Treatments

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a type of talk therapy that helps people learn how to identify negative thoughts, develop problem solving skills, make decisions, and set realistic goals. There is a lot of research that indicates CBT helps reduce psychological suffering.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or ACT (pronounced as one word) is a type of CBT. ACT focuses first on helping people better understand what is important to them. Next it addresses figuring out what is getting in the way of living a life in line with these values. ACT's main goal is to help people become more psychologically flexible. Learning and practicing ACT skills can help people handle a wide range of difficulties. For more information about ACT click here.

Often people come to therapy to work on their self esteem. The best way to do that is to build self compassion. Check out this article explaining why self compassion is healthier than self esteem.

Self compassion helps you learn how to care for yourself. If you have a hard time being kind to yourself or you notice that you are very critical, self compassion may be the skill you need most.

In therapy you will be encouraged to do hard work that may involve challenging some long held beliefs or looking at yourself more critically. If you can be compassionate to yourself during the learning process, therapy will be even more rewarding.

Mindfulness has become quite a buzz word in the past few years. A lot of people I work with have tried mindfulness before and felt it didn’t work for them. If you have had a similar experience I would encourage you to try it one more time with my support.

True mindfulness is “paying attention with flexibility, openness, and curiosity” (Russ Harris). Watch this video to get a better understanding on how mindfulness may be beneficial to you: Why Mindfulness Is a Superpower

Exposure Therapy is often used with CBT + ACT to treat anxiety related difficulties. When people are anxious they often avoid situations that they think they won’t be able to handle or will feel too uncomfortable in. Avoidance helps manage anxiety in the short run, but makes the problem worse in the long run (imagine putting off a big assignment till the night before it is due).

Exposure therapy helps people face their fears with support and confidence. For more information about exposure therapy click here.