Types of Therapy
Person Centred Therapy
Person-centered therapy can be helpful with a wide range of mental health problems.
PCT was developed by Carl Rogers. This type of therapy supports a non-directive, empathic approach that empowers and motivates the individual to discover solutions that are right for them. The therapy is based on the belief that every human being strives for and has the capacity to reach his or her own potential. Rather than viewing people as inherently flawed, with problematic behaviours and thoughts that require treatment, person-centered therapy identifies that each person has the capacity and desire for personal growth and change and the aim of therapy is to help individuals gain the insight necessary and discover an improved level of functioning.
CBT methods
Cognitive behavioural therapy(CBT) can be helpful with a wide range of mental health problems.
CBT is based on how individuals think (cognition), feel (emotion) and act (behaviour) and how these elements interact together. Typically, thoughts determine the feelings and behaviour patterns of individuals and negative and unrealistic thoughts can cause distress and result in problems. CBT proposes that people’s thoughts and feelings are not determined by a situation, but by their interpretation of the situation based on the core beliefs they may hold. This can result in a fear of everyday situations and anxious behaviours, which prevent individuals from functioning well.
When a person suffers with psychological distress, the way in which they interpret situations is often distorted, this can have a negative influence on the actions they take. CBT aims to help people become aware of when they make negative interpretations and of behavioural patterns which reinforce the distorted thinking. Cognitive Behavioural therapy helps people to identify, evaluate and respond to unhelpful ways of thinking and behaving in order to reduce their psychological distress.
Third Wave CBT
Third Wave CBT
CBT focuses on changing negative thoughts in order to change behaviours. CBT typically explores the negative thoughts and behaviours that the individual would like to change.
Third Wave CBT Therapies, on the other hand, are interested in helping the individual feel more at ease with their thoughts and their world. The focus is less on changing negative thoughts and more on adjusting the ways individuals see and feel about what is being experienced. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness and Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT) are some of the therapies that Third Wave CBT uses to help individuals to help themselves.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is about observation without criticism; in other words learning to be compassionate with yourself. When unhappiness or stress are encountered, rather than taking it personally, mindfulness aims to help you to notice what is happening to you, without judgement. In essence, mindfulness enables you to become more aware and recognise negative thought patterns and make adjustments to the way you think to help you manage problems more effectively. Mindfulness begins the process of helping to regain control of your life.
Over time, mindfulness brings about long-term changes in mood and levels of happiness and wellbeing. Scientific studies have shown that mindfulness not only prevents depression, but that it also positively affects the brain patterns underlying day-to-day anxiety, stress, depression and irritability so that when they arise, they dissolve away again more easily.
Solution Focused Brief Therapy
Solution Focused Brief Therapy
SFBT, aims to help people experiencing difficulty find tools they can use immediately to manage symptoms and cope with challenges. SFBT is grounded in the belief that although individuals may already have the skills to create change in their lives, they often need help identifying and developing those skills. SFBT practitioners work to help individuals clarify their goals and encourage them to imagine the future they desire and then work collaboratively to develop a series of steps that will help them achieve those goals. In particular, therapists can help individuals to identify a time in life when a current issue was either less problematic or more manageable and evaluate what factors were different or what solutions may have been present in the past. (Often referred to exceptions to the problem).
This form of therapy involves first developing a vision of one’s future and then determining how personal strengths and abilities can be enhanced in order to attain the desired outcome. Therapists who practice SFBT attempt to guide people in therapy through the process of recognizing what is working for them, help them explore how best to continue practicing those strategies, and encourage them to recognise and acknowledge successful outcomes.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing
EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, is a clinical treatment developed by Dr Francine Shapiro in 1987. EMDR is effective in treating individuals who have experienced psychological difficulties arising from traumatic experiences, such as assault, road traffic collisions, war trauma, natural or man-made disasters, sexual abuse and childhood neglect. EMDR is also used to treat symptoms which are not necessarily trauma-related, such as panic disorder, phobias, performance anxiety, self-esteem issues and other anxiety-related disorders.
Psychological distress is often overwhelming and, in some cases, the brain is unable to process the information normally. The distressing memory seems to become frozen on a neurological level and recalling the event can seem like re-living the experience. The person may remember exactly what they saw, heard, smelt, tasted or felt. Such ‘flashbacks’ can be very distressing and disruptive to normal life, so much so that the person blocks off their memories of the event or even ‘zones out’ to avoid frightening or uncomfortable feelings. EMDR therapy relies on alternating left-right stimulation of the brain, through side-to-side eye movement, which appears to help the brain to process the frozen or blocked information. Besides eye movements, bilateral stimulation can also be achieved through auditory or tactile means, for example by alternating sounds in each ear or taps that you can feel.
EMDR is a complex method of psychotherapy which integrates many of the successful elements of a range of therapeutic approaches in combination with eye movements.
During EMDR treatment the client attends to emotionally disturbing thoughts or images whilst simultaneously focusing on an external stimulus. EMDR appears to facilitate the accessing of the traumatic memory network and the information is adaptively processed with new associations being made between the disturbing memory and more adaptive memories or thoughts. This leads to more complete information processing, alleviation of emotional and physiological distress and development of cognitive insights.
