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Types of Therapy
An explanation of the specialized therapies we use here at the Clinic for Christian Counseling to help you get unstuck.
Experiential Play Therapy®
Experiential Play Therapy® is a model of play therapy with a strong belief in the child’s quest for health. Only the child knows their particular perceptions of their life’s dilemmas.
Experiential Play Therapy, the child is allowed to be the director of the play. In that process, they will utilize toys and their own creativity to recreate their experience in an environment that enables them to approach their struggles so that they are able to regain the power that has been lost in the actual event or environment.
The therapist becomes a partner in the child’s quest, assuming whatever role the child requests. This play is active, as the child and therapist use body movements to expel the stress of the experience and empower the child to move forward.
From the website http://experientialplaytherapy.com/
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of treatment that helps people learn how to identify and change the destructive or disturbing thought patterns that have a negative influence on their behavior and emotions.
Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on changing the automatic negative thoughts that can contribute to and worsen our emotional difficulties, depression, and anxiety. These spontaneous negative thoughts also have a detrimental influence on our mood.
Through CBT, faulty thoughts are identified, challenged, and replaced with more objective, realistic thoughts.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a modified type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Its main goals are to teach people how to live in the moment, develop healthy ways to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and improve their relationships with others.
DBT was originally intended to treat borderline personality disorder (BPD), but it has been adapted to treat other mental health conditions. It can help people who have difficulty with emotional regulation or are exhibiting self-destructive behaviors (such as eating disorders and substance abuse disorders). This type of therapy is also sometimes used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Brainspotting
What is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting locates points in the client’s visual field that help to access unprocessed trauma in the subcortical brain. Brainspotting (BSP) was discovered in 2003 by David Grand, Ph.D. Over 13,000 therapists have been trained in BSP (52 internationally), in the United States, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Africa. Dr. Grand discovered that "Where you look affects how you feel." It is the brain activity, especially in the subcortical brain that organizes itself around that eye position.
BSP makes use of this natural phenomenon through its use of relevant eye positions. This helps the BSP therapist locate, focus, process and release a wide range of emotionally and bodily-based conditions. BSP is also a brain-based tool to support the therapy relationship. BSP can also be used to find and strengthen our natural resources and resilience. BSP is designed as a therapeutic tool that can be integrated into many of the healing modalities.
Who does Brainspotting work with?
Brainspotting is effective for a wide variety of emotional and somatic conditions. Brainspotting is particularly effective with trauma-based situations, helping to identify and heal underlying trauma that contributes to anxiety, depression and other behavioral conditions. It can also be used with performance and creativity enhancement. Brainspotting gives the therapist access to both brain and body processes. Its goal is to bypass the conscious, neocortical thinking to access the deeper, subcortical emotional and body-based parts of the brain.
As a client, why choose Brainspotting?
Clients often fall into two categories. The first being those who are seeking therapy for the first time. The second are people who have been in therapy before who are seeking a therapist with new techniques. With focus and precision, one can find with eye positions (Brainspots) where the trauma, anxiety, depression or behavioral problems are held in the brain. This allows the brain to process from the inside out and from the bottom up.
From website
https://brainspotting.com
EMDR
EMDR is an evidenced-based treatment which falls under the umbrella of Adaptive Information Processing. Anytime we experience a trauma, information is stored within the brain and cells of the body. We can remember sights, sounds, smells, and body sensations all associated with an event. When these memories are either not processed, or processed maladaptively, people can have an experience in the present, which triggers these memories from the past, keeping the person stuck in a loop of maladaptive thinking, feeling, believing, and behaving. Once the memories are processed, through the use of bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or sound), the brain is able to reorganize the information, thereby desensitizing the body/mind, and enabling the person to experience the freedom of living in the present moment, unbound by past experiences.
The eye movements used in this treatment are said to create a similar effect to that produced during the REM stage of sleep. The brain re-processes the information, from the very root which created the problem. While it may seem daunting to have to go through memories, EMDR is a structured, safe, effective, evidenced-based therapy. EMDR allows for one to remain fully grounded in the present moment, ensuring the avoidance of additional trauma. And, you don’t have to go into any detail, as the details are not as important as the overall feelings, thoughts, and sensations.
EMDR is especially effective in people who have PTSD and can also be useful for people who have Anxiety, Phobias, Mood Disorders, Sleep Disorders, Grief, Addiction, Low Self Esteem, and Depression. People are generally able to recover physically and emotionally much quicker using EMDR than traditional talk therapy which can take years to process life events verbally.
Resources for more information on EMDR
