I think that some psychologists have the ability to prescribe certain kinds of psychiatric medication. I could be wrong, but I thought that was the case with psisci. That being said, that is a very recent change and by far the majority of therapists (who aren't psychiatrists) do not prescribe medication.

I understand some of your reluctance to take medications. I personally think of them as very much a last resort. Don't get me wrong I have certainly tried them at various points in my life when I really felt like I couldn't cope with what was happening. But nothing worked particularly well and that in conjunction with the side effects meant that it simply wasn't worth it to me.

I think it is wise to try not to take medications for sleeping, in particular. The medications that work well for sleep tend to be addictive and even the ones that aren't addictive have tolerance associated with them. If you start taking sleeping medications then quite often it turns out to be the case that you need more to achieve the same effect, you don't get a good quality of sleep (hence you still feel tired) and after a while they don't seem to be effective at all. But if you stop taking them you can end up with a worse problem than you had to start with.

There are a variety of things that one can do to try and get a better nights sleep. I'll run through a few (you may have heard of these already):

- Save your bedroom / bed for sleeping. Try not to watch TV or study there etc.
- Don't drink coffee / tea (any stimulants) after 6pm. Maybe even earlier if you are sensitive to caffene.
- Try to get up at a regular time. Sometimes people have trouble getting to sleep and then they sleep until midday. If you sleep until midday then you are going to have trouble getting to sleep that evening because you won't be tired yet.
- Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) can be useful...
- As can mindfulness meditation (slowing the breathing) exercises.
- Getting exercise during the day can help tire out your body so you are ready for sleep
- I'm not too sure on food... If there are some to avoid... I've heard mixed reports about dairy
- Heat can help you feel sleepy. A hot bath before bed and a cup of relaxing tea like chamomile can help
- If you have rituals around bedtime that can help. E.g., cup of relaxing tea, hot bath, PMR...

There are a whole heap of ways to approach the problem. Your t should be able to help you with this. Hope you find some relief soon :-)