Therapy

Therapy, at its core, is talking about thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Some people say, “I talk all the time, why do I need therapy?” While talking to friends and family may be therapeutic, engaging in therapy with a trained mental health professional will be a vastly different experience.

Therapy with a professional therapist offers a neutral, nonjudgemental forum to encourage exploration of the root causes of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Therapists help individuals recognize patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving to improve psychological self-awareness. Once these patterns come to light, the therapist can offer support, provide coping strategies, and promote positive changes.

There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to therapy. RSK Psychiatry practices integrative psychotherapy, which incorporates a variety of therapeutic techniques to match each patient’s needs. Depending on your preference, RSK Psychiatry can focus on one specific type of therapy or use all of them! No matter what kind of therapy you do, all of them help treat mental health conditions.

Specific types of therapy include:

Psychodynamic – Rooted in psychoanalytic principles, it focuses on a person’s relationships with others and external events in their life. Emphasis is placed on life history and how it relates to your current interactions with the world. Patients undergoing psychodynamic therapy are encouraged to speak freely to bring elements of their unconscious to the surface. Self-reflection is key.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – CBT homes in on the connection between thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and the consequences they lead to. More directive than psychodynamic therapy, CBT helps identify negative thinking and uses research tested strategies to change that thinking. This in turn leads to changes in feelings and behaviors. CBT also teaches coping strategies and sometimes involves practicing these strategies outside of therapy sessions.

Supportive – Tried and true, often used by friends and family without even realizing it! This therapy focuses on offering nonjudgemental support, encouraging patients in their endeavors, and validating difficult life experiences. It is usually incorporated into every session.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy Therapy – Developed in the 1970s, IPT is a time-limited course of therapy that treats depression by exploring your relationships. It is often utilized during a stressful life event such as a death or break up but can also be used for issues related to disputes with others or social isolation.

Mindfulness – More technique than therapy, mindfulness focuses on attention to the present. No judgements, no past, no future, just here and now. Learning to be aware of the present via meditation-like exercises helps with focus and reduces stress. When coupled with therapy, it helps reduce stress and anxiety.

Assertive Commitment Therapy – Combining elements of positive self-acceptance with mindfulness, ACT is an off-shoot of cognitive behavioral therapy that focuses on being present in the moment, acknowledging the good and the bad, and accepting it. Rather than attempting to change what you think and feel, you accept your thoughts and feelings. After accepting awareness of the present, you explore values important to you, set goals to obtain those values, and take action to complete those goals.