Therapy
Need help coping with OCD, Anxiety or depression? Looking for ways to improve relationships with your partner, child or coworkers? These problems have solutions! Read on to learn more.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a structured and focused form of psychotherapy that combines Cognitive therapy and Behavioral therapy. The right combination of cognitive and behavioral methods depends on the client’s needs and personality, and the type of problems addressed. The combination of cognitive therapy with meticulously planned exposures makes the learning process most effective and leads to significant improvement within a relatively short period of time. You should expect to be actively engaged during therapy sessions as well as outside of them. Your cooperation and engagement will contribute to speeding up successful results and sustaining them after therapy is completed.
CBT is a useful and powerful tool to address emotional challenges. For example, it may help you:
- Manage symptoms of mental illness
- Prevent a relapse of mental illness symptoms
- Treat a mental illness when medications aren’t a good option or yield insufficient results
- Learn techniques for coping with stressful life situations
- Identify ways to manage emotions
- Resolve relationship conflicts and learn better ways to communicate
- Cope with grief or loss
- Overcome emotional trauma related to abuse or violence
- Cope with a medical illness
- Manage chronic physical symptoms
Mental health disorders that may significantly improve with CBT include:
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Depression
- Anxiety disorders (Panic, Generalized, Social, Agoraphobia)
- Phobias
- PTSD
- Sleep disorders
- Eating disorders
- Bipolar disorders
- Schizophrenia
Cognitive Therapy
Cognitive therapy is a focused and structured form of talk therapy (psychotherapy). The fundamental idea behind cognitive therapy is that the emotions we experience are a result of the way we interpret events that happen in our lives. Our interpretations, or our thoughts are based on core beliefs which were formed in our early lives. In cognitive therapy, we use a wide range of conversational techniques to identify self-defeating core beliefs and the maladaptive automatic thoughts, investigating together their validity, working on changing them according to reality supported by evidence. Once core beliefs and thoughts are adaptive and realistic, healthy and relevant emotions will follow.
Cognitive therapy helps you learn effective self-help skills through homework assignments that help you change the way you think, behave and feel. Cognitive therapy takes time and practice, yet it is practical, rational, log-lasting and helps the patient gain independence and effectiveness in dealing with real-life issues. Your cooperation and engagement will contribute to speeding up successful results and sustaining them after therapy is completed.
Behavioral and Exposure Therapies
Behavioral therapy is based on the fundamental idea that behaviors are purposeful and learned and that unhealthy behaviors can be changed.
Behavioral therapy is focused on helping an individual understand how changing their behavior can lead to changes in their emotions, therefore it is worth it to take the risk and respond differently to triggering situations. One of anxiety’s most debilitating manifestations is avoidance. No one likes to voluntarily expose themselves to dangers. When anxious, we feel fear although there is no actual source of imminent danger. Therefore, part of the relearning process is done by gradual and controlled exposures to the trigger of anxiety.
Such exposures, or imaginary exposures, are conducted during therapy in the clinic and at home. Exposure therapy – often referred to as Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy (ExRP) – is an evidence-based method proven to effectively
diminish anxiety through habituation. It helps clients develop anxiety-free and socially-engaged life. Your cooperation and engagement will contribute to speeding up successful results and sustaining them after therapy is completed. I will be with you while practicing exposures, making sure you successfully achieve your goals.