Understanding Different Therapy Modalities
If you have been in therapy before or have done a little research while looking for a therapists or different ways to help yourself you may have heard of different types of therapy modalities like CBT, DBT, EMDR, etc. In this post I wanted to break some of those down for you and help you get a better idea of what modality might fit you and your needs best.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Overview: CBT theorizes that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interconnected, in other words, the way that we think affects how we feel and our actions. It would follow this sequence:
situation -> thought -> feeling -> action
get cut off in traffic -> they did it on purpose -> anger -> drive aggressively
CBT works on identifying and changing negative thought patterns and behaviors.
get cut off in traffic -> they did not see me or they have an emergency -> neutral -> continue driving as before
Benefits:
Effective for anxiety and depression.
Identifying and changing negative thought patterns like worst case scenarios, ignoring the positives, predicting the future, negative beliefs about one self, among many others can help in alleviating anxiety and depression symptoms.
Teaches practical skills to manage symptoms.
CBT relies on homework and constant practice, teaching you skills that you can use daily outside of the therapy room.
Short-term and goal oriented
Since the approach is very clear and structured, you can learn how to identify and challenge your own thoughts fairly quickly.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Overview: DBT teaches four specific sets of skills: mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. Mindfulness is about learning self awareness, understanding what you are feeling and why you are feeling that way, and staying in the present moment. Emotion regulation and distress tolerance teaches you coping skills to be able to manage and take control of your emotions including identifying and changing negative thought patterns like with CBT, practicing acceptance, and mindfulness. Lastly, interpersonal effectiveness focuses on building relationships and communication skills.
Benefits:
Helps in regaining control of your emotions and building healthy relationships.
By learning how to manage your emotions you can feel more in control of yourself, how you react, and handle situations. Also, learning about different communication styles, how to be assertive, and how to set boundaries, can help you build healthier relationships with family and friends.
Encourages mindfulness, reducing impulsivity and self-destructive behaviors.
Learning to practice mindfulness can help manage symptoms of ADHD, manage stress and anxiety, feel more relaxed and calm, and better understand yourself and your emotions.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Overview: EMDR is primarily used to treat trauma and PTSD, although it can also be helpful in treating anxiety, depression, phobias, and grief. It involves processing distressing memories while focusing on external stimuli (like guided eye movements, tactile, or auditory). Read previous blog post “All Your Questions About EMDR Answered” to better understand what is EMDR and how it works.
Benefits:
Can lead to rapid relief from trauma symptoms.
EMDR can help process trauma symptoms faster and more effectively than regular talk therapy. Also, it can help get you to the root of current symptoms like depression and anxiety.
Reduces the emotional charge associated with traumatic memories.
One of the goals of EMDR is to desensitize the memories so that when you think about them you no longer experience anger, shame, sadness, etc, which can be very relieving for people.
Narrative Therapy
Overview: For those of you that may still be apprehensive about doing EMDR to process trauma, narrative therapy is another effective alternative I love using. In narrative therapy you are the author of your own story, allowing you to process thoughts and emotions related to the trauma memory and finding empowerment by rewriting your story.
Benefits:
Encourages self-reflection and understanding of personal experiences.
Through narrative therapy you get to process the what, when, where, and who, of the difficult situation, thoughts, and emotions, that maybe you did not get to understand and process when the event was actually happening.
Helps separate the individual from their problems, fostering resilience.
Also, it helps you reflect on your growth and how you have been able to overcome the negative experience often leading to feeling relief and empowered.
These are all modalities that I specialize in and use to help all my clients overcome any challenges that pushed them to seek help. So if you resonate with any of these and think they would help you too, do not hesitate to reach out here.
