Therapy Services Supported by Science
Mental Health Therapy
I offer individual and couples counseling for adults, older adults, and young adults. During our first therapy session I will complete a full intake assessment - I will ask questions and gather information about what is bothering you, what you have tried, and your goals for counseling. At the end of this session I will offer some education on what you may be experiencing and my plan to help you meet your goals. Sessions typically last about an hour. Many counseling clients report the most relief when they attend therapy weekly, but the frequency and goals we work on will be up to you! If you would like more information feel free to contact me for a free consultation.
What Is Evidence Based Therapy?
An Evidence Based Therapy (EBT) is any therapy that has been shown to be effective in research experiments. These therapies are more effective than placebo (supportive counseling), and typically have several common components - goals, a treatment plan, outside of session practice skills, and clear communication. The American Psychological Association considers evidence based therapy to be the gold standard approach to psychological care and is described as “best practice.”
How I Use Evidence Based Therapy
I use careful assessment and over 10 years of experience as a psychologist to help you choose an evidence based model or combination of skills that is right for you. Some clients prefer to stick with a therapy protocol because they enjoy clear structure, organization and a plan. Other clients prefer to pick and choose counseling skills within each model to offer a more curated care plan. Both are effective. I will offer you a menu of options and we will pick the perfect plan for you! Read on below for a review of possible options.
Types of Research Supported Therapy Available in This Practice
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
This therapy helps clients identify the connection between core beliefs developed in childhood and how these play out in thinking patterns, behaviors, and emotional responses today. This therapy focuses on changing unhelpful behaviors and negative thoughts. It is effective for wide range of concerns including depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, insomnia, trauma histories, PTSD, postpartum depression and anxiety, panic, social phobia, perfectionism, burnout, chronic pain, mental health issues related to physical issues and much more.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Commonly called ACT, the description is quite appropriate for this action oriented therapy. In this treatment we help you to clarify personal values, the compass with which you live your life, to take meaningful action. We focus on the values that make you feel truly yourself. This therapy is behavioral and goal directed, like CBT, but it teaches a mindfulness and observer based approach to thinking patterns. This therapy treats a wide range of issues including grief, transition of life issues, career change concerns, listlessness, amotivation, depression, anxiety, chronic trauma concerns, depression, anxiety, social phobias, panic, burnout, vicarious trauma and more.
Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE)
This therapy is used to treat PTSD and other traumatic stressor conditions. During this treatment we gently discuss the difficult events in your past while also helping you to engage in activities you enjoyed before the trauma. Although this treatment helps you to “face your fears”, we do this on your timeline. We will be using a technique called graded exposure. This means we start by swimming in the shallow end of the pool before graduating to the deep end.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
The goal of cognitive processing therapy is to help a client to process traumatic events. This treatment helps a client to examine the beliefs generated from their trauma about themselves, the world, and other people. Discussing the events which occurred in the past we can help to uncover unhelpful patterns of behavior and thinking that exist in the present and change these to help you live a more fulfilling life.
Motivational Interviewing (MI)
The inventors of this therapy, Miller and Rollnick define this treatment as “a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication with particular attention to the language of change. It is designed to strengthen personal motivation for and commitment to a specific goal by eliciting and exploring the person’s own reasons for change within an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion." I use this therapy most when a person is wishing to build confidence and motivation to change a specific health behavior - for example increasing physical activity, sustaining a healthy diet, quitting smoking, or building habits and routines necessary for a healthy lifestyle. This therapy is an excellent “bread and butter” technique and should truly be present within most interventions.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
This treatment is a action focused therapy that combines mindfulness, analysis of behavior chains, social skills training, emotion regulation and stress tolerance skills to improve wellness. This is useful for clients who need a little of each approach. I do not have the ability to offer a full DBT treatment program in this clinic, which would include one hour of individual therapy, one hour of group therapy, and 15 minute check-in calls. However, I do draw upon the specific skills in this intervention to address family or origin/childhood concerns, trauma, depression, anxiety, and relationship distress.
This approach helps a client to explore beliefs that were created in childhood and young adulthood and how these play out in the story of your life. We look at what roles you feel called to fulfill for yourself and for others. Perhaps you serve as “the hero” or “the scapegoat.” Whatever it is, you would like a bit of relief. I combine these approaches in an exploratory and flexible manner to help you identify your individual roles and bring the subconsciousness into the conscious so that you may choose who you would prefer to be. These treatment options are an excellent fit for those of us who just don’t quite know what is bothering us but are interested in a deep dive. This is a personal favorite as a therapist - I quite enjoy the creative process involved in this treatment.
