Therapy Specialties

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT):

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT is a mode of talk therapy that focuses on identifying how our mind, emotions, and actions are all interrelated. CBT can help treat symptoms of low mood, stress, or anxiety by pinpointing negative relationships between our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. CBT helps us to identify unhelpful and often deeply rooted thinking patterns which allows us an opportunity to react positively and productively to break the cycle. Through collaborative client-therapist relationships and out of session homework, CBT can support clients in their healing journeys.  

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT):

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, or DBT was initially used as an approach to treating Borderline Personality Disorder and has recently expanded to treat anxiety, depression, and eating disorders as well. DBT is a combination of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Buddhist principles of mindfulness. In a nutshell, DBT teaches us how to live mindfully, how to tolerate distress, emotion regulation, and how to build and successfully navigate close relationships. With DBT you can learn to develop healthy and balanced approaches to managing your emotional and relational experiences. 

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): 

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT recognizes that everyone’s lives and experiences are profoundly different and therefore need to be addressed as such. ACT can be used to address concerns of anxiety, depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, PTSD, addictions, and many more challenges. The goal of ACT is to help the client recognize and accept their emotions at face value and commit to the change they envision for themselves. ACT asks the client to be mindfully engaged with their thoughts and emotions and that they identify positive behavioural changes they can apply in daily life. ACT involves continuous reflection upon the ways in which the techniques used are helping or hindering goals for the future and adjusting as needed. 

Motivational Interviewing: 

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a client centred approach that was initially created in the 1980s to treat substance abuse disorders and has since evolved to treat additional concerns such as anxiety, depression, and chronic illness management. During MI the clinician is very focused on what the client is saying and how they are saying it. The clinician’s role is to determine where the hesitancy to change lies and to then stimulate motivation within the client to slowly transition their unhelpful thinking styles from obstructive to positively adaptive. As the mindset starts to shift, the ability to make behavioural changes that align with the client's goals becomes more and more possible. 

Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS): **Needs more clarity and connections**

Internal Family Systems or IFS is a form of therapy that allows the client to identify the best version of themselves; an image that might be very distant and hard to imagine at first. IFS begins by focusing on each problematic piece of the client’s life and emphasizes that they are just that, pieces - not the whole. By parceling out these different aspects of our lives it allows us to take a step back and see these problematic parts of ourselves more clearly allowing for opportunity to create change and flourishing into our best selves.  

Solution-Focused Therapy (SBT):

SBT is an evidence-based therapy that can help you overcome challenges in a safe, efficient, and effective way. Solution-Focused Therapy is a future-focused, goal-directed therapy that focuses on solutions to the problem rather than focusing on it. SBT is rooted in positive thought processes that help the client to develop solution-based strategies and teaches them how to follow through with positive actions. The client and therapist together will frame solutions around the client’s perspective of a better life, without the problem. Together the client and therapist will work to identify times when the client was able to successfully cope or overcome a certain problem and build strategies and solutions based on these experiences.