Psychotherapies
Psychotherapy is the MIND component of the Mind-Body-Spirit paradigm that we subscribe to, it addresses the software of the brain. Psychotherapy is a general term for addressing mental/emotional health concerns by meeting and talking with a licensed mental health specialist. During psychotherapy, you will learn more about your condition, your moods, feelings, thoughts and behaviors. You may experience a change in how you feel about yourself, learn how to manage aspects of your life differently and learn to respond to challenging situations with flexible and healthy coping skills to optimize your life.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is less focused on the underpinnings of feelings and instead emphasizes how to change the ingrained patterns of thoughts and behaviors that are causing problems. CBT can be used to alter difficult behaviors, such as procrastination, or phobias, and can also address conditions such as depression and anxiety.
At IMI, when using CBT, we believe that you can change your feelings by changing your thoughts and actions. For example, you may have patterns of distorted thinking — excessive self-criticism or guilt, always anticipating the worst, attributing untoward motives to others — that make you vulnerable to feeling bad. CBT teaches you to recognize these patterns as they emerge and alter them. During CBT, the therapist may ask you to evaluate the truth behind these statements, to work to transform such thoughts, and to recognize events that are not in your control. The “behavior” part refers to learning more productive responses to upsetting circumstances or feelings — such as relaxing and breathing deeply instead of hyperventilating when in an anxiety-provoking situation.
CBT can be used exclusively or in conjunction with other forms of therapy.
There are many specific types of psychotherapy, each with its own approach. The type of psychotherapy that’s right for you depends on your individual situation. Types of Psychotherapies we offer include:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Dialectic Behavioral Therapy
- Gestalt Therapy
- Solution Focused Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
- Marital Therapy
- Family Therapy
- Child and Adolescent Therapy
DBT is extremely effective in treating problems that result from maladaptive interpersonal behaviors and from poorly developed self image or self esteem.
Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy or DBT draws from the principles of psychoanalytic, cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal therapies. It is extremely effective in treating problems that result from maladaptive interpersonal behaviors and from poorly developed self-image or self-esteem. It uses techniques from each of the various therapies and combines them with a focus on mindfulness, which is drawn from contemporary practices of stress management and meditation.
Gestalt Therapy
Gestalt therapy is a type of therapy used to deepen our awareness of ourselves and our feelings in a less intellectual manner than the more traditional forms of therapy. “Gestalt” means the whole; it implies wholeness. In any experience or interaction there are feelings in the foreground and in the background.
Gestalt therapy can help shed light on unfinished business by helping us to focus our awareness on our feelings on moment to moment. Once we recognize our unfinished business, we are better equipped to understand ourselves and to choose whether we want to make changes or not.
Gestalt therapy can help shed light on unfinished business by helping us to focus our awareness on our feelings on moment to moment.
Solution Focused Therapy (SFT)
Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT), is a goal-directed, and focuses on solutions, rather than on the problems that bring individuals to seek therapy. It is a practical, goal-driven model, it emphasizes clear, concise, realistic goals. The SFT model assumes that all individuals have some knowledge of what would improve their life, even though they may need some help describing the circumstances of their better life and that everyone who seeks help already possesses some of the skills necessary to create solutions.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a fairly new, nontraditional type of psychotherapy. It’s growing in popularity, particularly for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD often occurs after experiences such as military combat, physical assault, rape, or car accidents.
At first glance, EMDR appears to approach psychological issues in an unusual way. It does not rely on talk therapy or medications. Instead, EMDR uses a patient’s own rapid, rhythmic eye movements. These eye movements dampen the power of emotionally charged memories of past traumatic events.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Psychodynamic therapy focuses on how life events, desires, and past and current relationships affect your feelings and the choices you make. In this type of therapy, you identify the compromises you’ve made to defend yourself against painful thoughts or emotions, sometimes without even knowing it. By becoming unconscious links, you may find it easier to overcome such obstacles.
Classic psychoanalysis is time-consuming and not widely used today. However, it’s still influential in the thinking behind much psychodynamic therapy, which can be short- or long-term, and may focus broadly or more narrowly on a particular issue or symptom. Another common focus of psychodynamic therapy is an individual’s interaction with other people.
Marital Therapy
Marital Therapy is the process of counseling the couple in an effort to recognize and to better manage or reconcile troublesome differences and repeating patterns of distress. Couples therapy is more about seemingly intractable problems with a relationship history, where emotions are the target and the agent of change.
Family Therapy
Family therapy views a person’s symptoms as taking place in the larger context of the family. Just as a particular department in a business organization may suffer because of the problems in another department, a person with depression may be responding to larger family issues. Family therapy is a style where cognitive; behavior or interpersonal therapy may be employed. However, it is most often used with other forms interpersonal therapy as mentioned elsewhere.
Child and Adolescent Therapy
There are a variety of techniques and methods used to help children and adolescents who are experiencing difficulties with their emotions or behavior. Although there are different types of psychotherapy, each relies on communications as the basic tool for bringing about change in a minor’s feelings and behaviors. Working with children and adolescents may involve an individual child, a group of children, a family, or multiple families. In children and adolescents, playing, drawing, building, and pretending, as well as talking, are important ways of sharing feelings and resolving problems.
During psychotherapy, you learn how to manage aspects of your life differently and learn to respond to challenging situations with flexible and healthy coping skills to optimize your life.
Interested in Psychotherapy?
Our Psychotherapy services are a great path for addressing mental/emotional health concerns by meeting and talking with a licensed mental health specialist.
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