Therapy Modalities

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Based on the idea that dysfunctional thought patterns lead to distressing emotions and unwanted behaviors, CBT offers solutions by challenging unhealthy thoughts and replacing them with more accurate, helpful ones. Problem-solving strategies and cognitive skills help clients to shift thought patterns and enable balanced thinking and the regulation of distressing emotions. Learn more about CBT.

Also known as DBT, this modality teaches clients skills to better manage challenging emotions and develop new ways of tolerating distress by learning relaxation and mindfulness techniques. It also  offers strategies to develop healthy communication skills and navigate interpersonal conflict. Learn more about DBT.

Mindfulness practice teaches the client to be fully present in the moment and take a non-judgmental stance to thoughts and feelings. Mindfulness meditation practices relaxation to combat negative reactions and dysfunctional thoughts with the goal of reducing stress and enhancing overall well-being.

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing enables people to heal from the emotional distress of trauma by utilizing a structured process that promotes safety, stabilization, and ultimately the processing of traumatic memories. It uses techniques that promote the development of new cognitive insights in order to lessen current emotional distress from past traumas. Learn more about EMDR.

Exposure therapy helps people confront their fears by replacing avoidance behaviors with a process that gradually exposes the client to their fear in a safe, supportive way. By slowly increasing the difficulty of the exposure, the client becomes less sensitive and is able to replace negative associations with more realistic views. As mastery is gained, anxiety subsides, and the feared object becomes tolerable.

This approach focuses on finding solutions in the present and exploring hopes and goals for the future. It does not go back in time or analyze problems, but instead believes that client has the knowledge and strengths to solve his or her own problems with the therapist to help guide the process using solution-oriented questions.