Therapeutic Approach
Evidence Based Treatments
My therapeutic approach is always individualized to the unique needs of each of my clients. My integrative approach can best be described as a combination of tenets from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as well as other mindfulness-based practices to help my clients improve their health, well-being, and connection to themselves and others.
See below for further information on these psychological approaches.
ACT: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy gets it name from one of its core messages:
The goal is to accept what is out of your personal control, while committing to action that will improve your quality of life. We will identify and focus on your values to help guide your decisions and improve your overall satisfaction and sense of meaning in your life.
The aim of ACT is to help people create a rich full and meaningful life, while effectively handling the pain and stress that life inevitably brings.
ACT (which is pronounced as the word ‘act’, not as the initials) does this by:
1. teaching you psychological skills to deal with your painful thoughts and feelings effectively – in such a way that they have much less impact and influence over you. (These are known as mindfulness skills.)
2. helping you to clarify what is truly important and meaningful to you – ie your
VALUES – then use that knowledge to guide, inspire and motivate you to change
your life for the better.
More information on ACT can be found at: http://www.thehappinesstrap.com/about_act
DBT: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy includes 4 sets of behavioral skills.
Mindfulness: the practice of being fully aware and present in this one moment
Distress Tolerance: how to tolerate pain in difficult situations, not change it
Interpersonal Effectiveness: how to ask for what you want and say no while maintaining self-respect and relationships with others
Emotion Regulation: how to change emotions that you want to change
The term “dialectical” means a synthesis or integration of opposites. The primary dialectic within DBT is between the seemingly opposite strategies of acceptance and change. For example, DBT therapists accept clients as they are while also acknowledging that they need to change in order to reach their goals. In addition, all of the skills and strategies taught in DBT are balanced in terms of acceptance and change. For example, the four skills modules include two sets of acceptance-oriented skills (mindfulness and distress tolerance) and two sets of change-oriented skills (emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness).
More information on DBT can be found at: http://behavioraltech.org/resources/whatisdbt.cfm
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a short-term, goal-oriented psychotherapy treatment that takes a hands-on, practical approach to problem-solving. Its goal is to change patterns of thinking or behavior that are behind people’s difficulties, and so change the way they feel. It is used to help treat a wide range of issues in a person’s life, from sleeping difficulties or relationship problems, to drug and alcohol abuse or anxiety and depression. CBT works by changing people’s attitudes and their behavior by focusing on the thoughts, images, beliefs and attitudes that are held (a person’s cognitive processes) and how these processes relate to the way a person behaves, as a way of dealing with emotional problems.
An important advantage of cognitive behavioral therapy is that it tends to be short, taking five to ten months for most emotional problems. Clients attend one session per week, each session lasting approximately 50 minutes. During this time, the client and therapist work together to understand what the problems are and develop new strategies for tackling them. CBT introduces patients to a set of principles that they can apply whenever they need to, and that’ll last them a lifetime.
Cognitive behavioral therapy can be thought of as a combination of psychotherapy and behavioral therapy. Psychotherapy emphasizes the importance of the personal meaning we place on things and how thinking patterns begin in childhood. Behavioral therapy pays close attention to the relationship between our problems, our behavior and our thoughts. Most psychotherapists who practice CBT personalize and customize the therapy to the specific needs and personality of each patient.
Eating Disorder Information
Though widely believed to be rooted in poor body image, desire for thinness, and obsession with food, eating disorders are symptoms of deeper issues often rooted in low self worth, self criticism, insecurity, identity confusion, fear of rejection, fear of abandonment, difficulties managing emotions, loneliness, boredom, unhealthy relationships, sexuality concerns, trauma, and abuse. They are often co occurring in individuals who struggle with generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, body dysmorphia, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder and personality disorders. If believe that you are someone you care about is struggling with an eating disorder, please contact me for further information and assistance in finding the right level of care.