Guided Balance Therapy

Services:

 

The therapy hour is usually 45-60 minutes in length.  Typically individuals meet weekly or every other week depending on need.  Therapy can take many forms. The process is different for each person or each family and there is no ‘one size fits all.’  My approach to treatment is eclectic or integrative which means I draw from a wide variety of methods.

 

Psychotherapy / Psychodynamic:

This approach looks at personal history which affects the way one thinks, feels and acts in the present moment.  By understanding how previous experiences may influence current situations, one learns to distinguish past and present and respond to current relationships more effectively.

 

Family Systems Therapy:

This therapy addresses the structure, function, communication, and behavior of the broader system (usually the family) that impacts the whole system as well as the individuals within it. Structural, Strategic and Intergenerational are types of family therapy.

 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT):

The foundation of CBT is that how we perceive a situation will largely influence how we feel and behave.  It helps one become aware of the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviors.  This approach focuses on the difficulties of the present and offers skills on how to change things in the moment.

 

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT):

This approach offers skill building to help stop harmful or life threatening behaviors, learn to manage strong emotions no matter how painful and to maintain relationships. DBT is a bio-social model that incorporates mindfulness practice along with the synthesis of opposites, mainly acceptance and change.

 

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing):

Using a set of standardized protocols to help the brain store memories in a different way leading to cognitive, behavioral and emotional change.

 

Motivational Interviewing:

The basis of this approach is the actual conversation about change within an atmosphere of compassion and acceptance.  This conversation addresses ambivalence, as well as one’s internal motivation and commitment that encourage long-term change.

 

Play / Art Therapy:

These are alternatives to talk therapy and are used for adults and families as well as children.  Each gives another way to express oneself and process difficult emotions.

 

Trauma Focused:

Whatever the mode of treatment, informed trauma care is at the center of my services.  Most people will experience a traumatic event at some point in their lives, such as abuse or neglect, a car accident, the sudden death of a loved one, a violent criminal act, natural disaster, and exposure to the violence of war.  The effects of trauma for some people can be long lasting, causing a host of emotions or memories that are difficult to manage.  Treatment modalities are chosen with this work in mind.

 

Areas of special interest to me:

• Adult survivors of childhood abuse (sexual or physical)
• Trauma or PTSD symptoms
• Grief
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Life transitions (new parenthood, marriage, young adults, divorce)
• Pregnancy health (for anxiety, depression, attachment in family of origin)
• Parenting issues
• Family therapy
• Infertility
• Emotion regulation issues