(914) 325-8464
Behavioral Sleep Medicine · NYC Metro Area and virtual
Tired but wired? You're not failing at sleep. You're trying too hard at it.
Dr. Shelby Harris is a board-certified clinical psychologist and one of only a few hundred Diplomates in Behavioral Sleep Medicine in the United States. Her practice treats insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders, chronic nightmares, sleep-related anxiety and hypersomnia issues all using evidence-based behavioral treatment.If you're a patient
Schedule a consultation.
A 15-minute call to see whether the practice is the right fit. No referral required.If you're vetting credentials
Read the credentials.
Affiliations, board certifications, publications, and media credits — for media producers and referring clinicians.As Seen On
The real problem
You didn't come here because you can't sleep.You came here because you can't function.
Most patients arrive describing the night — the racing mind at 2 a.m., the wakeups at 4, the dread of going to bed. But the thing that finally made them call was the daytime. The exhaustion that doesn't lift with coffee. The memory slipping at work. The reserves they used to have, gone. The relationships fraying because there's nothing left at the end of the day.
The night is the cause. The day is the cost. And the day is what most patients come in trying to get back.
The practice
A narrow focus, by design.Most sleep complaints aren't about sleep alone.
Sleep problems don’t exist in a vacuum. They involve, anxiety, behavioral patterns and sometime medical conditions. Dr. Shelby has a solid understanding of the interplay between mental health, sleep, and medical conditions. The practice treats sleep and anxiety conditions thoroughly, referring out for medical evaluations when necessary.Sleep Disorders
Insomnia
Trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early. Treated with CBT-I, the first-line non-medication approach.Circadian rhythm disorders
When your body's internal clock is out of sync with your schedule — delayed sleep phase, shift work, jet lag, irregular patterns.Sleep-related anxiety
When poor sleep and anxiety feed one another. Comprehensive treatment focuses on the pressure to and worry about sleep that so often worsens the nighttime.Children's sleep
Bedtime resistance, night wakings, behavioral sleep problems, and nightmares in children and adolescents.Chronic Nightmares
Frequent nightmares are non-REM parasomnias that disrupt sleep quality, increase nighttime anxiety, or create fear around sleep itself.Narcolepsy
A neurological sleep disorder that causes excessive daytime sleepiness. Symptoms may include sleep attacks, disrupted nighttime sleep, and, in some cases, episodes of muscle weakness called cataplexy.Hypersomnia Disorders
Excessive daytime sleepiness that persists despite adequate time in bed.CPAP Non-Adherence (CPAP Intolerance)
Difficulty consistently using CPAP therapy despite a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea.Her Approach to Insomnia
The harder you try to sleep, the less you sleep.This is the paradox at the center of chronic insomnia.
Sleep is the one biological system that collapses under demand. The more pressure you apply — the trackers, the rituals, the supplements, the 3 a.m. math about how many hours you'll get if you fall asleep right now — the more awake you become.
The treatment isn't more effort. It's the right kind of structured, evidence-based intervention that takes the effort out of the system.
That treatment is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). It's a six-to-eight-week course recommended by the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine as the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia — before medication, not after it. Most patients see meaningful improvement by the fourth or fifth session.
The course is finite by design. The goal is to make the practice unnecessary.
Read the full treatment overview
Did you know
A few things most people get wrong about sleep.About Dr. Shelby
Twenty-plus years of clinical sleep work.
Dr. Shelby Harris is a board-certified clinical psychologist who specializes in behavioral sleep medicine. She holds clinical affiliations with Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she serves as Clinical Associate Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry. She was formerly the Director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, where she ran the program for more than a decade.
She is the author of The Women's Guide to Overcoming Insomnia and The Essential Guide to Children's Sleep, both translating clinical research into practical, evidence-based guidance for the people most affected by sleep problems.
She’s also a mom, 27-time marathoner, classically-trained double bassist and avid baker. She began running just before her 30th birthday after realizing that she wasn’t practicing what she preached with her patients in the Montefiore Sleep Center. She then caught the running bug.
Read the full bio
Books
Two books. Practical guides.
The Women's Guide to Overcoming Insomnia is for adults working through chronic sleep problems — particularly the kind that show up around perimenopause and menopause. The Essential Guide to Children's Sleep is for parents who've tried everything. Both translate clinical practice into something you can actually use at 2 a.m.
The Women's Guide to Overcoming Insomnia
For adult women navigating insomnia across life stages — including hormonal shifts, pregnancy, and perimenopause.
The Essential Guide to Children's Sleep
For parents and caregivers navigating sleep issues in children from infancy through adolescence.Ready to talk?
The first conversation is a 15-minute call.
No referral required. The call is used to understand what you're experiencing and to determine whether the practice is the right fit. If it's not, you'll get a referral to someone who is.Schedule Consultation