Treatment Approach
Our treatment approach integrates the most cutting-edge evidence-based therapeutic modalities including Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) including Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), creating a comprehensive framework to draw from to meet your unique needs. Drawing from CBT, we engage our clients in cognitive restructuring, exposures, and behavior activation to reshape thought patterns and embrace valued activities. ACT fosters psychological flexibility through cognitive defusion, acceptance, values clarification, and committed action. We use DBT to enrich our clients' skill sets with mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. Individually tailored by our skilled therapists, this approach empowers you to gain the skills to achieve your specific therapeutic goals.
Sessions begin with a thorough intake evaluation, where we get to know you as a person first, and then assess your symptoms, discuss diagnoses, generate therapy goals, and collaborate on a uniquely tailored treatment plan.
Here is some more information on the treatment modalities mentioned above:
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a goal-oriented therapeutic approach that explores the intricate connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Through collaborative sessions, clients work with therapists to identify and challenge negative thought patterns, fostering healthier perspectives and emotional responses. By integrating cognitive restructuring and behavior activation, CBT equips individuals with practical tools to navigate challenges, manage stress, and achieve lasting positive change.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), clients are tought specific skills to help them develop a healthier relationship with their thoughts (through cognitive defusion) and emotions (through acceptance), thereby developing psychological flexibility, which allows them to regain control of their life, instead of being controlled by their thoughts and emotions. ACT empowers individuals to align their actions (through committed action) with their core values, and re-create a meaningful life, void of inner turmoil.
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is a specialized technique within CBT tailored to treat Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This approach involves slowly and gradually facing feared situations or thoughts (exposure) without engaging in the compulsive behaviors that typically provide temporary relief (response prevention). Over time, repeated exposures lead to reduced anxiety and gradual habituation, allowing individuals to regain control over their lives and disrupt the cycle of OCD. We are very careful to go at our clients’ pace, so that they don’t feel overwhelmed at any point in the treatment. In fact, the therapist just provides the general framework, and the client is the one who dictates the therapy pace.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) emphasizes the dialectic of acceptance and change. This framework is especially helpful for clients who don’t feel understood or validated by their environment and can use some unconditional validation, before thinking about change. DBT also emphasizes emotion regulation and distress tolerance skills which can benefit clients who experience their emotions very strongly. Interpersonal effectiveness skills are another component of DBT, which helps people maintain stability in their relationships while advocating for their needs in a healthy way at the same time. By cultivating these skills, clients learn to manage intense emotions, improve relationships, and cope effectively with life's challenges.
Inference-based Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (I-CBT)
Inference-based Cognitive-Behavior Therapy is a treatment primarily used for individuals with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). It is based on the idea that obsessions in OCD are abnormal doubts arising from a dysfunctional reasoning process. This process is characterized by distrust of the senses and an over-reliance on imagination, leading to persistent obsessional doubts that are not resolved by compulsions. I-CBT differs from standard CBT approaches to OCD by focusing on the reasoning behind obsessions (from a meta-cognitive perspective) rather than directly confronting and restructuring thoughts. It aims to bring resolution to these doubts by teaching clients to trust their inner and outer senses, addressing the entire reasoning process underlying obsessional doubts.
