Resources

Attachment-Based Therapy (ABT) is a form of therapy that applies to interventions or approaches based on attachment theory, which explains how early parental relationships influence later development and relationships.

For clients dealing with anxiety and depression, stress, or chronic pain, mindfulness-based therapies aim to reduce distress by embracing the present moment and fostering greater awareness of one’s needs. Mindfulness helps by reflecting on moments and thoughts without passing judgment. Clients learn to pay close attention to their feelings to reach an objective, more insightful mindset.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is an approach to therapy that helps clients identify their emotions, learn to explore, experience, and understand them, and then manage them. EFT embraces the idea that emotions can be changed, first by arriving at or ‘living’ the unpleasant emotion (e.g. loss, fear, or shame) in session, and then learning to transform it. EFT for couples seeks to break the negative emotion cycles within relationships. It emphasizing the importance of the attachment bond between couples, and how nurturing this bond with an empathetic understanding of each other’s emotions, can break the negative cycles.

Person-Centered Therapy (PCT) uses a non-authoritative approach that allows clients to take more of a lead in discussions so that, in the process, they will discover their own solutions. The therapist acts as a compassionate facilitator, listening without judgment, and acknowledging the client’s experience without moving the conversation in another direction. The therapist is there to encourage and support the client and to guide the therapeutic process without interrupting or interfering with the client’s process of self-discovery.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) 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 his or her thinking. The therapist then helps the client modify those thoughts and the behaviors that flow from them. CBT is a structured collaboration between therapist and client and often calls for homework assignments. CBT has been clinically proven to help clients in a relatively short amount of time with a wide range of disorders, including depression and anxiety.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a method of therapy that works to engage the motivation of clients to change their behavior. Clients are encouraged to explore and confront their ambivalence. Therapists attempt to influence their clients to consider making changes, rather than exploring themselves. Motivational Interviewing is frequently used in cases of problem drinking or mild addictions, but can be applied to multiple decision making situations.

Unlike traditional psychology that focuses more on the causes and symptoms of mental illnesses and emotional disturbances, 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.

A trauma-informed therapist is aware of the complex impact of trauma (any perceived trauma) on a person’s life and how it shapes a person’s efforts to cope. A trauma-informed approach focuses on safety, coping, empowerment, and an individual’s strengths, all while having an awareness of the underlying trauma and its associated effects.