Solution-Focused Therapy is usually brief therapy. It is a present and future-focused, goal-directed, and focuses on solutions, rather than on the problems that brought client's to seek therapy. It capitalizes on the clients life experiences and abilities to help them move forward towards their goals and solutions in their life.
Cognitive Therapy examines thinking patterns of the person. I.e. that our thoughts affect how we feel. (E.g. negative self talk). This therapy can help one shift thinking patterns.
Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy examines thinking and behaviour patterns of the person.
The idea behind this therapeutic modality is that our thoughts affect how we feel and, in turn, how we behave. This means that negative thinking leads to negative emotions, such as anxiety and sadness. These states of mind then impact how we behave (eg. isolating, procrastinating, self-medicating, etc.) and support further negative thoughts about ourselves, in a vicious cycle.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy techniques teach us how to identify and challenge thoughts leading to negative emotions and unhelpful behaviours.
It also incorporates strategies to reduce overall stress and anxiety.
When not used as a standalone technique, CBT strategies complement other effective therapeutic modalities and are an essential part of successful counselling.
CBT is "problem focused" in that it explores how people contribute to their problems by their thinking and behaviour patters. It is also action oriented, in that the therapist tries to assist the client in selecting specific strategies, and to learn specific skills to help address those problems in a timely manner.
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) is based on the principle that there is a relationship between the way people communicate and interact with others and their mental health.
This approach has been useful in the treatment of depression. Depression affects people's relationships and these relationships further affect our mood.
Depth Psychology explores the “why questions” and the past origins of our life “patterns."
Depth psychology states that psyche is a process that is partly conscious and partly unconscious and partly semi-conscious.
In practice, depth psychology seeks to explore underlying motives in our lives, with the belief that the uncovering of these motives is intrinsically healing.
It refers to approaches to therapy that are open to the exploration of the subtle, unconscious, and transpersonal aspects of human experience. A depth approach may include the study and exploration of dreams, complexes, and archetypes.
Jungian is one type of depth psychology.
The unconscious contains repressed experiences and other personal-level issues and "transpersonal" (e.g. collective, non-I, archetypal) forces in its depths.
One can explore their light and shadow, archetypes, dreams, personal myths, active imagination and many other aspects of ones' psyche.
Humanistic Approaches emphasize individuals' inherent drive towards self-actualization, the process of realizing and expressing one's own capabilities and creativity.
It adopts a holistic approach to human existence and encourages viewing ourselves as a "whole person" greater than the sum of our parts.
It encourages self exploration, developing awareness of ones positive human potential, creativity, and free will. It believes that all people are inherently good.
Humanistic psychology often also acknowledges spiritual aspiration as an integral part of the human psyche.
Existential Therapy is a philosophical method of therapy, looking at the meaning of ones existence.
Existential therapy starts with the belief that although humans are essentially alone in the world, they long to be connected to others.
People want to have meaning in one another's lives, but ultimately they must come to realize that they cannot control many things that happen, like death, such that we are ultimately alone etc. This may result in anxiety.
Existentialism suggests that it is possible for people to face the anxieties of life head-on and embrace the human condition of aloneness, to revel in the freedom to choose and take full responsibility for their choices.
There are many types of hypnosis and many kinds of trance. Hypnotherapy is the use of hypnosis in therapy by a licenced health professional. It can be used on its own or it can be an excellent adjunct to other forms of therapy.
It is not like what one sees in the movies. It is a good way of contacting your deeper self and accessing you inner resources. Most people are aware of what is happening.
Therapeutic hypnotherapy allows one to focus more inside oneself and activate the massive resources of the unconscious mind to achieve more of their goals, and consequently, actually achieve more (not less) control of their personal comfort, health, and well-being.
The NCSCH has a great description here.
Erickson is noted for his approach to the unconscious mind as creative and solution-generating. He is also noted for influencing brief therapy, strategic family therapy, family systems therapy, solution focused brief therapy, and neuro-linguistic programming.
Clearly, there are a great many kinds of trance. Many people are familiar with the idea of a "deep" trance, and earlier in his career Erickson was a pioneer in researching the unique and remarkable phenomena that are associated with that state, spending many hours at a time with individual test subjects, deepening the trance.
Erickson maintained that it was not possible consciously to instruct the unconscious mind, and that authoritarian suggestions were likely to be met with resistance. The unconscious mind responds to openings, opportunities, metaphors, symbols, and contradictions.
Effective hypnotic suggestion, then, should be "artfully vague," leaving space for the subject to fill in the gaps with their own unconscious understandings - even if they do not consciously grasp what is happening. The skilled hypnotherapist constructs these gaps of meaning in a way most suited to the individual subject - in a way which is most likely to produce the desired change.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapy that has been widely used and researched for the treatment of psychological trauma, and other similar struggles, such as a specific phobia.
Detailed information on research outcomes can be found in several national and international websites related to the different EMDR Associations as well as the EMDR Institute.
This therapy modality has demonstrated that PTSD as well as other types of emotional distress, stemming from disturbing life experiences or phobias, can be overcome in a much shorter period of time than what it was once believed.
EMDR has been recognized as an effective form of treatment for trauma by organizations, such as the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization.
Alternatively, EMDR can also be used to enhance performance and build more inner strength
Gestalt Therapy is an active or experiential therapy where people can explore different parts of themselves.
It focuses upon the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist–client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating adjustments people make as a result of their overall situation.
It focuses on more fully and creatively living ones life and to become free from the blocks and unfinished business that may diminish satisfaction, fulfillment, and growth, and to encourage discouvery and to experiment with new ways of being.
Dr. Shewchuk is bi-cultural and knows from experience how difficult is can be when others “don’t understand” or provide suggestions which are not culturally appropriate. Dr. Shewchuk values diversity in all forms.
Dr. Shewchuk will sometimes recommend neurofeedback, other treatments or assessments to further your progress or help acheive your goals.
While Registered Psychologists in BC may not prescribe medication, Dr. Shewchuk is familiar with medications prescribed to many of her patients, and the side effects which sometimes seem psychological in presentation. She may have suggestions for you to discuss with your psychiatrist, neurologist, or other doctors to modify your dosages, with your consent of course.
Dr. Daria Shewchuk has been in the field for over 35 years and has collected a large set of tools. Below are some other methods that you may encounter at Shewchuk-Dann & Associates:
This is a client-centered counseling style for eliciting behaviour change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence; both wanting to make the change and yet still seeing reasons for maintaining old behaviours.
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based counselling approach particularly suited for helping people move beyond such ambivalence and into action. A drastic departure from shame-based approaches to instil morality and motivation, MI embraces a research-supported belief that people’s internal motivation and wisdom regarding healthy change already exists and simply needs a compassionate, directional approach.
Similarly, rather than a punishing or punitive approach, MI emphasizes a collaborative spirit, a partnership in which our counselor recognizes that every person is ultimately responsible for their autonomous direction.
In addition to the above “spirit” that weaves through MI, there is a fundamental emphasis on conversations about change. We’ve all experienced conversations about change that didn’t go as planned – “making” someone change by putting enough knowledge, fear, etc into them only to find our efforts have backfired.
The skillful MI counsellor avoids confrontation, and instead offers directional assistance through the discrepancies between values and present behaviours, goals and present reality.
The conversation becomes focused on the person’s own narratives about changeing possibilities rooted in their own values, interests, beliefs, and attitudes.
In summary, MI has been defined as “a collaborative conversation style for strengthening a person’s own motivation and commitment to change."
MI recognizes and accepts the fact that clients who need to make changes in their lives approach counseling at different levels of readiness to change their behaviour.
This approach is often combined with the “stages of change” approach.
Stages of Change or the transtheoretical model of behavior change assesses an individual's readiness to act on a new healthier behavior, and provides strategies, or processes of change to guide the individual through the stages of change to Action and Maintenance.
