Counseling & Psychological Treatments
Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE) are a series of 7 exercises that help the body release deeply held tension. When the body releases tension the stress response down regulates. When the stress response down regulates the thinking parts of the brain become more powerful and we are more likely to act from our best self. More then anything TRE is about experiencing more pleasure in the body. Presently, TRE is being studied by the Veterans Administration and soon will be studied at the University of Vermont. For more information go to www.traumaprevention.com.
I use TRE every day with my clients. I’ve watched my clients’ bodies change before my eyes and I am convinced that this is an important practice to heal at the deepest levels. I’m most excited about combining Asian Body Work (massage) and TRE. Being able to use massage, Chinese Medicine, and TRE to support tension relief is the highlight of my practice.
Mind-Body Psychotherapy
Mind-Body Psychotherapy is an umbrella term that refers to forms of treatment that foster mindfulness and somatic experiencing. The specific techniques I use in therapy stem from mindfulness meditation, LifeForce Yoga, Sensory-Motor Psychotherapy, and Body-Mind Psychotherapy. Research on these forms of therapy abound and strongly suggest that they can help people lower blood pressure, reduce cortisol levels, increase neural activity in the “happy” parts of the brain, reduce emotional reactivity, increase emotional tolerance, increase the ability to focus and concentrate, increase immune function, and cultivate compassion for self and others. For more information about the research on mindfulness go to http://marc.ucla.edu/workfiles/pdfs/MARC-mindfulness-research-summary.pdf. Other websites of interest are www.tarabrach.com, www.yogafordepression.com, www.soundstrue.com.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR is a researched model of psychotherapy shown to decrease and/or eliminate the symptoms of post traumatic stress. The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the US Department of Veterans Affairs, the US Department of Defense, the United Kingdom Department of Health, the Israeli National Council for Mental Health, and many other agencies/organizations have deemed EMDR an effective treatment for PTSD. EMDR has also been used to treat personality disorders, addictions, panic, anxiety, pain disorders, and many other disorders. For more information on EMDR go to www.emdria.org.
Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET)
MET is considered a researched-based, brief form of psychotherapy. It has been designed to help people move along the stages of change. The stages of change are:
precontemplation (not considering change)
contemplation (thinking about change)
determination (making the decision to change)
action (actually changing behavior)
maintenance (holding on to behavior change)
relapse (falling back into old patterns).
Research on MET shows that it can be effective in helping people change behavior relatively quickly and works for teens and adults alike.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a well researched model of psychotherapy that is designed to help people change their thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. CBT will very often include skill training in topics such as mindfulness, recognizing and changing self-defeating thinking, mood regulation, tolerating feelings, and interpersonal effectiveness. CBT has been shown to be effective with many types of disorders including PTSD, anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, personality disorders, substance abuse disorders, sleep disorders and many others. A form of CBT called Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy (DBT) has been shown to be effective with the self-harming aspects of Borderline Personality Disorder. I also employ techniques from DBT.
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Psychodynamic psychotherapy is an exploratory form of therapy that helps clients gain insight into the origins of their problems. I prefer a form of psychodynamic psychotherapy based on attachment theory. Attachment theory draws from the latest brain research which focuses on how relationships change the brain throughout the lifespan.