Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a type of treatment that helps individuals relieve difficult emotions, thoughts, and behaviours through conversations with a mental health professional. Treatment aims to help individuals alleviate distress by discussing their emotions, challenging unhelpful thoughts, and changing attitudes, behaviours and habits that may be unhelpful. The goal of psychotherapy is to promote more adaptative and helpful coping and improve symptoms. Psychotherapy can also help individuals struggling with stress, relationship concerns, mental health conditions and other challenges.
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Psychotherapy tends to be a more long-term treatment that supports individuals in gaining insight and awareness into their issues or mental health condition. Counselling tends to be a brief treatment that targets specific symptoms or situations such as job loss. It's also okay to use these terms interchangeably.
My Therapeutic APPROACH
There are many different types of psychotherapy treatments available. I use an eclectic approach in my work, drawing on several types of psychotherapy treatments to meet an individual's needs. Below are the psychotherapy treatments I use in my practice and have received additional training.
DBT is based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy but was adapted for people who experience intense emotions. The goal of DBT is to help individuals build a life worth living and learn new skills to improve emotion regulation. DBT strives to find the balance between acceptance (we are doing the best we can despite our challenges) and change (I can do better).
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DBT is helpful for individuals who struggle to regulate their emotions, cope with their distress, and have high levels of interpersonal conflict. It can also be helpful for individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, Traumatic Stress Disorder, Eating Disorders, Depression, Anxiety and Substance Use Disorder.
CBT is a structured, problem-focused, and goal-oriented treatment. The goal of CBT is to explore how an individual's thoughts, attitudes and beliefs impact their emotional and behavioural reactions that may be causing them difficulty. During CBT an individual learns how to challenge unhelpful thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs, and develop healthier thinking patterns and habits.
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CBT is helpful for individuals struggling with unhelpful ways of thinking and behaving and engaging in ineffective coping strategies. It can also be helpful for individuals diagnosed with Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Depression, Substance Use Challenges, and Trauma.
PT helps individuals gain insight into problematic thoughts, feelings and behaviours influenced by early childhood experiences and outside conscious awareness. The goal of PT, is to help individuals develop insight of these unhelpful patterns and make conscious choices to change.
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PT is helpful for individuals experiencing high levels of stress, work difficulties and struggling in their relationships or personal development. PT can also be helpful for individuals diagnosed with Depression, Anxiety, and Panic Disorders.
MI is a client-centred approach that enhances an individual’s motivation to change and reach a desired goal. MI helps individuals develop an awareness of the change process, strengthen their motivation and movement towards a goal and explore arguments against change that may be blocking progress.
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MI is helpful for individuals who have mixed feelings about changing their behaviour or feel stuck in reaching their goals. MI can also be helpful for individuals diagnosed with Substance Use Disorder, Depression and Anxiety.