Treatment Options
I believe in providing treatments that are evidence-based, meaning that they have strong research evidence for their effectiveness and that are tailored to each individual with whom I am working.
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Please scroll down or click on the title below to learn about the evidence-based therapies I provide.
*Please note that I provide individual therapy for women who have experienced trauma, I do not provide couples or family therapy.
Please see the resources page of this website for providers who specialize in other areas of treatment
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Trauma-Focused Therapies (PE, CPT, EMDR, NET, STAIR)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
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EVIDENCE BASED TRAUMA FOCUSED THERAPY
"The fundamental stages of recovery are establishing safety, reconstructing the trauma story, and restoring connection."
There is a, "recognition of the potential power of any relationship of witnessing. The [therapy] room is a privileged space dedicated to memory. Within that space [you] gain the freedom to know and tell [your] stories... creating a protected space where [you] can speak [your] truth is an act of liberation.... bearing witness, even within the confines of that sanctuary, is an act of solidarity... moral neutrality in the conflict between victim and perpetrator is not an option."
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Trauma often changes the way you think about yourself and the world, such as blaming yourself for what happened, struggling with being able to trust or connect with others or viewing the world as dangerous. These kinds of thoughts can keep you stuck and interfere with your ability to enjoy the things that you once did.
Trauma-focused therapies are the most highly recommended type of treatment for PTSD. They aim to address these thoughts and avoidance behaviors. "Evidence based" means that these are therapies that have been heavily researched and have the most evidence of being effective. "Trauma-focused" means that the treatment focuses on the memory of the traumatic event or its meaning. The treatments use different techniques to help you process your traumatic experience.
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I have completed extensive, specialized training in providing evidence based trauma-focused treatment and provide treatments listed below for trauma and PTSD.
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Please note, many of the therapies referred to below mention the duration of treatment. This information is based on what the research has determined to be most effective and is provided here for your reference- when we meet we will discuss your individual needs and then we will take as many or as few sessions as is therapeutically indicated for you.
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For additional information on evidence based therapies for PTSD please click:
American Psychological Association's Clinical Practical Guidelines for PTSD website
or the
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The duration of this therapy is approximately 12 sessions (3 months). Through re-telling one traumatic experience in detail in each session and gradually approaching memories, feelings and situations that you have been avoiding since your trauma, PE teaches you skills to begin engaging in your life once again.
For more info please click: APA's Fact Sheet on PE
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
The duration of this therapy is also approximately 12 sessions (3 months). Through the use of short written assignments and worksheets during and in between sessions, CPT teaches you skills to evaluate whether the facts do or do not support how you have been thinking about your traumatic experience and how you see the world as a result of it. It teaches you to consider if there are other ways of thinking that you have not considered.
For more info please click: APA's Fact Sheet on CPT
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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR therapy involves attention to three time periods: the past, present, and future. Focus is given to past disturbing memories and related events, current situations that cause distress, and to developing the skills and attitudes needed for positive future actions. With EMDR therapy, these items are addressed using an eight-phase treatment approach. Eye movements (or other bilateral stimulation) are used during one part of the session. After the clinician has determined which memory to target first, they ask the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and to use his eyes to track the therapist’s hand as it moves back and forth across the client’s field of vision. Unlike talk therapy, the insights clients gain in EMDR therapy result not so much from clinician interpretation, but from the client’s own accelerated intellectual and emotional processes. As a natural outcome of the EMDR therapeutic process, the clients’ thoughts, feelings and behavior are all robust indicators of emotional health and resolution—all without speaking in detail or doing homework used in other therapies. (description adapted from EMDR Institute, Inc.)
For more info please click: APA's Fact Sheet on EMDR
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Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET)
Through the creation of a lifeline (timeline) of your life events (traumatic and non-traumatic), you will be asked to narrate the event along with your emotions, thoughts, sensory information and physiological responses in detail, concluding in a documented autobiography. By engaging in narrating their whole life story, you do not need to choose one particular traumatic occurrence from numerous ones experienced across the lifespan, and instead have the freedom to reflect on your entire life to cultivate a feeling of personal identity.
For more info please click: APA's Fact Sheet on NET
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Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR-NT)
STAIR-NT is comprised of two phases:
1. Ten sessions of Skills Training focusing on two key areas affected by trauma—affect (emotional)regulation and interpersonal functioning.
2. Eight sessions of Narrative Therapy
For more info please click: STAIR-NT Therapy
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DBT-INFORMED COPING SKILLS
Significant life events, whether positive or negative, can cause stress. Difficult events, such as break-ups, job loss, and death cause most people to feel distress. However, even events that are considered to be positive such as getting married, moving, starting a family can lead to stress.
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Coping skills are strategies we can use to help manage our reactions to this distress. They can be used to cope with distressing life events as well as distressing emotions (i.e. anger, loneliness, anxiety, or depression).
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The skills-based treatment I provide is informed by Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). DBT is an evidence based treatment that integrates cognitive behavioral skills training and mindfulness exercises, and has been found to be effective for a variety of presenting concerns (i.e. anxiety, depression, trauma).
DBT skills aim to develop:
1. Mindfulness of thoughts and emotions
2. Tolerance of distressing thoughts and emotions
3. Emotional regulation
4. Interpersonal effectiveness
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For more information, please click: DBT Info
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(Please note that at this time, I can only offer individual therapy focused on coping skills and unable to provide the full DBT-model of therapy which involves group therapy and phone coaching.)
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ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY (ACT)
ACT is an evidence-based, active approach to therapy that targets your struggles with unwanted emotions and thoughts. The treatment aims to help you learn to become mindful of unwanted emotions and thoughts so that you can learn to accept them and keep them from preventing you from engaging in experiences that you value.
Through in session exercises that you will practice in between appointments, you will learn to accept these emotions and thoughts, while learning to commit to making changes in your actions and behaviors so that regardless of what is going on in your life, and how you think and feel about it, you are able to live the life that you want to live.
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For more information, please click: ACT Info
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COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR THERAPY FOR INSOMNIA (CBT-I)
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CBT-I is a first-line treatment recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine for insomnia.
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The duration of this treatment is approximately 4-6 sessions. Initial sessions will focus on education about sleep. Through sleep logs you keep throughout the week we will monitor and evaluate your sleep pattern. In later sessions, we will develop a sleep plan specific to your pattern and introduce you to coping strategies to help you to respond to sleep loss.
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For more information, please click: CBT-I info
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