Therapy is not one-size-fits-all, and we draw on our expertise in the following types of therapy to create an optimal treatment plan for you depending on your goals, preferences, and previous experiences in therapy. The acronyms can be confusing, but please don’t fret - we are happy to demystify any of the treatments and explain them in accessible ways!

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) emphasizes processes of mindfulness, acceptance, and commitment to help individuals overcome obstacles in their lives. A basic assumption of ACT is that suffering is a normal and inevitable part of life, and that it is actually people’s attempts to avoid or control their own discomfort that lead to long-term suffering. ACT helps individuals learn how to let go of their struggle with pain (uncomfortable emotions, painful memories, harsh self-beliefs), be more mindful, gain clarity on what really matters to them, and commit to experiencing life more fully. ACT is about acceptance and change: accepting uncontrollable thoughts and feelings and taking action in line with one’s values.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a skills-based approach that focuses on the relationship among thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors to address problems. A goal is identifying thoughts that occur automatically and impact emotions and behaviors. In other words, it is often our thoughts or beliefs about an event that impact how we feel about it, rather than the event itself. For example, two people may get a 95% on an exam and have radically different reactions: Person A might be thrilled and Person B might be disappointed. CBT looks at the automatic split-second thoughts that people have that determine their emotional reactions (“I did the best I could” vs. “I’m a failure”) and then aims to alter unhelpful thinking styles. CBT also focuses on reducing behaviors that are unhelpful and increasing behaviors that generate feelings of pleasure and competence.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a highly effective treatment for those who have experienced trauma, with many studies demonstrating its effectiveness in treating PTSD. When someone experiences trauma, they typically develop a range of thoughts and meanings related to the trauma - some helpful and some that aren’t so helpful. Within CPT, clients learn to identify, challenge, and reformulate their beliefs that are holding them back. The client and therapist work together to create a new understanding and conceptualization of the traumatic event so that the trauma’s negative effects on life are reduced. CPT is typically delivered over the course of three months.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a treatment that aims to reduce problematic behaviors and increase effective behaviors by building skills in four areas: 1) emotion regulation skills are intended to foster understanding of emotions, decrease the frequency of unwanted emotions, accumulate positive emotions, and decrease the likelihood of behaving in ways that are solely driven by emotion; 2) mindfulness skills help people pay attention in the present moment deliberately and non-judgmentally; 3) interpersonal effectiveness skills can improve individuals’ capacity to get their needs met in relationships while enhancing their relationships and self-respect; and 4) distress tolerance skills are essentially crisis survival skills that keep high-emotion situations from getting worse.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a therapeutic approach that aims to help individuals create secure attachments, resolve negative internal and interpersonal interaction patterns, and develop effective emotion regulation strategies. In EFT, the therapist is powerfully empathetic to help clients feel safe and accepted as they actively explore relationship patterns and inner emotional experiences. EFT uses the lens of attachment theory to understand how early relationships shape individuals’ patterns of emotion and behavior. A goal of EFT is to foster a person’s ability to create secure bonds and relationships that positively impact their emotion regulation, social connectedness, and mental health. 

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy

EMDR therapy is a psychotherapy method used to help people recover from trauma and is highly effective for treating anxiety and other distressing life events and memories. In EMDR, clients focus on past memories while experiencing rhythmic left-right (bilateral) stimulation through tapping, eye movements, or the use of tones. Processing memories in this way can reduce the emotion and vividness associated with the trauma or anxiety.

Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)

IPT is an effective, time-limited (12-16 sessions) approach to treating mood disorders (such as depression) that can be a standalone treatment or incorporated into long-term psychotherapy. IPT focuses on improving the quality of individuals’ social functioning and relationships to reduce their distress. A skilled IPT therapist will help clients: (1) address social isolation and increase fulfillment in their relationships; (2) manage recent or past grief; (3) cope with challenging life transitions, such as moving, retirement, graduation, and breakups; and (4) deal with ongoing interpersonal conflicts. The objective of IPT is to change relationship patterns, and as a result, reduce mental health challenges that are impacted by those patterns.

Mindfulness

Very simply, mindfulness means being aware of the present moment without judgment. Mindfulness techniques can be woven into other treatments, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. Mindfulness entails bringing awareness to your present experience and allowing your thoughts and feelings to be as they are without judging or struggling with them. When we observe our private experiences with receptiveness, even the most painful thoughts, feelings, and memories can become less unbearable.

Prolonged Exposure

Prolonged exposure is a research-supported treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that helps individuals gradually face trauma-related memories, feelings, and situations and learn that those memories and cues are not dangerous and do not need to be avoided. The therapist begins by explaining the treatment, understanding the client’s past experiences, and teaching breathing techniques to manage anxiety. The therapist works hard to ensure that the therapeutic relationship is a safe space where the client can process difficult experiences. Then, the therapist guides the client through exposure exercises during and between sessions to help the client confront the feared stimuli and effectively cope with the associated feelings. Prolonged exposure is typically provided via 90-minute sessions over the course of approximately 3 months.

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a contemporary offshoot of psychoanalysis. It aims to increase individuals’ awareness and understanding of their problems so that they can come up with lasting solutions rather than quick fixes. It is based on the notion that our behaviors are influenced by conscious and unconscious (out of our awareness) motivations, and it is therefore important to understand the unconscious drivers of our feelings and actions. There is a focus on understanding how past challenges and conflicts may be unconsciously playing out, or repeating themselves, in current relationships.