[How I treat... chronic insomnia by cognitive and behavioral therapy].

Today, insomnia is predominantly treated by pharmacotherapy. Yet, cognitive-behavioral therapy has better long-term outcomes. In this paper, we describe the basic principles of this short-term psychotherapeutic treatment. It combines methods of sleep restriction and stimulus control, the learning of relaxation techniques, advices on sleep hygiene and cognitive therapy techniques applied to cognitions that overwhelm insomniac moments.