Each situation is unique
and each person has his or her own special needs. Recognizing
that, we take great care in matching each client with the therapist
and therapeutic methods that will best meet the client's personal
needs and ensure the client's growth and change. Therapeutic
approaches used by our counseling staff include:
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy focuses on changing clients' thoughts
(cognitive patterns) in order to change their behaviors and
emotional states. During cognitive-behavioral therapy, the counselor
first works with the client to identify thoughts and behaviors
causing distress and then works with the client to modify those
thoughts in order to change unwanted behavior.
Couples therapy
Couples therapy helps couples improve communication, support,
and closeness by assisting them to better understand their interactions.
A key element in this process is the couples' learning to interact
with less negative emotional reactivity and greater mutual respect
and understanding. For more information, see American
Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is most
often used to treat trauma and depression frequently associated
with trauma. Used in combination with other therapies, EMDR
employs a moving light or other object to induce rapid eye movement
while clients remember a traumatic event. In the course of EMDR
therapy, clients are able to process their memories of traumatic
experiences and eliminate their extreme emotional responses
to those experiences. For more on EMDR, see the
EMDR Institute.
Energy psychotherapy
Viewing the mind and body as a single energy system and emotional
distress as an imbalance of that system, energy psychotherapy
uses several techniques to diagnose and correct this energy
imbalance. Often energy psychotherapy produces noticeable results
rapidly with little emotional distress. In correcting the energy
imbalance, the therapist uses both standard therapeutic procedures
and procedures that more directly address the energy imbalance.
These procedures include manual muscle testing, tapping of acupuncture
pressure points, body postures and movements, and affirmations.
For more on energy psychotherapy, see
Energy Psychology.
Enneagram
From the Greek word for nine, the Enneagram is a model of nine personality types used to help people better understand themselves and their relationships to others. Therapists use the Enneagram to aid clients in identifying their core motivation (e.g., “I am only okay if I am needed”) and guide them toward healthy change. For more on enneagram, see The
Enneagram Institute.
Family therapy
Family therapy focuses on diagnosing and treating the behavioral
or relational problems within a family. Rather than treating
an individual family member, the therapist treats the entire
family as a system. American
Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy is the process of working with the whole person
to assist clients in learning to be good to themselves through
the development of insight into their inter-personal and intra-personal
here-and-now existence in the environment of their choice.
Group therapy
In group therapy, the therapist meets with a group of people to help them understand
themselves better and improve their interpersonal relationships. Group therapy
allows each client to experience the support of other individuals in the group
and to explore his or her patterns of communicating with and relating to others.
For more information, see energy
psychology.
Hypnotherapy
Used in combination with other therapies, hypnotherapy uses
hypnosis to treat emotional and behavioral problems. Through
hypnosis clients can access latent insights, abilities, and
emotional reserves. For more on hypnosis and hypnotherapy, see
About Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy.
Parenting
As the name suggests, parenting therapy focuses on helping clients
become more effective parents. It is usually used in conjunction
with other types of therapy, such as family or play therapy.
Play therapy
Designed for children, play therapy uses children's natural
means of expression—play—to help them express their
feelings and come to terms with difficult issues, such as abuse
and divorce, and to achieve emotional growth and development.
For more information, see Association
for Play Therapy.
Positive Psychology
Positive psychology is a relatively new branch of psychology focusing on promoting health rather than curing illness. A therapist using positive psychology helps clients identify their strengths and find ways to begin using these strengths on a regular basis. The therapist encourages clients to reflect on what would constitute a happy and satisfying life and take steps to increase their happiness, optimism, and sense of fulfillment. For more on positive psychology, see The
Positive Psychology Center.
Psychodynamic therapy
In psychodynamic therapy, the therapist helps clients discover
their true feelings so that they can experience them and understand
them.
Redecision therapy
Redecision therapy uses a combination of transactional analysis
and Gestalt therapy to help clients understand how beliefs established
in early childhood and decisions made based on those beliefs
unconsciously rule their lives. Through experiential techniques,
the therapist helps clients "redecide" and thus adopt
healthier belief and habits. For more information, see Southeast
Institutes's discussion of Redecision
therapy.
Transactional analysis
In transactional analysis (TA), clients' interactions with others
are analyzed in an effort to promote healthier relationships.
In TA theory, an individual's interactions, or "transactions,"
with others are viewed as an expression of one of three ego
states—Parent, Adult, or Child. By analyzing and understanding
how their interactions with others are an expression of one
of these states, clients come to a better understanding of how
they interact with others and learn to develop healthier relationships.
For more information, see The
International Transactional Analysis Association.
|
|
