Therapy Modalities
~ Dialectical Behavior Therapy ~
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.
~ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ~
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 helpful, balanced thoughts allowing for regulation of distressing emotions. Learn more about CBT.
~ EMDR for Trauma ~
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.
~ Mindfulness & Meditation ~
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.
~ Internal Family Systems ~
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an evidence-based integrative therapy that works from the assumption that each person's internal world is made of up a core self as well as many inner parts or subpersonalities that inform our actions and ways of being. Founded by Dr. Richard Schwartz, IFS works to identify parts and better understand the role of these various parts so that emotional healing can occur. This modality is often used for those with dissociation and trauma.
~ Solution-Focused Therapy ~
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.
~ Exposure Therapy ~
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.