THERAPIES
Our Psychologists ensure that they are abreast with current research and regularly engage in training offered to maintain evidenced based treatments
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a collaborative and individualised program that helps you to identify unhelpful thoughts and behaviours, and to learn skills to change these so you can better deal with your feelings and manage your mental health issues. CBT has been practised widely for more than 30 years. It has been researched extensively, and has demonstrated effectiveness with a variety of emotional psychological and psychiatric difficulties.
Schema Therapy
A schema is a cognitive framework or concept that helps us organise and interpret information. Schemas allow us to take shortcuts in interpreting the vast amount of information that is available in our environment. However, these mental frameworks also cause us to exclude pertinent information, to instead focus only on things that confirm our pre-existing beliefs and ideas.
The four main concepts in the Schema Therapy model are: Early maladaptive schemas, maladaptive coping styles, schema mode, and needs. Early Schemas relate to the basic emotional needs of a child. When these needs are not met in childhood, schemas develop that lead to unhealthy life patterns. Maladaptive Coping Styles are the ways the child adapts to schemas and to damaging childhood experiences. Schema Modes are the moment-to-moment emotional states and coping responses that we all experience.
The main goals of Schema Therapy are: to help you strengthen your healthy adult mode; weaken your maladaptive coping modes so that you can get back in touch with your core needs and feelings; and eventually to get your core emotional needs met in everyday life.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT is an empirically based psychological intervention that uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies mixed in different ways with commitment and behaviour-change strategies, to increase psychological flexibility.
The aim of ACT is to maximise human potential for a rich, full and meaningful life. ACT does this by:
a) teaching you psychological skills to deal with your painful thoughts and feelings effectively - in such a way that they have much less impact and influence over you.
b) helping you to clarify what is truly important and meaningful to you - i.e your values - then use that knowledge to guide, inspire and motivate you to change your life for the better.
Hypnotherapy
Involves focused attention: concentration on an object, an idea or an activity with full involvement, while attention to anything else is temporarily suspended. We can experience this “trance-like” state in everyday living, for example: becoming totally involved watching a movie or a sports game, driving on a familiar route where you do not quite remember part of the journey. Hypnosis is a relaxed state of mind where one can focus on an idea, an aspect of one's life, a dilemma or a challenge. During hypnosis, the body and conscious mind are in a relaxed, natural state, while the subconscious mind remains awake and receptive to suggestion.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing(EMDR)
EMDR is a treatment that alleviates the distress associated with traumatic memories. EMDR therapy facilitates the accessing and processing of traumatic memories and other adverse life experience to bring these to an adaptive resolution. After successful treatment with EMDR therapy, affective distress is relieved, negative beliefs are reformulated, and physiological arousal is reduced.