We use evidence based treatments to tackle
crucial issues that are causing life hardships
like stress, anxiety, depression and OCD.
Modalities
Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
PCIT is a behavioral intervention for children ages 2-7 years old and their parents or caregivers, and is used to increase a child’s social skills and cooperation, improve the parent-child relationship, increase confidence in parents, as well as decrease child behavior problems such as defiance and aggression.
With more than 150 efficacy studies, PCIT has been shown to positively affect the behavior of children with issues including insecure attachment, aggression, disruptive behaviors, temper, and non-compliance. Parents are taught in a playroom while being coached by a therapist through an earpiece so parents get immediate feedback on their use of learned parenting skills. This helps parents to learn rapidly the correct use of skills, keeps children unaware of the therapist overlooking the play session and directly strengthens the relationship between the parent and child.
PCIT teaches play therapy skills to reinforce positive child behavior, and behavior management skills to decrease negative child behavior. Treatment has two phases: child-directed interaction (CDI) and parent-directed interaction (PDI).
During the CDI, parents learn play skills similar to those used in play therapy to engage their child in a play situation with the goal of strengthening the parent-child relationship. During PDI, parents learn to direct their child’s behavior with clear, age-appropriate instructions and consistent consequences with the goal of increasing compliance from their child. The length of PCIT treatment varies, but families remain in treatment until parents have demonstrated mastery of the treatment skills and rate their child’s behavior as normal. Treatment can take 14 weeks or longer with weekly hourly sessions.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR utilizes the body-mind connection to affect how your brain processes information.
The process of EMDR has been described as being similar to removing a splinter from a hand and then allowing the body to do the rest of the healing naturally. With EMDR,we can remove a splinter from the psyche and access a natural healing process for trauma. The EMDR method has substantial research support for many applications, including: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), physical and emotional trauma recovery, phobias, peak performance, and chronic pain management.
EMDR engages “bilateral stimulation” of the right and left halves of the brain. The classic version of EMDR is stimulation through eye movement. This appears to stimulate a process similar to REM sleep, which is the dream stage of sleep when the eyes move naturally. It is believed that just like REM sleep, EMDR stimulates both sides of the brain to “download” the information of the day in an organized manner. Other forms of bilateral stimulation include alternating sound and alternating tactile stimulation (like tapping).
By stimulating both sides of the brain while focusing on an event, we are able to reprocess the stored memory using your normal information processing. This process transforms the memory from “technicolor and surround sound” to more of a “black and white and monotone” experience. The memory no longer has emotional potency, but is simply “a part of your story.”
Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TFCBT)
TF-CBT is an evidence-based treatment for children and adolescents impacted by trauma and their parents or caregivers.
Research shows that TF-CBT successfully resolves a broad array of emotional and behavioral difficulties associated with single, multiple and complex trauma experiences. TF-CBT is a structured, short-term treatment model that effectively improves a range of trauma-related outcomes in 8-25 sessions with the child/adolescent and caregiver.
Although TF-CBT is highly effective at improving youth post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and diagnosis, a PTSD diagnosis is not required in order to receive this treatment.
TF-CBT also effectively addresses many other trauma impacts, including affective (e.g., depressive, anxiety), cognitive and behavioral problems, as well as improving the participating parent’s or caregiver’s personal distress about the child’s traumatic experience, effective parenting skills, and supportive interactions with the child.
Art Therapy
Art therapy is an integrative approach that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.
Art therapy engages the mind, body, and spirit in ways that are distinct from verbal articulation alone. Kinesthetic, sensory, perceptual, and symbolic
opportunities invite alternative modes of receptive and expressive communication, which can circumvent the limitations of language. Visual and symbolic expression gives voice to experience, and empowers individual, communal, and societal transformation.
Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS)
CPS helps adults shift to a more accurate and compassionate mindset and embrace the truth that kids do well if they can – rather than the more common belief that kids would do well if they simply wanted to.
Flowing from this simple but powerful philosophy, CPS focuses on building skills like flexibility, frustration tolerance and problem solving, rather than simply motivating kids to behave better. The process begins with identifying triggers to a child’s challenging behavior and the specific skills they need help developing. The next step involves partnering with the child to build those skills and develop lasting solutions to problems that work for everyone.
The CPS approach was developed at Massachusetts General Hospital in the #1-ranked Department of Psychiatry in the United States. It is proven to reduce challenging behavior, teach kids the skills they lack, and build relationships with the adults in their lives.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an action-oriented approach to psychotherapy that stems from traditional behavior therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Clients learn to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with their inner emotions and, instead, accept that these deeper feelings are appropriate responses to certain situations that should not prevent them from moving forward in their lives. With this understanding, clients begin to accept their hardships and commit to making necessary changes in their behavior, regardless of what is going on in their lives and how they feel about it.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use problems, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness. In many studies, CBT has been demonstrated to be as effective as, or more effective than, other forms of psychological therapy or psychiatric medications.
CBT is based on several core principles, including:
Psychological problems are based, in part, on faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking.
Psychological problems are based, in part, on learned patterns of unhelpful behavior.
People suffering from psychological problems can learn better ways of coping with them, thereby relieving their symptoms and becoming more effective in their lives.
CBT treatment usually involves efforts to change thinking patterns. These strategies might include:
Learning to recognize one’s distortions in thinking that are creating problems, and then to reevaluate them in light of reality.
Gaining a better understanding of the behavior and motivation of others.
Using problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations.
Learning to develop a greater sense of confidence in one’s own abilities.
CBT treatment also usually involves efforts to change behavioral patterns. These strategies might include:
Facing one’s fears instead of avoiding them.
Using role playing to prepare for potentially problematic interactions with others.
Learning to calm one’s mind and relax one’s body.
Not all CBT will use all of these strategies. Rather, the therapist and client work together, in a collaborative fashion, to develop an understanding of the problem and to develop a treatment strategy.