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First Friday Forum: Promoting Sleep Wisdom: Inner Clock Insights for Clinicians
Metro State St. Paul Campus Library - Ecolab Room, located on 3rd floor
645 East Seventh Street
St. Paul, MN 55106
Friday, November 03, 2017, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT
Category: First Friday Forum (CE)

Promoting Sleep Wisdom: Inner Clock Insights for Clinicians

Note new location: Metropolitan State University Library, 3rd floor, Ecolab Room

Friday, November 3, 2017
Registration: 8:30 - 9:00 a.m.
Program: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Friday Forums are cosponsored with the
Metropolitan State University Psychology Department

About the Program

This First Friday Forum will inform practicing mental health professionals curious about circadian clock processes and how they influence diagnosis, intervention and outcomes in behavioral health.  The maturing subspecialty of behavior sleep medicine incorporates principles of cognitive behavior therapy  and chronotherapeutics in the process of modifying sleep and diurnal waking behavior.

The program introduces basic circadian principles by describing the two factor Borbely model of homeostatic and circadian drivers (Borbely, 1982) and the genetic underpinnings of the cellular clock.  The functional neuroanatomy and physiology of the circadian system will be explained, including the concepts of DILMO (dim light melatonin onset) and the Phase Response Curve (PRC).  The role of primary zeitgebers, viz., light, eating behavior and social activity in circadian rhythms will be addressed. 

We will examine self-report screening inventories for chronotype, e.g., the Horne-Ostberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ; Horne & Ostberg, 1976), and emphasize the importance of follow-up on client sleep complaints, address behavioral health risk factors such as absenteeism, neurocognitive deficits, accident rates, fatigue, and substance use associated with circadian discordance (mismatch between inner timing, external clocks and the solar day).  Cognitive-Behavior therapy for insomnia (CBT-I; Morin et al, 2006; Edinger et al., 2001) is an evidence-based practice designed to modify faulty assumptions about sleep that promote circadian phase shifts and sleep debt.  Community and web-based sleep education resources will be provided.  The impact of socio-cultural attitudes and pervasive LED technology and e-devices on circadian processes and sleep-wake behavior will be explored.

This session qualifies for 3.0 continuing education credits. You must attend the full 3-hour program to get continuing education credit for the event.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Describe basic circadian and homeostatic principles.
  2. Apply circadian/homeostatic concepts to client care using self-report screening tools such as the MEQ (Home & Ostberg, 1976) and 2-week sleep diaries, to provide a subjective overall picture of bedtimes and awake times, time awake after initial sleep inset, total sleep time vs. total time in bed (measure of sleep efficiency).
  3. Identify typical circadian shift disorders, included delayed sleep phase disorder, not uncommonly found among adolescents.
  4. Describe basic principles of sleep hygiene and the connection between insomnia and perpetuation of mental impairments and diminished prognosis.

About the Presenter:

Michael V. DeSanctis, Ph.D., LP, ABPP, CBSM, has decades of experience in the practice of behavioral health psychology, with special interests in winter SAD and behavior sleep medicine. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology in Counseling Psychology and a Fellow of the American Academy of Counseling Psychology and is listed in the National Register of Health Psychology Providers. He has authored or co-authored publications on topics ranging from meteorology and behavior to winter SAD, insomnia, circadian rhythms and vocational factors in work performance in the ID sub-population. He has past affiliations with St. Mary’s University of Minnesota as Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychology and Adjunct Graduate Instructor at the Twin Cities Campus of Argosy University. He provides ongoing consultation on disability issues in adults, adolescents and children. Through his company, Positive Sleep Journeys, PLLC, he is committed to educating clinicians, organizations and the general public on the subjects of sleep and circadian processes.  Dr. DeSanctis received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Texas Tech University in 1982 with a Minor in Neuroscience.  He also obtained an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University (1976).

The Minnesota Psychological Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.  The Minnesota Psychological Association maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS:  If you need disability related accommodations, including parking, to make this event accessible, please contact the Metropolitan State University Center for Accessibility Resources, 651-793-1549, or [email protected]

To Register:

Register Online

Click here for a pdf Registration Form 

Refund/Cancellation Policy: A 100% refund will be made if the event is cancelled. Refunds, less a $5 handling free, will be given if a written cancellation is received at least two working days before the scheduled program begins. Transfer of fee to another program is granted if written cancellation notice is received at least one day before the program. No refund or transfer is given the day of the program.


Contact: [email protected] or (952)928-4657