Treatment Options
No two people who seek out treatment are the same. For this reason, I utilize an eclectic approach to treatment. I draw from the modalities described below to treat all of your symptoms. My goal for therapy is to help you identify patterns, learn skills, be able to accept and tolerate your emotional experiences. We all come into adulthood with different skills - some of us are great communicators, have never been anxious ever, or are in tune with themselves. Others may not have the same experience. Therefore, I view therapy as a way for you to build up the skills that are scarce. Once you gain the skills, you will be able to conquer almost any situation you find yourself in.
Therapeutic Approaches
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Originally developed to treat depression, CBT is a structured, present, goal-directed therapy that builds awareness of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. CBT helps to identify thoughts that are untrue and unhelpful, which are catalysts to painful emotions and undesired behaviors. You will learn new ways to evaluate your thoughts and learn coping skills, which will help you manage distress.
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
I think of ACT as CBT’s cousin. While the focus of CBT is on changing your thoughts, ACT focuses on accepting the thoughts and not letting them have power over you. ACT is centered on aligning your goals with the things that are most important to you (your values)! ACT teaches mindfulness skills and mental flexibility.
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Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
DBT is a skills-based treatment that is also in the CBT family. DBT was developed for those with Borderline Personality Disorder, but has also been shown effective at treating numerous mental health conditions. Skills taught in DBT will focus on helping you increase awareness, tolerate distressing and painful emotions, regulate, and build healthier relationships.
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Schema Therapy
ST combines components of CBT, attachment theory, and Gestalt therapy to help you recover from early life experiences, which create schemas. Schemas are shortcuts in our brain that help us categorize and make sense of the world. Together, we will re-work these schemas to make them more helpful to you. ST is most beneficial for individuals who have had neglectful and traumatic childhoods.
PTSD Treatment
Prolonged Exposure Therapy
PE is considered a gold standard treatment for PTSD. PE is a structured, exposure-based therapy used to treat PTSD. Individuals diagnosed with PTSD often avoid reminders of the traumatic event, which decreases quality of life. I use PE to help clients gradually approach memories or situations they have been avoiding. This also allows for processing of the event and subsequent recovery.
Cognitive Processing Therapy
CPT is also considered a gold standard treatment for PTSD. Many trauma survivors battle thoughts such as “I’m a bad person,” “It’s my fault,” “No one can be trusted,” and dozens of other beliefs. These thoughts cause you to get stuck in the trauma, preventing recovery. CPT is similar to CBT, but focuses on identifying and updating trauma-related thoughts.
After completing the diagnostic assessment, we will talk more in depth about treatment options offered, and which would be best to meet your goals. Have questions about any of the treatment modalities offered? Please reach out!
Written Exposure Therapy
WET is a structured, exposure-based short-term treatment. While WET also treats PTSD, it can also be effective for general trauma exposure and grief. WET can be completed in 6 sessions with many individuals notice some symptom relief halfway through treatment. Like the name suggests, WET is a therapy that requires you to write about the target event. After writing, we will spend some time processing the writing.