But first, learn the lingo...
What We Do Best
You hear therapists talk all about "evidence based practice" and being "integrated" but what do they actually mean? Before you scroll, hover over the therapeutic lingo below to understand more what potential therapists mean when they are talking about their expertise.
Integrative care means we will use our therapy skills to move between different modes of therapy through each session and/or over the course of treatment.
Integrative Care
When we spend time focusing on what we need to "fix", we end up frustrated and helpless. When we focus on what we do well and allow those personal strengths to help us in other areas of our life, we stay motivated and grow more easily.
Strengths-Based
Evidence-Based means that we're not "just talking". The way we talk and the tools we teach come from multiple research studies that show a certain treatment is valid (does what it is supposed to do) and reliable (the techniques can be used over and over with the same expected result).
Evidence-Based Practice
Therapy is not about getting advice. It is about gaining insight into yourself and making healthy choices towards your goals with the help of an objective, knowledgeable co-pilot.
Collaborative Care
Integrative Evidence Based Practice allows us to meet your needs with knowledge, compassion, and skill.
Our therapists use a strengths-based, collaborative approach to determine the most appropriate evidence-based treatment for their client's needs. This most often includes: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, and/or EMDR. Integrative practice means we will use our therapeutic skills to move between these modes of therapy as needed.
We are trained to treat a broad spectrum of needs as well as specialized care for grief, trauma, chronic health conditions, serious mental illness, and perinatal mental health. Click here to learn more about each therapist's individual strengths.
What These Therapies Include
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
This is probably the one you have heard the most about. It looks at how your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions all work together. We start by understanding what negative thoughts get in your way the most, how they make you feel, and how you respond. We'll explore what often causes these negative thoughts to come up for you. Then we'll make sure you know tools you can use to calm your body down in these situations so you can respond differently. CBT is straightforward in theory but it often takes time to unlearn the unhelp ways we operate.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
In SFBT, we work backwards. Instead of focusing on how to "fix a problem", we focus on answering "what is the end goal?" and learning from our past success to tell us how to get there. We start by asking questions like, "what do you want your life to look like?", "what would need to be different between now and then?". You work with your therapist to create your own path forward, focused on where you want to go versus why it will be impossible for you to get there.
Motivational Interviewing (MI)
Motivational Interviewing is about increasing our readiness for change by understanding our internal strengths and motivations. Your therapist is there to guide, empower, and help you find your own sense of meaning. Through this focused style of communication, we can move past the surface level reasons why we are or are not doing something we care about deeply. MI asks you the questions you need to get unstuck and move to the next stage of growth.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR is a highly effective trauma therapy. It starts out like any other therapy - getting to know your therapist and building a rapport so you can feel safe navigating challenging topics. The therapist will spend time making sure you have tools to help yourself regulate your physical and emotional response to stress; that you feel more confident in talking about your emotions; and that you are taking care of yourself outside of therapy sessions. Your therapist will use a bi-lateral stimulation technique (like eye movement, tapping, a light bar, or audio stimulation) to teach you additional coping tools. This allows you time to get comfortable with the technique and build your reserves before diving into a traumatic event that continues to cause you distress. Then, you will spend time in sessions using bi-lateral stimulation to process past trauma and create new adaptive neural pathways.