Course
12

Sleep

Overview
Gain the tools to uncover the physiological and behavioural causes of poor sleep, enabling you to rebuild circadian rhythm, hormone balance, and deep restorative rest for clients.
Format
Online
Units
22
Recommended for
  • Insomnia
  • Shift work
  • Sleep apnea
  • Perimenopause
  • New mothers
Sleep

The learning framework

1
Why sleep dysfunction is widely underestimated
Sleep influences nearly every aspect of physical and mental health, from immune function and metabolism to hormone balance, cognitive performance, emotional regulation, and longevity, yet poor sleep remains one of the most under-addressed drivers of fatigue, inflammation, weight gain, mood disorders, and chronic disease, with most practitioners receiving minimal training in sleep assessment or intervention beyond generic "sleep hygiene" advice.
2
The limitations of conventional sleep assessment
Conventional care rarely investigates why sleep fails, whether from circadian rhythm disruption, hormonal imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, blood sugar dysregulation, chronic stress, sleep-disordered breathing, gut dysfunction, or environmental factors, leaving practitioners unable to assess sleep architecture, interpret disrupted patterns, or apply interventions that restore natural sleep-wake cycles and recovery capacity.
3
A functional framework for restoring sleep and recovery
The Sleep module trains you to identify, assess, and address the root causes of disrupted sleep through a functional, evidence-based lens, designing structured strategies that restore circadian rhythm, optimise sleep architecture, and support deep, restorative recovery.

What you'll learn

By the end of this module, you will be able to:
Understand sleep architecture and circadian regulation
Recognising the progression through non-REM and REM sleep stages, understanding how each stage contributes to physical restoration, immune function, memory consolidation, emotional processing, and hormonal regulation.
Assess the role of circadian rhythm in sleep-wake regulation
Understanding the suprachiasmatic nucleus, light-dark cycles, melatonin secretion patterns, cortisol rhythm, and how misalignment disrupts sleep quality and metabolic health.
Interpret the hormonal regulation of sleep
Mapping how melatonin, cortisol, adenosine, GABA, thyroid hormones, and sex hormones influence sleep onset, maintenance, depth, and quality.
Identify systemic contributors to poor sleep
Recognising how chronic stress, blood sugar dysregulation, hormonal imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, gut dysfunction, chronic pain, and inflammation impair sleep quality.
Assess common sleep disorders and presentations
Differentiating between insomnia subtypes, obstructive sleep apnoea, restless leg syndrome, circadian rhythm disorders, and parasomnias.
Understand the bidirectional relationship between sleep and health systems
Recognising how poor sleep drives insulin resistance, weight gain, immune suppression, inflammation, mood disorders, cognitive decline, and cardiovascular disease,and how these conditions further impair sleep.
Apply evidence-based nutritional, behavioural, and environmental interventions
Using dietary strategies, supplementation protocols, light exposure management, temperature regulation, stress management, and movement timing to support circadian alignment and sleep architecture.
Build phased sleep restoration protocols
sequencing interventions through circadian rhythm alignment, blood sugar stabilisation, stress regulation, nutrient repletion, gut and liver support, and nervous system calming to support sustainable sleep improvement.

Why this matters

The ability to address the root driver of most chronic health complaints
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Poor sleep amplifies fatigue, weight gain, hormonal imbalances, mood disorders, immune dysfunction, and metabolic disease. Restoring sleep often creates breakthrough improvements across all systems.
Confidence in complex, treatment-resistant cases
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You'll identify when unresolved sleep dysfunction is the missing piece preventing progress in other areas.
Better client outcomes
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Improving sleep quality creates measurable gains in energy, mood, cognitive performance, weight management, hormonal balance, immune resilience, and longevity.
Professional differentiation
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sleep expertise positions you as understanding one of the most underserved yet impactful areas of health optimisation.
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Sleep Optimisation
Insomnia
Sleep Apnoea
Circadian Rhythm
Melatonin
Sleep Architecture
Chronic Fatigue
Energy Restoration
Stress Recovery
Hormone Balance
Your path to becoming a Certified Practitioner

How to get started

1st Step
Submit your Application
Apply online in just a few minutes. Our team will review your experience, education and goals to ensure this certification aligns with your professional path.
2nd Step
Join the IOH community
Once accepted, you’ll gain instant access to our global network of practitioners, mentors and resources that support your learning from day one.
3rd Step
Begin your first module
Start your studies inside the IOH learning portal — with guided mentorship, live calls, and access to the Oracle AI system that turns knowledge into action.

Expand your knowledge

All Courses
What does an Integrative Nutritional Therapist do?
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An Integrative Nutritional Therapist utilises the latest evidence-based research to create an integrative approach to optimising each client’s health and wellbeing.

They design bio-individual nutrition plans, personalise supplementation where appropriate, and interpret functional laboratory data, including blood work, to gain deeper insights, achieve better accuracy and tailor every intervention to the individual.

How is functional medicine different from conventional medicine?
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Conventional medicine often waits until a disease is clearly present before intervention begins. Treatment is focused on managing or suppressing a diagnosed condition.

Functional medicine looks upstream. It assesses the early drivers of dysfunction and works to prevent disease from developing in the first place, or restore balance in the body. It uses a whole-systems view of the body, then applies personalised, preventative nutrition and lifestyle interventions to support long-term health rather than only reacting once things have gone wrong.

What will be my scope of practice after completing this certification?
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After completing the certification, you will be recognised and insured as a Integrative Nutritional Therapist inclusive of Nutritional Therapy and Functional Blood Work, with a clearly defined scope of practice.

You will be trained and insured to:

  • Design bio-individual nutrition plans
  • Recommend and prescribe over-the-counter supplementation up to safe, optimal intake thresholds
  • Utilise functional blood work from a wellness perspective to guide your reasoning and recommendations
  • Collaborate with and refer to medical professionals when red flags, pathology or out-of-scope conditions are identified

Our scope of practice has been aligned with nutritional therapy standards and externally audited, so you can work with confidence and clarity.

Is your course accredited?
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Yes. Our certifications are accredited by multiple independent professional bodies, including the International Institute for Complementary Therapists (IICT) and the Complementary Medical Association (CMA).

To receive these accreditations, our curriculum undergoes forensic external auditing to ensure every component is up to date, evidence-informed, ethically delivered and aligned with recognised Nutritional Therapy and Functional Health standards. This includes rigorous evaluation of our academic content, assessments, delivery methods and scope of practice frameworks.

This external oversight gives you confidence that the qualification you are investing in is credible, robust and widely recognised within the industry, with clear pathways for insurance, professional membership and global practice.

Will I be able to practise internationally?
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Yes. Our graduates are eligible for insurance through IICT that is recognised across 36 countries, including:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden & United Kingdom.

This allows you to work with clients internationally, including in online practice, provided you respect local regulations and the scope of practice defined by your insurer and professional associations.

Need help?
Get in touch with us
Clarity, confidence, and real results start with one conversation. Let’s map your next chapter — together.