I attended the six-day and five-night “Mental Health” Liberation Leaders’ International Conference in October 2019. I noticed that many Co-Counselors were talking about (and having sessions about) difficulties sleeping at the conference as well as in their daily lives. Although I am far from being an expert on the subject and have my own struggles with sleep, I decided to lead a topic table on sleep.


Ten people came. I said that many people were having feelings about sleep and that a conference with a hundred other Co-Counselors is probably the best place in the world to think and discharge about it. 


I shared the following thoughts: For many of us, sleep and trying to sleep restimulate early difficulties with sleep, such as being isolated at night or being made to try to sleep and wake up on someone else’s schedule. Some of us had hurtful, scary, and confusing things happen to us or around us at night. Also, night can be a hard time to call someone for a session. It’s restimulating to ask for attention, because we couldn’t get help at night as children. Also, we don’t want to “bother” anyone who might be sleeping.


I said I thought we could come up with [find] good ways to work on sleep at this and other RC conferences and workshops. I had people discharge in pairs on what might help them get better sleep, especially at this conference. Then we did a go-around for people to share the ideas that had emerged. My favorite idea was that a Co-Counselor on the other side of the world would not be sleeping at the same time I am and therefore would not have to wake up to give me a session.


As an experiment, I invited my regular Co-Counselor (who was at the conference) to come to my room at any time in the night if she couldn’t sleep. (I didn’t have a roommate.) The first night she had trouble sleeping but wasn’t able to come. The second night she came three times. We talked, she discharged, we snuggled, and she came and left as she wanted. She offered me session time, but I was relaxed and didn’t need to discharge. In the morning I did not feel any less rested than usual.


What about having a “sleeping room” at future RC workshops? All participants would be welcome. Such an arrangement could significantly shift night and sleep distress. Maybe leading the “sleeping room” could become a regular workshop “job!”