Approaches to Treatment

Talk Therapy

Talk therapy involves a client discussing problems, issues, and life events with a therapist. The goal is that by talking about these issues, the client will be able to gain insight and find relief. Talking therapies can help you work out how to deal with negative thoughts and feelings and make positive changes. They can help people who are feeling distressed by difficult events in their lives as well as people with a mental health problem. Talking about your thoughts and feelings can help you deal with times when you feel troubled about something. If you turn a worry over and over in your mind, the worry can grow. But talking about it can help you work out what is really bothering you and explore what you could do about it.

Talking is an important part of our relationships. It can strengthen your ties with other people and help you stay in good mental health. Being listened to helps you to feel that other people care about you and what you have to say. We often find it helpful to talk problems through with a friend or family member, but sometimes friends and family cannot help us and we need to talk to a professional therapist.

Talking therapies involve talking to someone who is trained to help you deal with your negative feelings. They can help anyone who is experiencing distress. You do not have to be told by a doctor that you have a mental health problem to be offered or benefit from a talking therapy.

Talking therapies give people the chance to explore their thoughts and feelings and the effect they have on their behavior and mood. Describing what’s going on in your head and how that makes you feel can help you to notice any thought or behavior patterns. Talk Therapy can help you work out where your negative feelings and ideas come from and why they are there. Understanding all this can help people make positive changes by thinking or acting differently. Talking therapies can help people to take greater control of their lives and improve their confidence.

Both CBT and DBT are considered styles of talk therapies

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy is focused on the present, and is problem-solving oriented. It teaches skill sets that clients can continue to use throughout the rest of their life, long after the presenting problems have been resolved. Some of the skills are identifying distorted thinking processes, modifying beliefs and changing behaviors. Once a person recognizes their negative behaviors, thought patterns and begins to make positive changes they feel better, they become empowered and initiate problem solving techniques they have learned to further help themselves and therein lies the solution. We all want to feel better. Sometimes we just need help to know how.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

with Dialectical Behavior Therapy the therapist and the client work together allowing the client in time to "accept" uncomfortable thoughts, feelings and behaviors rather than to struggle with them. You will develop coping skills to gain acceptance, facilitating change and begin to find a balance or a "middle ground". Mindfulness exercises including "wise mind" exercises to allow for better decision making, relaxation techniques to become aware of your body and lowered impulsivity, You will develop a greater ability to deal with self-destructive thoughts, self-criticism, and distressing and at times disabling thoughts.

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is a highly effective and well-researched therapy approach used to address the painful effects of trauma and a variety of other psychological issues.Part of what makes EMDR such a valuable therapy approach is its effectiveness at processing information, especially traumatic material.When a disturbing or traumatic event occurs, the brain is often unable to process the experience as it normally would. Instead, the traumatic event can get stuck in the brain in the form that it was originally experienced. Current symptoms (e.g., anxiety, panic, low self-esteem, sadness, and fear) are often manifestations of unprocessed traumatic experiences. EMDR utilizes bilateral stimulation - either through eye movements or other forms of gentle, rhythmic stimulation - which activates both sides of the brain, to process past trauma.

"The speed at which change occurs during EMDR contradicts the traditional notion of time as essential for psychological healing."

- Bessel A. van der Kolk, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine

EMDR has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma.

Twenty-four randomized controlled studies empirically validate the effectiveness of EMDR for treating emotional trauma and other types of adverse life experiences that are commonly addressed in counseling. EMDR is considered an evidence-based treatment for trauma-related stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms associated with PTSD. EMDR has been validated as an effective treatment for PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) by a number of organizations, including:

• The American Psychiatric Association
• The World Health Organization
• The Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense
• The International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), National Registry of Evidence Based Programs and Practices

Because trauma is at the heart of many psychological symptoms, clinicians have reported success using EMDR in the treatment of a wide range of conditions. Examples include:

• Panic attacks
• Complicated grief
• Sexual and/or physical abuse
• Disturbing memories
• Phobias
• Pain disorders
• Stress reduction
• Performance anxiety
• Dissociative disorders
• Addictions
• Body dysmorphic disorders
• Personality disorders

EMDR is not only very effective for processing trauma and transforming negative beliefs, but also for enhancing skills and resources. Positive qualities, such as confidence, relaxation, focus, assertiveness, initiative, courage, determination, and motivation can be strengthened through the EMDR process. EMDR also combines very well with both Brainspotting and the Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy (DNMS) for strengthening internal resources. Imaginal Nurturing is a very effective relational-based EMDR resourcing approach that is especially effective with attachment-oriented trauma.