Dr. David Cunnington

About David

David trained in sleep medicine both in Australia and at Harvard Medical School, and has been practising sleep medicine for over 20 years, treating people with a range of issues. David is a passionate advocate for healthy sleep, including training people and other health professionals about his area of expertise. He is Chair of the Clinical Committee of the Australasian Sleep Association and a member of the Advanced Training Committee of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians overseeing training and practice standards in sleep medicine in Australia. (Are you impressed? We are!).

David’s recent research has been in developing non-drug treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness meditation for insomnia and other sleep disorders. His research and commentaries on sleep have been published in leading medical journals such as Annals of Internal Medicine,The British Medical Journal and The Medical Journal of Australia. David’s research on sleep has also received coverage in a range of press outlets such as the New York Times, Scientific American, NPR and The Huffington Post. David appears regularly in the media as a commentator on sleep and health, and works across a range of groups and settings including professional sporting teams, workplaces and health resorts to improve people’s sleep.

David is passionate about mental health because…

As a sleep specialist and someone who understands the close links between sleep and mental health, David feels he has the opportunity to make a true difference and help prevent people developing depression and anxiety, through education and intervening early.

Unfortunately, often by the time people come to see David in his office, they have already developed significant mental health issues, as they may not seek help or be referred to see him until things have been going on for some time. Whilst David can help at that stage, he would much prefer to help people improve their sleep before they reach a crisis point, and before it begins to impact on their mental health.

Here’s what you can expect in David’s presentation…

• Understand how sleep works
• What can be done to help improve sleep
• Busting myths about sleep
• Resetting people’s expectations around what sleep should be
• How sleep changes throughout life both with age and life stages.
• Practical measures to implement straight away to improve your relationship with and quality of sleep