Deeply Rooted in Understanding Therapy Modalities

By: Karen Salisbury, CSW

I often hear our wonderful office administrators on the phone explaining therapy modalities to clients and potential clients. I underestimate all of the hats they wear and the knowledge they need to acquire in order to meet the needs of those they come in contact with.

Because this is something they do quite often, I thought I would help by explaining three of the common therapy acronyms we throw around, here at The Green House Center.

CBT: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (used by individual clinicians) involves changing unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviors into more positive, healthy patterns, improving mood and overall functioning. It is based on the cognitive model: “the way that individuals perceive a situation is more closely connected to their reaction than the situation itself.” For more information about CBT, please visit: https://www.beckinstitute.org/get-informed/what-is-cognitive-therapy/

DBT: Dialectical Behavior Therapy. It is a cognitive behavioral therapy that was developed by Marsha Linehan in an effort to help those suffering with suicidal and self-harming behaviors. Although originally developed for treating those with Borderline Personality Disorder, it is effective in helping those who suffer with substance dependence, depression, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and eating disorders. Curriculum includes: Mindfulness, Distress tolerance, Interpersonal effectiveness, and Emotional regulation. Here at The Green House Center, we include curriculum on Shame resilience as well. We hold weekly classes on Mondays from 3:30-5:00 p.m. for adolescents; Tuesday from 3:30-5:00 p.m. for youth ages 11-14; and Wednesday from 3:30-5:00 p.m. for young adults ages 18-23.
For more information about DBT, please visit: http://behavioraltech.org/resources/whatisdbt.cfm

EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (used by individual clinicians) is a treatment developed by Francine Shapiro using eye movements to access and process traumatic memories, events, and negative thoughts into adaptive solutions. This modality is widely researched and is found to be more effective than the widely used and respected cognitive behavioral therapy.

For more information about EMDR, please visit: http://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/