**Please note that these are exact definitions that I pull elements from, but that I do not consider myself to be fully any specific modality, or to be restricted to those specific methods or practices when working with you. Each person’s experience is its own phenomenon that needs attention and understanding in its unique and subjective way, and I have found that one style does not fit all.**

Existential Psychotherapy

(Definition taken from the American Psychological Association) “A form of psychotherapy that deals with the here and now of the client’s total situation rather than with their past or underlying dynamics. It emphasizes the exploration and development of meaning in life, focuses on emotional experiences and decision-making, and stresses a person’s responsibility for their own existence.”

Psychodynamic Therapy

(Definition taken from Psychology.org) “Psychodynamic therapy encourages clients to develop awareness of their emotions and process unresolved feelings. Building on Freud’s approach to therapy, psychodynamic therapists investigate the unconscious mind to gain self-awareness and help clients access and interpret their thoughts.

Although less widespread than psychoanalysis, both approaches trace their roots back to Freud. However, traditional psychoanalysis places therapists in an authoritative, expert role, while psychodynamic therapists position themselves as a guide.”

Person Centered Theory

(Definition taken from the American Psychological Association) “a form of psychotherapy developed by Carl Rogers in the early 1940s. According to Rogers, an orderly process of client self-discovery and actualization occurs in response to the therapist’s consistent empathic understanding of, acceptance of, and respect for the client’s frame. The therapist sets the stage for personality growth by reflecting and clarifying the ideas of the client, who is able to see themself more clearly and come into closer touch with their real self. As therapy progresses, the client resolves conflicts, reorganizes values and approaches to life, and learns how to interpret their thoughts and feelings, consequently changing behavior that they consider problematic… Also called client-centered psychotherapy; person-centered therapy; Rogerian therapy.”

Internal Family Systems

(Definition taken from the IFS institute) “IFS is a transformative tool that conceives of every human being as a system of protective and wounded inner parts led by a core Self. We believe the mind is naturally multiple and that is a good thing. Just like members of a family, inner parts are forced from their valuable states into extreme roles within us. Self is in everyone. It can’t be damaged. It knows how to heal.

IFS is frequently used as an evidence-based psychotherapy, helping people heal by accessing and healing their protective and wounded inner parts. IFS creates inner and outer connectedness by helping people first access their Self and, from that core, come to understand and heal their parts.

But IFS is much more than a non-pathologizing evidence-based psychotherapy to be used in a clinical setting. It is also a way of understanding personal and intimate relationships and stepping into life with the 8 Cs: confidence, calm, compassion, courage, creativity, clarity, curiosity, and connectedness.”

Neurobiology in Psychotherapy

(Please note, this is not a specific modality, but a way I am informed in my treatment with mental health) Instead of providing a definition, I would recommend taking a look at this page:

http://stacarecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/The-Care-Center-Neurobiology-of-Trauma-Nov-2016.pdf

Another resource for better understanding how trauma affects the body is The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk. You can find this online in physical and digital/audio formats, or most likely from your local bookstore.

Brainspotting*

(Definition taken from brainspotting.com) “Brainspotting is a powerful, focused treatment method that works by identifying, processing and releasing core neurophysiological sources of emotional/body pain, trauma, dissociation and a variety of other challenging symptoms. Brainspotting is a simultaneous form of diagnosis and treatment, enhanced with Biolateral sound, which is deep, direct, and powerful yet focused and containing.

Brainspotting works with the deep brain and the body through its direct access to the autonomic and limbic systems within the body’s central nervous system. Brainspotting is accordingly a physiological tool/treatment which has profound psychological, emotional, and physical consequences.”

*If you are curious what happens during a brainspotting session, please feel free to contact me, or utilize online tools such as Youtube to view how a session is processed.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

(Definition taken from the American Psychological Association) “A flexible, stage-based therapy that combines principles of behavior therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, and mindfulness. It establishes a “dialectic” between helping individuals to accept the reality of their lives and their own behaviors on the one hand and helping them learn to change their lives, including dysfunctional behaviors, on the other. Its underlying emphasis is on helping individuals learn both to regulate and to tolerate their emotions.”