We provide therapy services to adults and work with a wide range of emotional and behavioral issues. After conducting a thorough assessment, we will clarify your goals and will use evidence-based therapy approaches to help you make changes in yourself and your life.
Treatment Specialization Includes:
- Depression, Anxiety and other emotional difficulties
- PTSD
- Stress
- Eating concerns and weight loss
- Chronic Pain
- Chronic Illness
- Co-dependency
- Insomnia
- Life Transition due to illness
- First Responders
- Military and Veterans
Treatment Modalities
The treatment modalities that we provide are based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT is a group of treatments that have been scientifically tested and found to be effective in hundreds of clinical trials for many different disorders. CBT is based on the theory that our perceptions of things lead to our emotional experience, which in turn leads to the action we chose to take. During times when we are experiencing intense uncomfortable emotions, CBT tells us that there is some sort of “distortion” in our thinking, i.e. there is some sort of misperception that we are having which is causing the intensity of the emotion. Becoming aware of the thought and changing the perception will lead to emotional relief. CBT also has a behavioral component which addresses how our actions, by themselves, can lead to intense uncomfortable emotional responses. CBT helps to identify those behaviors and provides skills to change the behaviors, leading to positive outcomes.
Specialized Treatments
We have specialized training and experience in several types of CBT. The type of therapy that is chosen will depend upon your life experience and goals. Prior to beginning any treatment, we will discuss the type of treatment that best fits your needs. I welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you may have. We will also spend as many sessions as needed to develop a sense of safety and compatibility to begin the work.
CBT for Chronic Pain
The goal of cognitive-behavioral therapy for chronic pain is to change the way you think about the pain so that your body and mind respond better when you have episodes of pain. Therapy focuses on changing your thoughts about illness and then helping you adopt positive ways of coping with illness. CBT for chronic pain also helps people to increase their activity levels and begin to take part in activities that they enjoy.
CBT for Weight Loss
CBT for weight loss generally incorporates the following components:
Motivation: People often begin dieting or exercising due to a short burst in motivation. Unfortunately, if you are unable to maintain the motivation, the changes become short-lived. CBT involves increasing motivation, along with learning and practicing skills to sustain it.
Coping with craving: CBT helps people learn thinking skills to better tolerate the urges to go off their eating plan.
Recognizing and eliminating emotional eating: Eating can be a way we cope with painful emotions or difficult situations. When we restrict our diet, we eliminate this way of coping, resulting in having a more difficult time dealing with life’s challenges. CBT can help people more effectively cope with tough times, thus replacing the function of food as a coping mechanism.
Identify realistic goals: The effects of dieting and exercising often take a while to surface. To lose weight and keep it off, you have to adopt the marathon perspective: slow and steady wins the race. Adopting more realistic goals actually results in less suffering in the short-term, and better results over the long-term. Through CBT, people learn to identify achievable goals and realistic goals.
CBT for Insomnia
Do you have problems falling asleep, staying asleep and/or waking up several hours early and being unable to go back to sleep? Have you been having this problem for three or more months? If so, then you probably have Insomnia. Insomnia can have negative effects on your energy level, mood, mental alertness, concentration and physical health. When insomnia occurs, many people see their doctor for sleep medication. This may work for a short time, but research shows that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is more effective in the long run than medication. CBT-I begins with a thorough assessment of the many different components that make up a good night’s sleep, with special attention paid to the factors that are interfering with sleep. Once these are identified, we will provide you with education about sleep and sleep hygiene. Additionally, we will look at how your thoughts and behaviors are interfering with your sleep. If you are able to follow the plan created, you should begin to see relief within 2-3 sessions. It’s that easy!
CBT for Trauma
When people experience trauma, they are affected in many ways, including their sense of safety and trust, self-esteem, feelings of power and control and ability to experience intimacy with others. Participating in trauma therapy can be difficult and is hard work. Prior to beginning, we will work with you to develop the coping skills that may be needed to manage uncomfortable emotions, body sensations and memories that might be present. Once you have incorporated these into your life, we will begin addressing the trauma. Using CBT for trauma, we will help you process traumatic memories, identify thoughts and beliefs that may have been altered by the trauma and challenge these thoughts and beliefs to help resolve the trauma.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens. Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future. Mindfulness is very helpful for people who experience anxiety, depression, chronic pain and chronic illness.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a type of therapy that has been shown to help people transform negative thinking patterns and destructive behaviors into positive outcomes. People who benefit from this type of therapy usually struggle with extreme mood swings, difficulty in relationships, impulsive behavior, eating disorders and suicidal thoughts. DBT teaches skills in Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation and Interpersonal Effectiveness to provide alternative ways to manage emotions.