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MORE INFORMATION

  • Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is a type of therapy that focuses on improving specific behaviors, such as social skills, communication, reading, and academics as well as adaptive learning skills, such as fine motor dexterity, hygiene, grooming, domestic capabilities, punctuality, and job competence.  It has also been shown that consistent ABA can significantly improve behaviors and skills and decrease the need for special services.

  • Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a form of mindfulness-based therapy that helps you accept the difficulties that come with life, theorizing that greater well-being can be attained by overcoming negative thoughts and feelings.   ACT focuses on Accepting your reactions and being present, Choosing a valued direction, and Taking action. ACT has been applied to a wide variety of problems, including depression, anxiety, stress, and substance abuse.

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is based on the premise that if people change their self-defeating beliefs and thoughts, they can change their problematic feelings and behaviors. CBT has been extensively researched and proven effective for various psychological issues.

  • Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is a well-researched, proven method of treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after sexual assault, rape, violence, or combat. CPT combines cognitive therapy and exposure therapy.

  • Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a well-researched, proven method of treating people who struggle with self-injury, suicide attempts, out-of-control emotions, and borderline personality disorder.

  • Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) focuses on emotion as the key determinant of personality development and of psychotherapeutic change. In sessions, the therapist helps the client to become aware of, accept, make sense of, and regulate emotions as a way of resolving problems and promoting growth. Techniques are drawn from client-centered therapy, gestalt therapy, and cognitive behavior therapy.

  • Existential-Humanistic Therapy focuses on the entire person rather than solely on behavior, cognition, or underlying motivations. Emphasis is placed on the client’s subjective experiences, free will, and ability to decide the course of his or her own life.

  • Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is an extensively researched, proven method of treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). EMDR enables the client to “reprocess” the trauma and integrate it in a psychologically healthy way.

  • Forensic psychology is the provision of psychological expertise to the legal system and courts.

  • Hypnosis (also called hypnotherapy) aims to induce relaxed, focused “suggestibility.” During this state the client is receptive to new perceptions, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

  • Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a plan describing the special education and related services specifically designed to meet the unique educational needs of a student with a disability. Each IEP must be documented in writing, tailored to a particular child, and implemented in accordance with the requirements of U.S. federal law. The IEP must be created by a team of individuals that includes, but is not restricted to, parents, teachers, a representative of the school system, and an individual who will evaluate the child’s needs and monitor progress.

  • Motivational Interviewing is a client-centered yet directive approach for facilitating change by helping people to resolve ambivalence and find intrinsic reasons for making needed behavior change. Originally designed for people with substance use disorders, motivational interviewing is now broadly applied in health care, psychotherapy, correctional, and counseling settings. It is particularly applicable when low intrinsic motivation for change is an obstacle. Rather than advocating for and suggesting methods for change, this approach seeks to elicit the client’s own goals, values, and motivation for change and to negotiate appropriate methods for achieving it.

  • Play Therapy involves the use of play activities and materials (e.g., clay, water, blocks, dolls, puppets, finger paint) in child psychotherapy. Play-therapy techniques are based on the theory that such activities mirror the child’s emotional life and fantasies, enabling the child to “play out” feelings and problems and to test out new approaches and understand relationships in action rather than words.

  • Psychodynamic therapy explores the roots of psychological distress and examines the client-therapist relationship, in which the client may subconsciously re-enact unhealthy patterns. Psychodynamic therapy is a well-studied and proven method of addressing a variety of psychological issues.

  • Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) focuses on finding solutions in the present time and exploring one’s hope for the future to find quicker resolution of one’s problems. This method takes the approach that you know what you need to do to improve your own life and, with the appropriate coaching and questioning, are capable of finding the best solutions.

  • Structural Family Therapy (SFT) addresses patterns of interaction that create problems within families.  The goal of SFT is to improve communications and interactions among family members and to highlight appropriate boundaries to create a healthier family structure.

  • Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is an evidence-based treatment for children and adolescents impacted by trauma and their parents or caregivers. Research shows that TF-CBT successfully resolves a broad array of emotional and behavioral difficulties associated with single, multiple and complex trauma experiences. 

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