Jackie Swensen, BFA, MSW, NCPsyA
GHF's Psychotherapeutic/Sleep Expert

Experienced Psychotherapist

Jackie Swensen has a BFA from Colorado State University, a MSW from the Hunter College School of Social Work in New York City, and has completed postgraduate training at the Institute for Modern Psychoanalysis in New York City. Her training has prepared her to work with children, teenagers, and adults on a broad range of psychological issues. She is currently in private practice, conducting therapy sessions both in her office and by phone with clients nation-wide. Jackie is a NAAP-certified Psychoanalyst.

Successful Internet Entrepreneur

Jackie's psychoanalytic work led to the founding of SleepSoundly.com, an Internet-based company that offers products and information about insomnia and sleep problems. She repeatedly saw how much lack of sleep interfered with her clients' functioning and quality of life. This, in combination with her own intermittent insomnia, motivated her to seek out a safe, non-drug solution to sleep problems. After trying numerous products, she came upon a music therapy that not only helped her fall asleep quickly but also enabled her to fall back to sleep easily if she woke during the night. She was so pleased by the effectiveness of Sleep Like-A-Baby; Heartbeat Music Therapy that she decided to market the product on the web. Jackie currently serves as president of SleepSoundly.com.

Jackie Swensen on Exercise and Good Sleep

Living a healthy and productive life—emotionally, physically, and spiritually—begins with the proper diet, exercise, and sleep. As a mental health practitioner, I am surprised how often these essentials are ignored. I believe that they are interdependent and that it is virtually impossible to become physically fit and emotionally healthy if we don't address them.

There is much evidence that exercising regularly helps reduce sleep problems and that sleeping well enables people to get more out of their exercise routines. Sleep is often last on the list of priorities when in reality it should be first. Sleep deprivation compromises the body's' ability to function adequately in meeting the demands of each day.

I have also seen how exercising regularly can have great psychological benefits. By "releasing" or "discharging" energy that builds up daily in our bodies, exercise can be a simple, direct, and effective stress reducer. This can be so effective that regular exercise is now seen as a viable alternative to anti-depressant medication for many people. Also, regular physical exercise can serve as "built-in insurance" to help us deal with the stress that accompanies unexpected changes.

But for some, meeting a fitness goal can be extremely difficult. In spite of hard work, they still don't achieve what they've set for themselves and can't understand why. They wonder why they have no motivation—they wait for it but it doesn't come. One of the ideas I try to educate my clients about is that motivation usually happens only after action is taken. And action needs to be taken repeatedly before motivation is experienced on a regular basis. Only then can new behaviours become integrated into their lives.

In addition, people often have emotional impediments to living the kinds of lives they want and are sometimes unaware of these blocks. This is an area where I have found therapy to be extremely useful. Becoming aware of the thoughts and behaviours that interfere with the ability to reach specific goals is the first step in making changes. It is also one of the aspects of being a psychotherapist that I enjoy most. When a client is successful at improving one area of life, it's wonderful to see how easily this improvement translates into other areas of their lives.

Visit Jackie's Website

For detailed information on insomnia, including easy-to-follow sleep tips and articles, please click here. Here you'll also learn more about the number one music therapy recordings in the world, Sleep Like-A-Baby; Heartbeat Music Therapy, and how it can help you go to sleep faster, sleep better, have more energy, work more efficiently to be more productive, get the most from your workouts, and enjoy each day to its fullest!