Therapy Approaches

Common symptoms of depression may include persistent sad, anxious, or empty mood. A feeling that it is more difficult to experience enjoyment in the activities of everyday life that one use to take pleasure in is another common symptom of depression. Poor or disrupted sleep patterns may be prevalent. For some, individuals who are depressed may have thinking patterns which may fuel their low mood. Relationships may be more challenging due to feelings of dissatisfaction with others. Low self-esteem, having a negative belief about oneself, may also be a persistent and uncomfortable common symptom of depression. Cognitive and insight-oriented therapy approaches are aimed to help individuals realize that they can influence their mood by identifying and changing their thoughts and beliefs. Cognitive therapy focuses on discovering and challenging unhelpful assumptions and core beliefs and developing helpful and balanced thoughts. In addition, therapy may address ways to address unhelpful behavior patterns known to perpetuate depression.

Feeling tense and worried at certain times when under pressure is a normal human response. However, for some people, worry and anxious distress may significantly interfere with daily life. Insight oriented therapy along with Implementing cognitive behavioral strategies is a recommended psychological treatment for anxiety. This usually includes relaxation to reduce chronic tensions; techniques for dealing with unhelpful beliefs about worry; learning to challenge and let go of worries; learning more helpful coping and problem-solving strategies, and learning to be less focused on uncertainty and more present-focused.

Perfectionism involves putting pressure on ourselves to meet high standards which then influence the way we think about ourselves. There is a big difference between the healthy and helpful pursuit of excellence and the unhealthy and unhelpful striving for perfection. The relentless striving for extremely high standards, along with judging our self-worth based largely on our ability to strive for and achieve such unrelenting standards contributes to perfectionism. It is generally a good idea to have high standards because goals help us achieve things in life. But, when these goals are either unachievable or only achievable at great cost, it makes it very difficult to feel good about ourselves. This is when perfectionism can be problematic. Chronic feelings of dissatisfaction may contribute to low mood, and anxious distress. Therapy aimed to help our understanding of perfectionism, challenging perfectionistic thinking, and adjusting unhelpful rules and assumptions are essential in order to attain more balance and overall contentment.

Group options available for Teens and adults

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a cognitive behavioral therapy approach which is aimed to address symptoms of anxiety, depression, and impulsive reactivity. When an individual is coping with significant personal challenges, often symptoms become more pronounced as one may lack effective skills to navigate emotions and subsequent behaviors successfully. Often problem-solving and interpersonal challenges become even more problematic at a time when they are greatly needed as stressors increase one’s vulnerability to depression and anxiety. Emotional dysregulation may decrease one’s motivation to follow through with other important responsibilities. At times, impulsive reactivity may also distract them from the desired outcomes in their therapies and/or overall health maintenance goals.

DBT skills training teaches four critically important skills that can both reduce the size of emotional distress and help one maintain balance in their lives when emotions become overwhelming. The skills are taught either in individual therapy and /or group therapy.

The first module is Mindfulness, helping one to learn how to slow down, pay attention to the present moment, observe feelings and impulsive desired reactions, challenge initial interpretations, so that there is potentially less impulsive reactivity, and more intentional thought to ones responses. Mindfulness training also encourages one to focus less on painful experiences from the past or frightening possibilities in the future.

The second module’s focus is on Emotional Regulation Skills; to help one recognize more clearly what they are feeling without impulsively reacting negatively by a distressing emotion. The overarching goal is to learn to modulate feelings without behaving in reactive or destructive ways, as well as to learn to purposefully and habitually infuse more joy and positivity to ones daily structure. There is a large emphasis on learning specific self-care strategies, and why self-care is vitally connected to ones overall mood and well being.

The third module addresses Interpersonal Skills, teaching clients how to express needs more effectively to enhance communication and compliance and desired outcomes, and decrease misunderstandings and frustrations.

The last module is on Distress Tolerance. These lessons focus on strategies to manage intense emotional distress without making things worse. Incorporating skills to cope in crisis is essential to prevent problems from multiplying.