It was developed by Richard Bootzin. The primary goal of stimulus control therapy is to reduce the anxiety or conditioned excitement that individuals may feel when trying to go to bed. This is becoming a problem for people with sleep disorders, as they already have a strong link between bed and wakefulness and are now adding another “blow” to sleep by doing waking activities in bed. The primary goal of stimulus control therapy is to reduce the anxiety or conditioned excitement that individuals may feel when trying to go to bed.
Stimulus control means using the bed only to sleep. The primary goal of stimulus control therapy is to reduce the anxiety or conditioned excitement that individuals may feel when trying to go to bed. The aim is to strengthen (or restore) the connection between bed and sleep and to weaken the learned connection between bed and activities other than sleep (including wakefulness, worry, anxiety, frustration, and anxiety).