CLIENT FOCUS

TREATMENT APPROACH

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a form of psychotherapy that encourages individuals to accept their thoughts, feelings, and experiences without judgment and to use them as tools to help them to make changes in their lives that are consistent with their values. It is based on the idea that by changing the way we think about our inner experiences, we can reduce emotional distress and increase our sense of well-being.

Art TherapyArt therapy has clients express themselves through creative mediums such as drawing, painting, collage, coloring, or sculpting. Clients can interpret their subconscious world that is expressed in their art which could lead to a better understanding of their feelings and behavior. Artistic talent is not a prerequisite for art therapy as it’s not as much about the end result as much as it is about the process. The therapist looks for meaning in the creative choices of the work and the clients’ inner world. This therapeutic method enables clients to express their inner thoughts and feelings through creative expression rather than just talking about them.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy that focuses on how one's thoughts, feelings and behaviors are connected and can be changed. It is based on the idea that how we think (cognition) and how we feel (emotion) can influence how we behave. CBT helps people identify and challenge distorted thinking and replace it with more balanced thinking, leading to improved mood and behavior. ‘Homework’, usually containing practical writing exercises, is often completed by the client between sessions to reinforce the therapy. Examples of tools that practitioners often use are journaling, challenging beliefs, and mindfulness.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy developed by Marsha Linehan to help people learn to better manage and cope with emotions and stress. It focuses on developing skills and strategies to help regulate emotions, improve relationships and communication, and reduce self-destructive behaviors. Through DBT, people learn to identify and modify unhealthy thoughts and behaviors, while also learning to accept and validate their own feelings. DBT teaches skills to help individuals become aware of and accept and regulate their emotions, tolerate distress, and improve interpersonal relationships.

Family Systems TherapyFamily Systems Therapy is an approach to psychotherapy that emphasizes the importance of understanding how the family functions as a whole, and how individual family members interact and affect one another. It focuses on how family dynamics, such as communication patterns, roles, and power dynamics, shape behavior, and how changing these dynamics can lead to positive change. Family Systems Therapy is a collaborative approach, where the therapist works with the family as a whole to identify and address areas of conflict and distress.

Guided ImageryGuided imagery is a form of visualization used for relaxation and healing. It uses the power of the imagination to create positive changes in a person's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It is also used to reduce stress and anxiety, cope with physical and emotional pain, increase motivation, confidence, and self-esteem, and to improve focus and concentration. During a guided imagery session, the practitioner will guide the client through a series of visualizations, using words and descriptions to help them create mental images in their mind. These visualizations can take many forms, such as a comforting place from the past or the client’s future goals.

Internal Family Systems (IFS)Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an evidence-based psychotherapy that uses the metaphor of an internal family of parts to help people gain awareness of how different parts of themselves can interact in healthy and unhealthy ways. IFS encourages people to become curious about their different parts, with the goal of helping them gain access to their true Self or core. Through this process, people can learn to recognize and care for the different parts of themselves, as well as develop compassionate understanding for the origins of their parts. A key principle of IFS is that each part within the person has its own positive intention and is trying to protect the person in some way. By understanding the positive intention of each part, the practitioner and client can work together to help the parts feel heard and understood, and to find more adaptive ways of meeting their needs. IFS has been found to be an effective treatment for a variety of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, trauma, and relationship issues.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a form of therapy that combines cognitive behavioral therapy with mindfulness practices. It is based on the idea that our thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations can affect our mental health. MBCT helps individuals become aware of their thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations in order to gain insight and control over them. MBCT helps clients learn how to recognize their sense of being and see themselves as separate from their thoughts and moods. This separation can free the client from thought patterns in which the repeated negative messages may be dominating the client’s focus. After developing an awareness of the separation between thoughts, emotions, and the self, people in treatment may find that while the self and the emotions may exist simultaneously, they do not have to exist within the same dimension. The healing can take place when one learns how to interject positive thoughts into negative moods and thereby create a shift in mood.

Play TherapyPlay therapy is an evidence-based, developmentally appropriate form of intervention used to facilitate emotional, cognitive, and social growth in children. Play therapy is based on the premise that play is the child's natural medium of self-expression and can be used to assess and help a child work through difficult emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. The goal of play therapy is to help children develop the skills and abilities to navigate life stressors, and build self-esteem. During treatment, the therapist creates a comfortable, safe environment (a playroom) for the child to play with as few limits as possible. The toys in the playroom are intended to encourage the child to express his or her feelings and develop healthier behaviors. The child’s “play” with these toys serve as the child’s symbolic words, which may be difficult to express otherwise.

Schema TherapySand tray therapy allows a person to construct their own microcosm using miniature toys and colored sand. The scene created acts as a reflection of the person’s own life and allows them the opportunity to resolve conflicts, remove obstacles, and gain acceptance of self. Schema therapy is based on the belief that early maladaptive schemas form when emotional needs such as affection, guidance, love, shelter, and safety, go unmet in childhood. These maladaptive schemas, which can be described as ways that individuals interpret life events, can later lead to them making unhealthy choices, forming toxic relationships, lacking healthy boundaries or social skills, engaging in destructive behavior patterns, having a poor sense of judgment, and experiencing feelings of worthlessness or self-doubt. Discovering the origins of one’s unmet emotional needs and learning to create nurturing relationships through schema therapy can help people begin to build feelings of trust, self-worth and adequacy.

Somatic Experiencing (SE)Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-oriented approach to the healing of trauma and other physical and psychological stresses. It is based on the idea that the body is a powerful source of healing and that unresolved trauma can be resolved through the process of bringing awareness and attention to the physical sensations of the body. By gradually and gently guiding individuals through the sensations associated with their traumatic experience, SE can help to restore balance and well-being more quickly and effectively than traditional psychotherapy. SE utilizes the body’s natural ability to regulate and heal itself and supports individuals in developing more resilience and self-regulation. Somatic Experiencing aims to help people move past the place where they might be “stuck” in processing a traumatic event. SE is often used to treat symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues.

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is an evidence-based practice used to help children, adolescents and their parents who have experienced a single or multiple traumatic events. This type of therapy combines cognitive and behavioral strategies to help people process their traumatic experiences, manage their distress, develop coping skills, and restore their sense of safety and well-being. TF-CBT focuses on education and skill-building, creating an environment of safety and trust, and using therapeutic activities to help people understand their responses and control their symptoms. Children are shown how perceptions may be distorted and are given the tools to redesign those perceptions. TF-CBT is a skills-based model, and it requires the child and parent to practice its components in order to be optimally effective. Parents and children are commonly asked to practice skills at home.

SERVICES OFFERED

Individual Therapy
Clinical Supervision
Consultation
Family Therapy
Workshops/Educating