Therapies Offered
I practice in only empirically validated therapies. The type of therapy undertaken will depend on the reason you are coming to therapy, your personal preference and what I feel will be helpful for you, based on what research indicates.
I am trained in and have experience in using Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Schema Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and; Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy.
EMDR Therapy - Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma. When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound. If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes. The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health. If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can causes intense suffering. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. Using the detailed protocols and procedures learned in EMDR training sessions, clinicians help clients activate their natural healing processes (from EMDR Institute Inc).
Schema Therapy
Schema therapy is an innovative psychotherapy developed by Dr. Jeffrey Young for personality disorders, chronic depression, and other difficult and long-standing individual and couples problems. Schema Therapy (or otherwise referred to as Schema-Focused Cognitive Therapy) 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.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
The term ‘cognitive behaviour therapy’ or CBT refers to an evidence-based psychological approach which operates on the understanding that thoughts, emotions, physical sensations and behaviours are interconnected. Dysfunctional information processing is thought to be a cause of psychological distress. Therefore, the aim of CBT is to change problematic emotions and behaviours by changing thought processes, which occur in the form of automatic thoughts (a private, involuntary ‘stream of consciousness’ specific to a particular situation), beliefs (attitudes, rules and assumptions that influence automatic thoughts), and schemas or core beliefs (underlying global templates used for organising and processing information). The cognitive or ‘thought based’ strategies in CBT are designed to help individuals alter their unhelpful thoughts toward more balanced and healthy thoughts. Behavioural strategies in CBT can involve strategies that you will ‘do’ to decrease distress and work toward your treatment goals. These strategies are many and varied and will depend on what you have come to therapy to address.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) involves a range of strategies and interventions aimed at helping people accept what is out of your personal control, and commit to and engage in action that improves and enriches your life.
The aim of ACT is to increase your potential for a rich, full and meaningful life. ACT involves:
a) teaching you psychological skills to manage your painful thoughts and feelings effectively so that they have less negative impact on your current experience of your life (these are known as mindfulness skills).
b) helping you clarify what is important and meaningful to you – i.e your values – with the view to using this knowledge to help move your toward investing your energy into pursing these valuable life ideals to change your life for the better.