APPROACHES USED IN PSYCHOTHERAPY
Chosen approaches and techniques are specific to each situation and each person or group. I present them briefly below, along with links to Web sites that provide more information. Whether you access one-on-one or group services, I will further explain these approaches and choose them in collaboration with you. I also train and offer talks on some of these approaches. (Please look under the Speaking and Training tabs for more information.)
In alphabetical order.
Chronotherapy
This approach considers how light influences your central biological clock and circadian rhythms related to mood, behaviours and physiology. Chronotherapy is usually used in combination with other approaches, and is not limited to SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). One important approach in chronotherapy is "light therapy".
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT)
"As the name suggests, CBT focuses on the way people think ("cognitive") and act ("behavioural"). The concept behind CBT is that our thoughts about a situation affect how we feel (emotionally and physically) and how we behave in that situation." (quote from anxietybc.com, see link below)
"REBT is the pioneering form of cognitive behavior therapy" (it resembles CBT, but is more directive in nature). "REBT addresses attitudes, unhealthy emotions (e.g., unhealthy anger, depression, anxiety, guilt, etc.) and maladaptive behaviors (e.g., procrastination, addictive behaviors, aggression, unhealthy eating, sleep disturbance, etc.) that can negatively impact life satisfaction." (quotes from albertellis.org, see link below)
anxietybc.com
mayoclinic.org
albertellis.org
counsellingresource.com
EMDR Therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
"EMDR therapy facilitates the accessing and processing of traumatic memories and other adverse life experience to bring these to an adaptive resolution. After successful treatment with EMDR therapy, affective distress is relieved, negative beliefs are reformulated, and physiological arousal is reduced." (quote from emdr.com, see link below)
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
"IPT is most useful for people who are in the midst of recent conflicts with significant others and/or have experienced difficulty adjusting to stressful life transitions." "Unlike CBT, Interpersonal Therapy is not a behavior therapy, coming instead from more psychodynamic and social-learning traditions. Instead of focusing on correcting dysfunctional thoughts, IPT focuses on understanding how personal relationships can cause someone to become depressed or make worse already existing depressive symptoms." (quotes from mentalhelp.net, see link below). (Please note that IPT is not limited to depressive symptoms and can be used in several situations where interpersonal relationships influence issues at hand ... which happens quite frequently!)
Schema Focused Therapy (SFT)
SFT "is an integrative approach to treatment that combines the best aspects of cognitive-behavioral, experiential, interpersonal and psychoanalytic therapies into one unified model. Schema-Focused Therapy has shown remarkable results in helping people to change negative ("maladaptive") patterns which they have lived with for a long time, even when other methods and efforts they have tried before have been largely unsuccessful." (quote from schematherapy-nola, see link below)
