing on the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s top-recommended treatment—imagery rehearsal therapy—the comprehensive workbook offers tools to help readers rewrite distressing dreams, improve sleep quality and regain daytime functioning. The authors provide a step-by-step approach to breaking the cycle of disrupted sleep, addressing both the symptoms and root causes of sleep-related distress.
Nadorff served as director of MSU’s clinical psychology Ph.D. program for a decade and oversaw its accreditation in 2016. He researches the link between sleep disturbances and suicidal behavior and has secured more than $15 million in external grant funding from agencies such as the NIH and CDC. He currently serves as immediate past-president and Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine Fellow and has been a board member of the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology since 2021.
Nadorff also has conducted nine APA accreditation site visits—chairing seven—and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts.
Worley has worked in intensive trauma and behavioral sleep medicine clinics in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and was a lead trainer on Written Exposure Therapy, an empirically-supported treatment for PTSD. A Diplomate in Behavioral Sleep Medicine, she has led national training initiatives for PTSD treatments and conducts research on nightmares and their links to other psychiatric disorders. Worley is currently practicing in Alabama and has a broad role in training clinicians internationally in sleep and trauma therapies.
The book is available for pre-order and will be shipped after its release on Oct. 1.
For more details about MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, visit www.cas.msstate.edu. For more information about the Department of Psychology, visit www.psychology.msstate.edu.
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