A Survey of Practicing Sleep Coaches

ABSTRACT

Background: Sleep coaches are individuals of various backgrounds who offer services to families struggling with behavioral childhood sleep problems. We conducted a survey of coaches to further elucidate scope of practice, practice patterns, geographic distribution, education, training, and beliefs regarding qualification requirements. Methods: A Web-based survey was completed by 142 individuals who identified as a sleep coach. Results: Coaches were distributed across 17 countries and 5 continents. Overall, 65% of coaches served clients in countries beyond their home country. Within the United States, coaches were generally located in more affluent and well-educated zip codes near large metropolitan centers, 91% served clients beyond their home state, and 56% served clients internationally. Educational background varied across coaches (12% high school degree, 51% bachelor’s degree, 32% master’s degree, 2% doctoral degree, 1.5% JD degree). Few coaches (20%) were or had been licensed health care providers or carried malpractice insurance (38%). Coaches usually provided services for children < 4 months of age to about 6 years of age, and were much less likely to provide services for children with comorbid neurodevelopmental (32%) or significant medical disorders (19%). Coaches reported an average of 3 new and 6 total clients per week and working 20 hr per week on average. Most coaches (76%) felt that a formal sleep coach training program was the most important qualification for practice. Conclusions: These results highlight a diversity of background, training, and geographical distribution of sleep coaches, and may help inform discussions regarding guidelines for training and credentialing of sleep coaches.

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Kim West, LCSW-C, director of the Gentle Sleep Coach, for her input into the development of the survey and assistance in participant recruitment.