Therapeutic Modalities
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a type of psychotherapy that helps you accept the difficulties that come with life. ACT is a form of mindfulness-based therapy, theorizing that greater well-being can be attained by overcoming negative thoughts and feelings. Essentially, ACT looks at your character traits and behaviors to assist you in reducing avoidant coping styles. ACT also addresses your commitment to making changes, and what to do when you can’t stick to your goals.
Internal Family Systems
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an approach to psychotherapy that identifies and addresses multiple sub-personalities within each person’s mental system. These sub-personalities consist of wounded parts and painful emotions such as anger and shame, and parts that try to control and protect the person from the pain of the wounded parts. The sub-personalities are often in conflict with each other and with one’s core Self. The core Self describes the confident, compassionate, whole person that is at the core of every individual. IFS focuses on healing the wounded parts and restoring mental balance and harmony by changing the dynamics that create discord among the sub-personalities and the Self.
Narrative Therapy
Narrative Therapy uses the client’s storytelling to indicate the way they construct meaning in their lives. It embraces the idea that stories actually shape our behaviors and our lives and that we become the stories we tell about ourselves. There are helpful narratives we can choose to embrace as well as unhelpful ones. The power of storytelling is to elevate the client — who is the authority of their narrative — rather than the therapist, as expert.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive-behavioral Therapy stresses the role of thinking in how we feel and what we do. It is based on the belief that thoughts, rather than people or events, cause our negative feelings. The therapist assists the client in identifying, testing the reality of, and correcting dysfunctional beliefs underlying her thinking. The therapist then helps the client modify those thoughts and the behaviors that flow from them. CBT has been proven to help clients in a relatively short amount of time with a wide range of disorders, including depression and anxiety.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) aims to reduce stress, manage pain, and embrace the freedom to respond to situations by choice. MCBT blends two disciplines — cognitive therapy and mindfulness. Mindfulness helps by reflecting on moments and thoughts without passing judgment. MBCT clients pay close attention to their feelings to reach an objective mindset, thus viewing and combating life’s unpleasant occurrences.
Positive Psychology
Unlike traditional psychology that focuses more on the causes and symptoms of mental illnesses, Positive Psychology emphasizes traits, thinking patterns, behaviors, and experiences that are forward-thinking and can help improve the quality of a person’s day-to-day life. These may include optimism, spirituality, hopefulness, happiness, creativity, perseverance, justice, and the practice of free will. It is an exploration of one’s strengths, rather than one’s weaknesses. The goal of positive psychology is not to replace those traditional forms of therapy that center on negative experiences, but instead to expand and give more balance to the therapeutic process.
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