My Approach
EMDR
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It operates under the principle of bilateral stimulation (stimulation of both halves of the brain) to assist in processing "stuck" thoughts or memories. It does this through eye movement, alternating tones and/or tactile stimulation. This technique helps the client to process difficult and/or traumatic memories, self-defeating thoughts and unproductive narratives. It is particularly effective for trauma survivors and those with PTSD.
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To read more about EMDR, click here.
Narrative Therapy
You have a story to tell. It is the story of who you are, where you come from and how you got here. You crafted some parts of your stories yourself, while some parts came from other people. It is the story you tell yourself about yourself.
Like any story, some parts of it are good, and some parts are bad. While we can learn from both the good and the bad, the good parts usually help you move forward. You may tell yourself, "I am a good friend", "I excel at my work", and so on. The bad parts tend to make us feel stuck. You may tell yourself, "I am unlovable", "I am broken", and so on.
Narrative Therapy tries to turn up the volume on the good parts to capitalize on your strengths, while turning down the volume on the bad parts, or reimagining them so they are less disruptive. As one of my clients put it, "Turn up the good and turn down the suck!"
You can read more about this approach here.
Motivational Interviewing
Let's face it: change is hard. There are lots of obstacles, lots of barriers, and lots of excuses. While they may be causing us difficulties in life, problematic behaviors and thought patterns are familiar, comfortable, and hard to break out of.
Motivational Interviewing is a client-centered approach that is more directive than traditional exploratory therapy. It helps clients identify and resolve sources of ambivalence and resistance to change.
You can read more about this approach here.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) acknowledges that there is a relationship between cognition (what you think) and behavior (what you do). This relationship goes both ways: what you think affects what you do, and what you do affects what you think. CBT is an approach that will help you identify helpful thoughts and behaviors, and try to augment them. Simultaneously, CBT identifies problem thoughts and behaviors, and seeks to minimize the impact they have on your life.
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You can learn more about this approach here.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
As the name suggests, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) focuses on the existence of opposites. What this means is that there are some things in life we need to change, but there are other things we simply can't change. DBT combines change-focused strategies for the things we can change, and acceptance-based strategies for the things we can't.
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You can learn more about this approach here.
