Treatment Methods
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a form of therapy that incorporates elements of cognitive-behavioral therapy with eye movements or other forms of rhythmic, left-right brain stimulation, such as hand taps or sounds. These bilateral forms of stimulation are thought to work by “unfreezing” the brain’s information processing system, which is interrupted in times of extreme stress, leaving only frozen emotional fragments which retain their original intensity. Once these fragments of the trauma are freed they can be integrated and processed with new ones reducing or eliminating anxiety, panic, depression and anger reactions. Controlled clinical studies place EMDR between 70 and 90 percent success rates.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Cognitive-behavioral therapy stresses the role of thinking in how we feel and what we do. It is based on the belief that thoughts, rather than people or events, cause our negative feelings. Our therapist assists the client in identifying, testing the reality of, and correcting dysfunctional beliefs underlying his or her thinking. The therapist then helps the client modify those thoughts and the behaviors that flow from them. CBT is a structured collaboration between therapist and client and often calls for homework assignments. CBT has been clinically proven to help clients in a relatively short amount of time with a wide range of disorders, including depression and anxiety.
Biofeedback
Biofeedback is simply using signals from you own body to improve your health. If you've stepped on a scale or taken your temperature, for example, you've received "feed back" information that you then perhaps acted on. Our therapist may use computer assisted programs to help clients suffering from anxiety, ADD, stress, or tension headaches. The program picks up electrical signals in the muscles. As the client tries to relax her muscles, (gaining coherence between the heart and mind) she can get an immediate progress report by watching the speed of the signals, or achieving task during the game thus learning how to better control her mind and body.
Art Therapy
Art therapy is a serious technique that uses the creative process to help improve the mental health of clients. Art therapy can be used on children and adults to treat a wide range of emotional issues, including anxiety, depression, family and relationship problems, abuse and domestic violence, and trauma and loss. Art therapy programs commonly found in hospitals and community centers, are based on the belief that the creative process is healing and life-enhancing. As they paint or draw, our skilled therapists use the client's works of art and her approach to the process as springboards to help her gain personal insight, improve her judgment, cope with stress, and work through traumatic experiences.
Family/Marital Therapy
Family and Marital therapists work with families or couples both together and individually to help them improve their communication skills, build on the positive aspects of their relationships, and repair the harmful or negative aspects.
Family Systems Therapy
In Family Systems therapy we attempt to identify problems within the family’s group dynamic as a possible contributor to the existing problems and not just a particular member’s behaviors. The family is seen as a complex system having its own language, roles, rules, beliefs, needs and patterns. Our therapist helps each individual member understand how her childhood family operated, her role in that system, and how that experience has shaped her role in her current family.
Play Therapy
Generally for children ages 3 to 11, play therapy is a form of counseling that relies on play to help therapists communicate with children and diagnose their mental health. Because children develop cognitive skills before language skills, play is an effective way to understand a child. Our therapist may observe a child playing with toys--such as playhouses and dolls--to understand the child's behavior and diagnose the problem.
Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
Solution-focused therapy, sometimes called "brief therapy," focuses on what clients would like to achieve through therapy rather than on their troubles or mental health issues. Our therapist will help the client envision a desirable future, and then map out the small and large changes necessary for the client to undergo to realize her vision. We focus on successes the client experiences, to encourage her to build on her strengths rather than dwell on her problems or limitations.
Transpersonal
Transpersonal therapy emphasizes the transcendent or spiritual aspects of a client's development which help cultivate a greater sense of connectedness with others, with nature, and with a higher spirit. Our philosophies are Christian based and non-denominational. We guide our clients' emotional, mental and spiritual growth simultaneously.
Life Skills Coaching
Life skills coaching focuses on teaching skills necessary to achieve success and happiness such as assertive communication, integrity, accountability, responsibility and goal setting. Our life coaches help individuals realize their goals in school, work, relationships and life.