Why evidence based? In the busy lives we lead, therapy must be goal-directed and efficient. By learning skills, and developing problem-solving strategies you will learn to take your therapy with you into your daily activities.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) & Mindfulness
CBT is a here and now, short term, goal-oriented process. CBT is also an evidence-based therapy. This means in hundreds of studies, CBT has significantly improved people’s symptoms across a wide variety of disorders. Mindfulness is also an evidence-based practice that involves learning to tune into yourself in the here and now, with a spirit of compassion and curiosity. Mindfulness encompasses relaxation, breath-awareness, and a gentle focus of attention.
C = Cognitive
How are you thinking, and communicating in your life, right now?
The basic idea is that your thoughts affects how you feel. You can change your feelings by examining your thoughts. There are universal flaws in thinking that we will address early on in therapy. You can practice these addressing these distortions in order to begin making immediate changes in your life.
B= Behavior
What are you doing each day? Your actions play a big part in determining how you feel. We will carefully review the many aspects of your daily life in order to discover the changes you want and need to make. You will learn to implement proven behavioral strategies to support lasting improvement in your life.
T=Therapy
You may have a vision of therapy as passively laying on the couch and talking about your early childhood. You should know that CBT requires a joint effort; on your part you will explore your thoughts with writing, reading and discussion. You will implement behavioral changes, and challenge core beliefs. On my part, I will guide you, providing information and support you as you do this work.
Cognitive behavioral therapy posits that individuals really can change their lives by changing how they behave and think, rather than just focusing on how they feel. Thus,our time will be structured, and focused on creating change in your life. Our thinking is often habitual in nature, for instance, we tend to polarize issues into black and white ignoring the often valuable in-between. In therapy, we will explore these grey areas, teaching you how to do this in your daily life.
Mindfulness
By using relaxation, awareness of the breath, and a gentle focus of attention, you will learn to observe thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations in a spacious and non-judgmental way. In clinical research, these methods have been shown to assist in recovery from depression, anxiety, addictions and stress related disorders.