Sleep health treatment (insomnia)

FHMRI: Sleep Health (formerly Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, AISH) is dedicated to translating the science of sleep to deliver evidence-based treatments for the general community that are proven to improve sleep, health and wellbeing.

The combination of the latest research and technology enables us to provide evidence-based treatment via the Insomnia Treatment Program.

What we do

Cost of treatment

How to book

Clinicians

What we do

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

The Insomnia Treatment Program, a non-drug treatment for sleep is based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia, started in 1992 at the Repatriation General Hospital under the guidance of Professor Leon Lack. Over 1000 patients with insomnia and other sleeping problems have been successfully treated in this clinic. This service is now offered via the FHMRI Sleep Health Clinic. If you are experiencing insomnia, circadian rhythm sleep disorders and/or sleep-related mental health disorders you may be eligible for the Insomnia Treatment Program.

The full program includes an initial consultation and a review with a sleep and respiratory physician, a home or lab-based sleep study, sleep education e-book, and six consultations with a psychologist (5 weekly appointments and a one-month follow-up).

Cost of treatment

To access this service, one of the following pathways and payment options can be used depending on your eligibility:

Medicare rebated services With a Medicare card and a referral from your General Practitioner (GP) including a Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP). Psychiatrist can also provide a referral without the need for a MHCP.
Private health insurance If your private health fund offers psychological services, you may be able to seek reimbursement for from your health insurer. Please contact your insurer to discuss your entitlements. Reimbursements will vary depending on your insurer and policy.
Community-based low or no-cost services We are able to offer services through Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) and National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for plan and self-managed NDIS clients only.
Self-funded services You may choose to self-fund your consults. Fees per consult are based on the Medicare item number fee for each service used, plus an upfront fee.

An upfront fee is required prior to commencement and reduced fees are available for concession card holders. Please contact us to enquire about our current service fees

How to book

We offer in-person appointments and video conferencing options for rural, remote and interstate residents.

To book your appointments using Medicare rebated services prior to contacting us, please:

Visit your GP to obtain a referral and Mental Health Care Plan for the Sleep Health Treatment Program.
Local residents: During your GP appointment, if you have not had a sleep study in the past 12 months, please request a second referral to sleep physicians Dr Robert Adams or Dr Thomas Altree at the FHMRI Sleep Health Clinic for an assessment of physical sleep problems and this may include a sleep study.
Please scan or take photos of the referral and Mental Health Care Plan and either email them to us at sleephealthtreatment@flinders.edu.au, or request that your GP email the referrals and Mental Health Care Plan but please ensure that your email contact details are included.

To assist you with this process, please download and print or save these instructions to your device to advise your GP of referral requirements.

For non-Medicare rebated services, please contact our clinic directly to book your appointments and discuss your preferred payment option.

GP referral enquiry

Patient enquiry

Sleep FAQs and resources

Who we are

Our team of psychologists and physicians below also support the training of students who are undertaking a postgraduate clinical degree.

Dr Gorica Micic, FHMRI Sleep Health Clinic Coordinator, Clinical Psychologist

Dr Gorica Micic is a clinician researcher and was awarded her psychology degree at Flinders University in 2012, a PhD in 2016 and a Master of Clinical Psychology in 2019. Gorica has 10 years of experience within sleep medicine and her expertise are relevant to the understanding and treatment of psychological and physiological bases of sleep and circadian rhythm (body clock) disorders. Since 2016, she has treated and managed sleep, circadian rhythm and mental health disorders across the entire lifespan (from infancy until late adulthood) as a Clinical Psychologist.

Emeritus Professor Leon Lack, Registered Psychologist

Emeritus Prof Leon Lack received his first degree from Stanford University in the USA and PhD from the University of Adelaide. Since 1971, he has been at Flinders University in the School of Psychology teaching and conducting research in the areas of sleep, circadian rhythms, bright light therapy and insomnia. He has received many large research grants, published over 130 refereed articles, books, and book chapters, and given over 200 conference papers in the sleep area. Dr Lack has also taken an active role in public education about sleep and the body clock through invited lectures, workshops, media presentations, and publication of a popular book on the treatment of insomnia. He also has patents and is co-inventor of a portable bright light therapy device, Re-timer.com, for the treatment of a mis-timed body clock.

Dr Nicole Lovato

Dr Nicole Lovato (B.Psych(Hons.), PhD) is a Senior Research Fellow, the Research Development Coordinator, and provisional Psychologist at the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health. She has expertise in the basic and clinical aspects of sleep, circadian rhythms, and sleep disorders such as insomnia. and the translation of this knowledge to ensure best practice sleep health care is widely accessible across the community. Dr Lovato has developed innovative online tools and decision support systems to screen for insomnia at the community level. She has also developed novel therapeutic devices that treat insomnia in the patients’ home, significantly reducing treatment time and costs.

Professor Robert Adams

Prof Robert Adams, (MBBS, MD, FRACP, FRCP) is the Professor of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at Flinders University and the Medical Director of the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health. He is an active clinician as consultant specialist physician in the Respiratory and Sleep Services at Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (SALHN), based at Flinders Medical Centre. He has authored over 240 peer-reviewed publications in journals and books and received many large research grants. Prof Adams is a board member of the Sleep Health Foundation, the leading community advocacy organisation for sleep health in Australia.

Dr Thomas Altree

Dr Thomas Altree is a specialist physician in respiratory and sleep disorders. He completed respiratory training in Adelaide before undertaking a Sleep Medicine fellowship at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. He manages patients across the spectrum of sleep disorders. He is also an active researcher at the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, assessing the effect of various medications on sleep in patients with conditions that affect the airways.

Privacy and confidentiality

Information we collect about you

Any contact you have with a doctor or psychologist in relation to your health and wellbeing is recorded in a dedicated electronic file in our clinical database and secure survey platform (Redcap). This system is separate from any other systems at FHMRI Sleep Health and can only be accessed by approved admin and clinical personnel. You will be asked to read and sign a consent form. The information kept in the file includes:

Personal information (e.g. name, address, contact details)
Demographic information (e.g. gender, DOB)
The date and time of any contacts with us, as well as who you saw
Brief summaries of each of your contacts with us
Details of treatments being provided
Details of assessments or tests conducted
Detail of any referrals provided
Letters received or sent in relation to your care

How we use your information

The information in your file is used to help provide ongoing care for you. It is a record of your contacts with us, and the outcomes of those contacts and helps us provide continuity of care.

The situations where we may need to use or disclose confidential or personal information regarding your treatment, information which you provide to us, or information which is otherwise on your record (“Confidential information”) to other staff or third parties are:

where we are required to disclose the confidential Information by law;
where disclosure is warranted in order to prevent an imminent threat to your health or safety, or the health or safety of another person;
where the disclosure is requested by authorities in connection with a criminal investigation;
where the disclosure is to the University in connection with suspected unlawful activity or serious misconduct.
Outside of these situations, we will require your consent prior to any use or disclosure of your personal information.