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1999 Psychology Licensure: #2326, Clinical Psychology, State of Colorado

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1997 Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, Multicultural and Community Clinical Proficiency, California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles (now Alliant International University)

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1995 M.A., Clinical Psychology, Multicultural and Community Clinical Proficiency California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles (now Alliant International University)

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1992 M.S.W., Masters of Social Work, Aging and Families Proficiency, California State University, Long Beach

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1989 B.A., Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

9/97-8/98 Neuropsychology Post-Doctoral Fellow, UCLA School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90024 Neurocognitive evaluations of adult and adolescent outpatients, H. Rebecca Rausch, Ph.D., Diplomate in Clinical Neuropsychology, ABPP

7/97-8/98 Health Psychology Post-Doctoral Fellow, UCLA School of Dentistry, Orofacial Pain Clinic, Box 951668, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1668

Psychological screenings, behavioral medicine evaluations, consultation and liaison, and brief treatment of adults with chronic head and/or neck pain using behavioral medicine interventions (e.g., biofeedback, relaxation and coping skills training), Charles P. McCreary, Ph.D., Diplomate in Health Psychology, ABPP

7/97-8/98 Psychological Assistant to Dr. Ziva Nagar, PSB25523, 16255 Ventura Blvd. Suite #806 Encino, CA 91436

Psychological and pain assessment, and psychotherapy with adults, Ziva Nagar, Ph.D.

8/96-7/97 Clinical Psychology Intern, Kaiser Permanente, Department of Psychiatry, 18040 Sherman Way, Reseda, CA 91335 (& Woodland Hills location)

Individual, group, couples, and family therapy of adults, adolescents, and seniors; psychological and neuropsychological evaluations of adults and adolescents, Douglas Young, Ph.D. & Yukio Okano, Ph.D.

8/95-6/96 Clinical Psychology Intern California State University, Dominguez Hills, Psychological Counseling Center, 1000 E. Victoria Street, Carson, CA 90747

Individual, couples, and group therapy and workshops with adults, Connie White, Ph.D.

9/94-7/95 Clinical Psychology Practicum Intern, Los Angeles County Skid Row Mental Health, 515 E. 6^th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90021

Psychosocial screenings, case management, community referral, and therapy with chronic, mentally ill adults, Daniel Sherman, Ph.D.

9/91-6/92 Social Work Intern, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Nursing Home Care Unit, 5901 East 7^th Street, Long Beach, CA 90840 

Individual and group therapy, psychosocial evaluations, case management and discharge planning, Ennette Murachver, L.C.S.W.

9/90-6/91 Social Work Intern, Metropolitan State Hospital, Norwalk, CA 

Individual and group therapy with inpatient, severe & persistently mentally ill adults, Diana Hanson, L.C.S.W.

ADDITIONAL CLINICAL TRAINING

5/94-6/97 Behavioral Medicine/EMG Biofeedback Therapist, 4849 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91413

EMG biofeedback and cognitive and behavioral treatment of adult women with bladder and/or pelvic pain disorders, Shari Thomas, M.D. & Charles McCreary, Ph.D.

2011 – 2013 Former Crimson Circle Certified SES course teacher, CO 

2009 – 2011 Attended and served on Board of Directors, Boulder Center for Spiritual Living, Boulder, CO

2008 Attended workshops in Conscious Creation with Boni Lonnsburry, author The Map

3/2008 Weekend seminar with Carolyn Eberle re. Barbara Brennan’s Hands of Light Healing Touch workshop, Boulder, CO

7/2007 Renewal Weekend Retreat with Deepak Chopra, Westminster, CO

6/2007, 6/2008 I Can Do It, Hay House, Conference, Las Vegas NV

8/2003, 2005, 2007 Buddhist Mindfulness Retreats with Thich Nhat Hahn, Estes Park, CO

2000 – pres Numerous in-person spiritual, new age, new energy & metaphysical seminars, lectures, gatherings, yoga, exercise Qigong, and group meditation classes as well as various seminars via books, audio presentations, online lectures and podcasts.

Just as each person is unique, so is each life journey. No single theory, philosophy, or approach feels like “the one right way”. I value the richness found in many different styles of therapy. While my style is uniquely my own—blending life experience, intuition, and professional training—I most closely align with Transpersonal Therapy, Integrative (A.K.A. Eclectic or Holistic) Therapy, Jungian Therapy, and Positive Psychology. Therefore, my eclectic and flexible approach allows me to tailor the therapeutic process to each client’s specific needs, goals, and life path.

The main therapy styles I draw from include:

• Eclectic/Integrative/Holistic Therapy: A flexible, personalized approach combining methods tailored to your needs.
• Transpersonal Therapy: Emphasizes spiritual exploration, meaning-making, and multidimensional healing.
• Positive Psychology: Focuses on strengths, joy, creativity, and expanding inner resources.
• Jungian Therapy: Explores unconscious patterns, dreams, and archetypes to support self-integration.
• Mindfulness-Based Approaches: Cultivating awareness, emotional regulation, and present-moment clarity.
• Somatic Therapy: Connecting body and mind through awareness, grounding, and nervous system regulation.
• EMDR & Energy Psychology (EFT): Transforming trauma and stuck energy patterns.
• Existential & Humanistic Therapies: Embracing freedom, authenticity, and inner truth.
• Narrative & Strength-Based Therapy: Rewriting life stories and highlighting resilience.Whatever the method, I believe the foundation of effective therapy lies in genuine connection, clear communication, and mutual trust. Research consistently shows the quality of the therapist-client relationship – or “goodness of fit” – is the most important factor for meaningful growth and progress. 

Below are brief summaries of various therapy styles. This is not a comprehensive list—there are over 400 identified styles of therapy—but it includes those I most frequently reference. I wrote these summaries based on articles found on the Psychology Today website. Each article was reviewed by Psychology Today staff and is available under their “Types of Therapy” section. If you’d like to read the full articles.

Transpersonal Therapy

Unlike some other forms of psychotherapy which concentrate on improving mental health alone, transpersonal therapy addresses mental, physical, social, emotional, creative, and intellectual needs, with an emphasis on the role of a healthy spirit in healing. The creators of this method named it transpersonal therapy because of its focus on a broader conception of how a person achieves meaning, purpose and happiness, as “reaching beyond humanistic concerns.” It integrates spiritual traditions and rituals into modern psychology.

Transpersonal therapists aim to aid clients in transcending current views of themselves and open their minds to new ways of approaching the challenges in their lives. One of the goals of the treatment is to increase a client’s sense of empowerment.

With guidance, clients find, build, and expand on their inner strengths and resources to create a more balanced life and healthier states of mind. Transpersonal therapy places an emphasis on honesty, open-mindedness, and self-awareness on the part of the therapist as well as the client. It also places an emphasis on positive influences and role models rather than concentrating only on negative experiences.

This therapy form originally included a greater focus on altered states of consciousness, from which a client can see themselves and their lives from a different perspective. These states were achieved, in part, through the use of psychedelics. Many practitioners, moved on to other means of achieving mental transcendence, such as meditation and breath work. Practitioners use a variety of approaches, some taken from Eastern traditions and others from Western psychology, to help clients explore their spiritual selves and/or awareness of other states of consciousness and create meaning in their life.

Eclectic/Integrative/Holistic Therapy

Eclectic therapy also known as Integrative or Holistic therapy is a form of psychotherapy that adapts to the unique needs of each client, depending on the problem, the treatment goals, and the client’s expectations and motivations. An eclectic therapist draws from a variety of disciplines and may use a range of proven methods to determine the best combination of therapeutic tools to help a client. In effect, an eclectic therapist customizes the therapeutic process for each individual by using whatever form of treatment, or combination of treatments, has been shown to be most effective for a particular problem and for that particular person.

Like Eclectic therapy, Integrative therapy is an individualized, holistic approach to therapy that combines ideas and techniques from different therapeutic schools of thought, depending of the unique needs of a given client. As such, it is sometimes seen more as a movement within the practice of psychotherapy than a form of therapy in and of itself. In practice, by merging elements of different psychological theories or modifying standard treatments, integrative therapists can often offer a flexible and inclusive approach to treatment.

Integrative therapy is sometimes referred to as holistic therapy because it aspires to consider an individual’s mental, physical, and emotional health in a unified way. Therapists often consider a client’s personality traits, preferences, needs, spiritual beliefs, openness, and motivation level. These factors, along with the client’s health and age, help the therapist decide (along with the client) on a treatment approach with the highest likelihood of success. Ideally, therapist and client work together to understand the sources of the client’s anxiety, unhappiness, physical discomfort, or unhealthy behavior patterns. A strong therapeutic alliance is core to the success of integrative therapy. Clients who seek to have a voice in the direction of their therapy, and who view the therapeutic relationship as a partnership may be especially receptive to an integrative approach.

Jungian Therapy

Rooted in the work of Carl Jung, Jungian therapy is a depth-oriented approach that honors the unconscious as a rich source of insight, healing, and transformation. Rather than focusing only on symptoms, this modality invites clients into a deeper dialogue with the Self—the wise, expansive essence within them. Through exploring dreams, symbols, archetypes, and inner imagery, Jungian therapy supports clients in uncovering their personal mythology and aligning with their soul’s unfolding path.

This approach resonates with those drawn to meaning-making, inner exploration, and spiritual awakening. It sees every challenge as an invitation to integrate previously hidden aspects of the psyche, leading to greater wholeness and authenticity. At its heart, Jungian therapy honors one’s innate wisdom and encourages a conscious relationship with all parts of oneself—both human and divine.

Positive Psychology

Positive psychology emphasizes traits, thought patterns, behaviors and experiences that are forward-looking and can help improve the quality of a client’s day-to-day life. It is sometimes referred to as the science of happiness.  Examples include optimism, spirituality, hopefulness, gratitude, happiness, creativity, perseverance, justice, meaning and purpose, and the practice of free will. Treatment involves exploration of one’s strengths rather than one’s weaknesses. The goal is not to replace forms of therapy that center on negative experiences, but to expand and give more balance to the therapeutic process. While acknowledging the problems of the world as well as those of the individual, positive psychologists believe one can still lead a productive, meaningful, and satisfying life. The goal is to minimize negativity in one’s thinking and behavior and to develop a more optimistic and open attitude that will enhance rather than disrupt one’s social, professional and spiritual life.

To a large degree, the positive psychology movement began in the 1950’s and 60’s with the introduction of a humanistic approach to therapy. Psychologists began to realize that looking only at the damage already done to adults was not helping to prevent mental health problems. Researchers and practitioners started looking more closely at human strengths and virtues, not just weaknesses. One of it’s founders, Seligman, proposed that successful psychotherapy would include clients examining and learning to use their strengths, not just talking about their troubles and weaknesses. He suggested that exercises in happiness can be used to make lasting and dramatic differences. The science of positive psychology can be incorporated into all levels of coaching, counseling, and psychotherapy.

Adlerian Therapy

Adlerian therapy focuses on the development of individual personality while understanding and accepting the interconnectedness of all humans. Stages of therapy include engagement to forge a collaborative partnership. Assessment exploring the client’s past and present challenges, including topics like birth order, childhood memories, family dynamics, past experiences and various patterns of thought. Insight helps the client see themselves and their circumstances differently. The therapist may offer their own interpretations about how the client’s past may inform their present. Reorientation involves change. The focus is on reframing the attitudes, beliefs, and lifestyle choices that block success, so that patients are more effective at reaching their desired goals.

Animal-Assisted Therapy

Animal-Assisted therapy is rooted in the bond that can develop between people and animals. The therapy can take many forms, based on the client, the horse or horses, and the desired goals. Animal-Assisted therapy is used to enhance and compliment the benefits of other types of therapies.

Coaching

Psychological Coaching is a process that aims to help clients achieve concrete goals, identify and overcome obstacles to well-being and performance, and build skills that may be interfering with their successes. Coaching concentrates on individual strengths and abilities and how they might be used in new and different ways to enhance performance, feel better about one’s self, ensure smooth life transitions, strengthen relationships, deal with challenges, achieve goals, become more successful, or improve the overall quality of one’s personal and/or professional life.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy is based on the idea that the way clients think and feel affects the way they behave and vice versa. The goal of treatment is to help clients identify, challenge and change thought patterns, behaviors, physical or biological factors, and environmental factors, to bring about positive changes in mental, physical, emotional, personal and/or spiritual well-being. Cognitive theories conclude that the way people perceive a situation determines their reaction more than the actual reality of the situation does. Changing the way clients think and see the world can change their responses to circumstances.

Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT)

Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) is a therapeutic approach that aims to help those who struggle with shame and self-criticism, often resulting from early experiences of abuse or neglect. Compassion focused therapy teaches clients to cultivate the skills of self-compassion to help regulate mood and create feelings of safety, self-acceptance and comfort. The technique is similar to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in that it also instructs clients about the science behind the mind-body connection and how to practice mind and body awareness. CFT can be beneficial to shift habits of persistent shame, self-criticism, and an inability to view one’s self and one’s behaviors kindly and compassionately. One goal of this approach is to correct imbalances of the emotion regulation system by helping clients learn better self-soothing and/or nervous system down-regulating techniques to counteract and gradually lessen stimulation of the threat system. CFT overlaps with neuroscience, Buddhist ideas, and various therapies developed to address trauma. Generally the goal of CFT is to replace negative feelings towards oneself with compassion and understanding so clients can learn to soothe themselves, accept soothing from others, and generate feelings of contentment and safety.

Culturally Sensitive Therapy

Culturally sensitive therapy is and approach that emphasizes the therapist’s understanding of a client’s background and belief system as it relates to their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or other important elements that make up someone’s culture and/or identity in order to provide the most effective treatment for a particular client.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

While I completed an intensive, formal, 2 year training, with the Behavior Tech Institute, and worked with several clients in my private practice during those training years, I am not currently offering DBT services, nor am I currently affiliated with groups or programs providing those services. I value and am familiar with the basic skills and philosophy of this therapy.

Dialectical behavior therapy was designed to provide skills for managing intense emotions (emotional dysregulation) and negotiating social relationships. The dialectic in dialectical behavior therapy is an acknowledgment that real life is complex, and health is not a static thing, and existence involves balancing seeming opposing forces while investigating the power of emotions. DBT acknowledges the need for change in the context of acceptance of situations and recognizes the constant flux of feelings- many of them contradictory-without having to get caught up in them. Therapist-teachers help clients understand and accept that though is an inherently messy process.

Existential Therapy

Existential therapy focuses on free will, self-determination, and the search for meaning – often centering on the individual rather than on their symptoms. The approach emphasizes a person’s capacity to make rational choices and to develop to their maximum potential. The approach stresses that all people have the capacity for self-awareness, each person has a unique identity that can be known only through relationship with others, people must continually re-create themselves because life’s meaning constantly changes, and anxiety is part of the human condition. Major themes focus on the concepts of responsibility and freedom. Therapists help clients find meaning in the face of anxiety by choosing to think and act responsibly and by confronting negative internal thoughts rather than focusing on external forces like societal pressures or luck. Fostering creativity, love, authenticity, and free will are common avenues that help you move toward transformation.

Experiential Therapy

Examples of experiential therapy include animal-assisted therapy, art therapy, music therapy and wilderness therapy. The object of experiential therapy is to identify emotions while focused on an activity. Then, with the support of the therapist, the client can explore these emotions along with ways to cope with those emotions. This type of therapy is client centered, meaning the clients preferences for interventions is solicited. Examples of interventions could include: re-enacting a previously distressing event in the safe space of a therapy activity so the client can vent, let go of the emotion and/or practice more adaptive responses. Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), one type of experiential therapy, draws on body-focused approaches and attachment theory.  While humans are resilient, many people who have undergone trauma are unable to access skills to recover. This form of therapy aims to help clients overcome trauma, loss, emotional challenges, nourish positive emotional experiences, bolster personal resilience and create changes in the mind-body and brain (neuroplasticity).

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is a psychotherapy technique designed to relieve the distress associated with disturbing memories. Short for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, it involves recalling a specific troublesome experience while following a side-to-side visual stimulus or one of several other forms of bilateral stimulation, such as holding a set of battery operated buzzers called a theratapper. The bilateral stimulation serves to calm the nervous system, while clients focus on the emotional and somatic feelings they experience, while allowing the gradual integration of previously unintegrated present day knowledge and wisdom. As the client allows the fight/flight/freeze response previously experienced at the time of the troublesome event to be felt again, in the absence of current danger or negative consequences, the emotional charge of the memory begins to become desensitized so that the experience can be safely discussed, digested, and stripped of the power to trigger anxiety and avoidance. Whether clients follow a side-to-side stimulus with their eyes or use another bilateral stimulus method such as bilateral tapping or bilateral buzzers, clients and therapists have noticed that at times during the desensitization process, clients notice spontaneous back and forth movements of their eyes, whether open or closed, much like eye movements that occur during REM sleep.

While evidence is not clear that EMDR is superior to classic forms of exposure therapy, studies have shown that it is as effective as the previous gold standard of exposure therapy, and have suggested that some clients reported feeling qualitatively more hopeful following EMDR sessions. Therapists of this approach receive training that includes several different ways to break the exposure down into manageable targets as well as ways to teach clients preparatory calming and grounding techniques, in order to avoid re-traumatization. This allows clients to recall traumatic memories in a safe environment created by a therapist. Repeated exposure to the aversive event(s) or issue in a safe context diminishes fear and avoidance of the memory and any situation that might trigger it.

EMDR was initially developed as an individual treatment for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but it has since been applied in the treatment of many other conditions. For example, it is used by some therapists to treat anxiety disorders, including panic and phobias, depression, dissociative disorders, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and some personality disorders.

To be a good candidate for EMDR therapy, clients must be able to tolerate some emotional discomfort and not shut down emotionally or become too easily overwhelmed by feelings. clients must be able to call on cognitive and emotional resources to reprocess their memories successfully.

Expect a course of treatment that consists of six to twelve sessions, typically delivered one or two times a week, for a single incident trauma, with a client who has had good stabilizing life factors. Some people may need fewer, while some people may need additional sessions, depending on the number and intensity of traumatic events. Studies suggest that a single distressing memory can be processed within five to six sessions, with most clients reporting that they notice significant lasting decreased reactivity after three sessions. Clients with significant childhood trauma or neglect, clients who witnessed or experienced extreme traumas such as those involving violence, and/or clients who are empathic and feel their feelings very deeply, strongly and for longer periods of time, can work with their EMDR therapist on accessing and using additional mindfulness, calming, and emotion regulating tools and techniques.

After taking the client’s history, explaining the procedure, and completing any necessary preparation, the therapist helps the client decide which past experiences will be the subject of treatment. The therapist and client then activate a disturbing memory by asking the client to visualize or experience thoughts, feelings, or body sensations related to the event. Once a memory is activated, the therapist asks the client to assess the level of negative feelings and thoughts regarding the event as well as positive beliefs about oneself the client wishes to bolster. With the aid of background bilateral stimulation, the therapist directs the client to notice physical, emotional, visual, felt-sense and other experiences, while using relaxing and grounding techniques, as needed, and repeatedly noticing any changes in physical sensations.

Clients can expect to experience some level of emotional and physical discomfort while recalling distressing memories. Throughout the procedure, as new feelings and thoughts emerge and are discussed, the therapist samples the level and nature of emotional and cognitive distress and any somatic distress. Sessions end when the patient feels manageably calm, with instructions on how to handle disturbing thoughts and feelings between sessions. Subsequent sessions always begin with an assessment of memories that may have emerged since the previous treatment.

EMDR is based on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model and is said to directly target the way a distressing memory is stored in the brain. The assumption is that past disturbing experiences continue to cause distress because they were not adequately processed, and when such memories are triggered in the present, they contain all the same emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations as the initial experience.

Years of research conducted on the visual system have persuaded neuroscientist Andrew Huberman of Stanford University that the lateral movement of the eyes is explanatory. Such movement mimics optic flow, he says, that calms down the fear system, temporarily diminishing the sense of threat that traumatic memories hold.

The eyes are a part of the central nervous system, the only part outside the cranium. In a study reported in Current Biology, he found that the eyes cue the brain to be alert or relaxed—that is, they adjust the inner state.

In a brain imaging study reported in the Journal of Neuroscience, a team of Dutch researchers found that lateral eye movements suppress the amygdala, one of the primary threat detection centers in the brain. The eye movements activate a dorsal frontoparietal network and transiently deactivate the amygdala. The downregulation of amygdala activity engages a ventromedial prefrontal pathway known to be involved in the cognitive regulation of emotion. Twenty-four hours later, those who underwent reactivation of aversive memories with lateral eye movements had less fear of recalling such memories.

The lateral eye movements of EMDR are akin to those that occur naturally during walking when the eye senses movement via the lateral streaming of visual imagery, so-called optic flow. Huberman observes. “It makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. We’ve always been confronted with threats—animal threats, interpersonal threats. Forward movement is the way you suppress the fear response.” The visual system, he notes, “is a steering wheel and brake of the nervous system. The brain will follow the visual system in many ways.”

Feminist Therapy

Feminist therapy has evolved to include couples, families, people of all ages, and any gender – who seek help exploring the role gender plays in their emotional lives and relationships or those of their loved ones. Anyone who has been marginalized, including people of color; individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or gender variant; people in poverty, immigrants, refugees, and people with disabilities may benefit from feminist therapy. It was initially devised in the late 1960’s as a way for women to help other women in the therapeutic realm, at a time when the field was considered to be male-dominated. Traditional psychotherapies at the time tended not to consider the social and cultural context of the client’s experience. The therapy is an integrative approach that focuses on challenges clients face as a result of bias, stereotyping, oppression, discrimination, and other factors, and how those stressors can negatively affect their mental health. It is based on the belief that wellness is inextricably linked to an individual’s social and cultural identities and the political environment in which they live. The therapeutic relationship, based on equality between therapist and client, and their ability to forge and authentic connection, helps clients understand some of the social factors that may contribute to their mental-health concerns, discover and claim their unique identity, and uncover and build on their personal strengths to advance their own lives and those of others.

Humanistic Therapy

Humanistic therapy, also known as humanism, focuses on a person’s individual nature, rather than assuming that groups of people with similar characteristics have the same concerns. Humanistic therapists aim to consider the whole person, especially their positive characteristics and potential for growth, not only from their professional viewpoint but from a client’s own personal sense of their behavior. The emphasis in sessions is on a person’s positive traits and behaviors and developing their ability to use their instincts to find wisdom, growth, healing, and fulfillment.

Humanistic therapy sessions explore how a client feels in the here and now – rather than past events that led to these feelings. A humanistic therapist seeks to provide an atmosphere of support, empathy, and trust in which an individual can share their feelings without fear of judgment. The client therapist relationship is one of equals and considers the client as the expert on their own life and challenges. A core tenet of humanistic therapy is that people are inherently motivated to fulfill their internal needs – and that each of us has the power to find the best solutions for ourselves and the ability to make appropriate changes in our lives, a concept known as self-actualization.

Humanistic therapists seek to establish the following conditions: Unconditional positive regard, Empathic Understanding and Congruence or genuineness. When humanistic therapy succeeds, clients experience themselves as being well understood, more empowered, more conscious of their strengths and skills, and better equipped to make changes in their life that will help them fulfill their goals and needs.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention to the present. It encompasses two key ingredients: awareness and acceptance. This state is described as observing one’s thoughts and feelings without judging them as good or bad. To live mindfully is to live in the moment and reawaken oneself to the present, rather than dwelling on the past or anticipating the future. To be mindful is to observe and label thoughts, feelings, and sensations in the body in an objective manner. Mindfulness can be a tool to avoid self-criticism and judgment while identifying and feeling difficult emotions. Mindfulness is rooted in Buddhist and Hindu teachings. To some, mindfulness is considered a first step toward a journey of enlightenment. The emergence of mindfulness in Western culture is attributed to Psychologist Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, who studied under several Buddhist teachers, including Thich Nhat Hahn. Mindfulness can be used to cultivate perspective on one’s consciousness and identity(ies) that can bring greater peace mentally and relationally. Mindfulness may also be used in mindfulness-based therapies, to address stress, anxiety, pain, achieve open or relaxed states via deep concentration and self-awareness. Mindfulness can be a form of meditation. It can be cultivated within or outside of formal meditation and woven into any activity.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a modified form of cognitive therapy that incorporates mindfulness practices such as present moment awareness, meditation, and breathing exercises. Clients can use the techniques and tools they learn to help them replace negative thinking with calmness, compassion and positive action in order to prevent a relapse of depression following overwhelming triggers. It is derived from the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, creator of the mindfulness-based stress reduction technique. MBCT was developed to prevent relapse from recurring episodes of depression or deep unhappiness and has been shown to help some people with pain and/or physical health problems reduce depression as well. This form of therapy is most often conducted within a group setting led by a therapist (I recommend activities for clients similar to those recommended by this type of therapy, such as developing a routine meditation practice, but I do not do group therapy).

Narrative Therapy

Narrative therapy helps clients feel more empowered to make changes in their thought patterns and behavior and “rewrite” their life story for a future that reflects who they really are, what they are capable of, and what their purpose is, separate from their problems.

Person-Centered Therapy

Person-centered therapy, also known as Rogerian therapy or client-based therapy, employs a non-authoratative approach that allows clients to take more of a lead in sessions such that, in the process, they discover their own solutions. The approach holds that every person is unique and, therefore, everyone’s view of his/her/their own world, and their ability to manage it, should be trusted. During person-centered therapy, a therapist acts as a compassionate facilitator. The therapist is there to support the client with their process of self-discovery.

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy 

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is a form of psychotherapy that has clients identify self-defeating thoughts and feelings, challenge the nature of irrational and unproductive feelings, and replace them with healthier, more productive beliefs. REBT focuses mainly on the present to help clients understand how unhealthy thoughts and beliefs create emotional distress which, in turn, leads to unhealthy actions and behaviors that interfere with your life and goals. Once identified and understood, negative thoughts and actions can be changed and replaced with more positive and productive behavior, allowing clients to develop more successful personal and professional relationships. REBT makes use of a variety of methods and tools, including positive visualization, reframing your thinking and the use of self-help books and audio-visual guides as reinforcement between sessions. Techniques often involve working with the client to identify rigid or irrational thought patterns that may be holding them back and replacing them with healthier, more constructive, and self-accepting thoughts. REBT therapists believe that the root of many client’s problems is the client’s own faulty and irrational belief system (while also recognizing specific life events contribute to mental health difficulties). By letting go of negative thoughts and replacing them with positive beliefs, clients are better able to accept themselves and others. REBT therapists help clients see the connections between the activating event, their beliefs and the consequences.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is one of the world’s most widely used therapeutic treatments. SFBT concentrates on finding solutions in the present and exploring one’s hope for the future in order to find a quick and pragmatic resolution of one’s problems. It takes the approach that clients know what they need to do to improve their lives, and with appropriate questioning and coaching, are capable of finding best solutions. Clients learn to focus on what they can do, rather than what they can’t do. This type of therapy is more about the “how” of treating challenges than about the “why” behind them. Goal-setting involving small, pragmatic ways to make changes to achieve goals is the foundation of SFBT. An example of a question the practitioner asks is: “If a miracle occurred while you were asleep tonight, what changes would you notice in your life tomorrow?” One of the tenets of SFBT is a positive, respectful, and hopeful outlook on the part of the clinician. Practitioners maintain the assumption that people have the strength, wisdom, experience, and resilience to effect change. Sessions tend to feel collegial rather than hierarchical. While the number of sessions can vary for a given patient, treatment is typically complete after four to eight sessions.

Somatic Therapy

Somatic therapy is a form of body-centered therapy that looks at the connection of mind and body and uses both psychotherapy and physical therapies for holistic healing. It’s based on the awareness that the body manifests mental and emotional unease and also helps heal them. Practitioners believe mind and body are intimately connected, though not always in apparent ways. Thoughts, emotions and sensations are all interconnected and influence one another. Somatic therapies of different kinds have been practiced for centuries. Yoga and meditation, for example, are both examples of tools for somatic therapy. Modern somatic therapy can take many forms. Some examples are Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Hakomi, Sensorimotor Therapy, Somatic Experiencing, Somatics. While sessions vary among practitioners, fundamentally, somatic therapies combine mindfulness, talk therapy, and alternative forms of physical activities. Often the therapist has a client focus on their body or on memories of a traumatic or overwhelming experience and then focus on physical and emotional experiences. Techniques may include deep breathing, relaxation, and/or meditation to help relieve symptoms. Clients often have strong emotional and physical sensations arise during treatment. These therapies help clients develop inner resources to better regulate emotions, integrate current wisdom, and/or move out of the fight/flight/freeze response. Through developing awareness of and experience with the mind-body connection, somatic therapies can help release sensations and emotions “trapped” in the client’s body from past negative experiences. The goal is to help free the client from fully engaging in their lives. Some key parts of the therapy include: physical awareness, centering, and body activities.

Strength Based Psychotherapy

Strength-based therapy is a type of positive psychotherapy that focuses on your internal strengths and resourcefulness, rather than on your weaknesses, failures, and shortcomings. The goal of this focus is to set up a positive mindset that helps clients build on their best qualities, find their strengths, improve resilience, and change to a more positive worldview. Practitioners believe the main reason to discuss a patient’s problems is to discover the inner strengths clients can tap into to build solutions. Strength-based therapy stands apart from other treatments in its use of client involvement and the belief that treatment should be individualized, with solutions coming from the client’s themselves guided by a therapist’s expertise. This approach also views an improved quality of life and well-being to be of paramount importance in addition to remission of mental health symptoms. Strength-based therapy is talk therapy that guides you toward a retelling of your personal history of traumas, stressors, and pain with more emphasis on yourself as a survivor than as a victim, and more emphasis on your strengths and survival skills than on your weakness. Another core goal of this approach is to allow clients to view challenges as just one part of their identity, rather than a defining characteristic. This approach treats clients as experts on themselves and includes feedback from client’s regarding what’s working for them and what is not.