Modalities Information
Person-Centered
Person-Centered Therapy (PCT), also known as Client-Centered Therapy, was developed by Carl Rogers in the 1940s and 1950s. It’s a non-directive approach to therapy, meaning that the therapist does not lead the conversation but instead offers a safe and empathetic environment in which the client can explore their own feelings and experiences.
The core belief in person-centered therapy is that people have an innate capacity for self-healing and personal growth, and that the therapist’s role is to facilitate this process by providing unconditional positive regard, empathy, and congruence (genuineness). It is a humanistic approach, focusing on the individual's ability to direct their own path toward mental wellness.
Key Principles of Person-Centered Therapy
Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR):
The therapist offers non-judgmental acceptance and support, regardless of the client's actions, thoughts, or feelings. This creates a safe space for the individual to express themselves without fear of criticism.
UPR helps individuals feel worthy of love and acceptance, allowing them to explore difficult or painful emotions without shame.
Empathy:
The therapist demonstrates deep understanding of the client's experience by reflecting feelings and clarifying emotions. It’s not just about knowing what the client feels, but also experiencing their feelings from their perspective.
Empathy fosters a strong emotional connection between therapist and client, helping clients feel understood and validated.
Congruence (Genuineness):
The therapist is authentic and transparent in their relationship with the client. This means being honest and real with the client, rather than taking on a professional persona.
This openness encourages trust and creates an environment where the client feels safe to explore their innermost thoughts and feelings.
Self-Actualization:
Rogers believed that people have an inherent drive toward personal growth and fulfillment (called self-actualization). The goal of PCT is to help clients achieve a greater sense of self-awareness and reach their full potential.
This is a humanistic view, which emphasizes the person’s capacity for growth, creativity, and finding meaning in life.
Non-Directive Approach:
The therapist does not direct the session but instead provides a supportive and accepting environment where the client feels empowered to explore their own feelings, thoughts, and experiences.
The client is considered the expert on their own life, and the therapist’s role is to listen and offer support without judgment or advice-giving.
Person-Centered Therapy emphasizes the innate ability of individuals to heal and grow. By creating a therapeutic environment characterized by unconditional acceptance, empathy, and genuineness, PCT helps individuals explore their feelings and achieve greater self-understanding and self-acceptance. It is a powerful, client-centered modality that empowers individuals to take control of their lives and move toward personal growth.
Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT)
Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT), sometimes referred to as Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), is a goal-oriented and short-term therapeutic approach that focuses on finding practical solutions to current problems, rather than delving into past issues or exploring the underlying causes of a person’s difficulties. It was developed in the late 1970s by Steve de Shazer, Insoo Kim Berg, and colleagues at the Brief Family Therapy Center in Milwaukee.
The central premise of SFT is that people are capable of solving their own problems by leveraging their existing strengths and resources, and the therapist's role is to facilitate this process by guiding clients toward practical, achievable goals and identifying the steps needed to reach them.
Key Principles of Solution-Focused Therapy
Focus on Solutions, Not Problems:
Unlike traditional therapeutic approaches that often delve deeply into the origins of problems, SFT prioritizes solution-building. It assumes that focusing on past issues can sometimes keep individuals stuck in negative thinking patterns, whereas a focus on solutions encourages forward movement and optimism.
Client as the Expert:
In SFT, clients are seen as the experts in their own lives. The therapist doesn’t provide advice or tell the client what to do; instead, the therapist helps clients identify their strengths and resources to solve their problems.
The client is encouraged to reflect on past successes and identify what they’ve done in the past that has helped them overcome challenges.
Strengths and Resources:
The therapy encourages clients to recognize and utilize their own internal strengths (like resilience, creativity, and perseverance) and external resources (such as family, friends, community, or support systems).
Rather than focusing on deficits, SFT emphasizes what’s working in the person’s life and builds upon these positive elements.
The Miracle Question:
One of the hallmark techniques of SFT is the Miracle Question, which asks the client to imagine a scenario in which their problem is miraculously solved overnight. The therapist then asks: "If a miracle happened and your problem was solved, what would be different in your life? What would you notice?"
This question helps clients identify specific goals and create a vision of what success looks like, making the change more tangible and actionable.
Small, Achievable Goals:
SFT encourages the setting of small, realistic goals that are easily achievable. By focusing on small steps, clients can gain a sense of accomplishment and motivation, leading to bigger changes over time.
Future-Focused:
Solution-focused therapy focuses primarily on the future and what can be done moving forward, rather than dwelling on past events or psychological analysis. The focus is on creating change in the present and building a desired future, not necessarily understanding the causes of problems.
Short-Term and Goal-Oriented:
SFT is typically a brief therapy, often involving only a few sessions. The process is highly focused on specific goals and outcomes, making it an efficient way to help individuals address current issues.
Solution-Focused Therapy is a goal-oriented, short-term therapeutic approach that emphasizes building on clients' strengths and resources to find practical solutions to current problems. By focusing on achievable goals, past successes, and future possibilities, SFT helps clients move forward in a positive, empowering way. It’s particularly effective for those looking for short-term relief and actionable steps, rather than deep exploration of past issues.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a structured, time-limited form of psychotherapy that aims to help individuals identify and change negative patterns of thinking (cognitive distortions) and behaviors that contribute to their mental health problems. Developed by Aaron T. Beck in the 1960s, CBT is based on the idea that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are all interconnected, and that by changing one, we can positively affect the others.
CBT is a goal-oriented and practical approach, and it is widely regarded as one of the most effective evidence-based therapies for a range of mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, stress, and more.
Key Principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Model:
According to CBT, our thoughts influence our emotions, which in turn affect our behaviors. If we hold negative or distorted thoughts, they can create and maintain emotional and behavioral problems.
The goal of CBT is to identify and challenge these negative, irrational, or distorted thoughts (cognitive distortions) and replace them with more realistic and balanced thoughts.
Cognitive Distortions:
Cognitive distortions are biased or irrational thought patterns that contribute to negative emotions and unhelpful behaviors. Examples include:
Catastrophizing: Expecting the worst-case scenario.
All-or-Nothing Thinking: Seeing situations as entirely good or entirely bad.
Overgeneralization: Making broad, sweeping conclusions based on a single event.
Mind Reading: Assuming you know what others are thinking without evidence.
Emotional Reasoning: Believing that feelings reflect objective reality.
Behavioral Activation:
In addition to addressing negative thinking, CBT often focuses on changing unhelpful behaviors. This may involve behavioral activation, where the client is encouraged to engage in positive activities that bring pleasure or a sense of accomplishment, which in turn can improve mood and reduce negative thinking.
Problem-Solving:
CBT helps clients develop effective problem-solving skills. The idea is to break down difficult situations into manageable parts, identify possible solutions, and take practical steps to address issues.
Empowerment and Self-Efficacy:
CBT encourages individuals to become their own therapist by developing the skills to identify and change their negative thinking and behaviors. This self-awareness and self-control are meant to help individuals feel more empowered and in charge of their mental health.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a highly effective and evidence-based therapeutic approach that focuses on the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. By helping clients identify and challenge negative thinking patterns and implement healthier coping strategies, CBT empowers individuals to take an active role in their mental health. It is widely used for treating various mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, OCD, and PTSD, and is considered one of the most effective forms of therapy for a wide range of concerns.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a specialized form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) developed by Marsha Linehan in the late 1980s. Originally designed to treat Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), DBT has since been adapted for other mental health conditions, particularly those involving emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, and self-destructive behaviors, such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and substance use disorders.
DBT combines cognitive-behavioral techniques with principles of mindfulness, acceptance, and dialectics (balancing opposites). It is known for its focus on helping individuals regulate their emotions, improve relationships, and build tolerance for distress.
Core Concepts of Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Dialectics:
The term “dialectic” refers to the idea of balancing two opposing forces. In DBT, this means recognizing that people can both accept themselves as they are (acceptance) and strive for change (change). The therapy helps clients find balance between these two forces in a way that is realistic and functional.
For example, accepting difficult feelings or thoughts without judgment, while also working toward positive change.
Validation and Acceptance:
Validation is a key principle in DBT. It involves acknowledging and accepting the client's emotions and experiences as valid and understandable, regardless of whether they are "rational" or "appropriate."
Acceptance helps reduce emotional suffering by allowing clients to recognize and validate their emotions without self-criticism, which is particularly important for individuals who struggle with intense emotional reactions.
Behavioral Change:
While DBT emphasizes acceptance, it also strongly focuses on the need for change. Clients learn specific skills to change dysfunctional behaviors, especially those that are harmful to themselves or others (e.g., self-harm, impulsivity, unhealthy relationship patterns).
Mindfulness:
A foundational concept of DBT, mindfulness involves cultivating awareness of the present moment in a non-judgmental way. Mindfulness skills help clients stay grounded and focused, enabling them to manage distress and regulate emotions.
Mindfulness practice in DBT encourages clients to observe their thoughts, feelings, and sensations without reacting to them impulsively or excessively.
Emotional Regulation:
One of DBT’s main goals is to help clients regulate intense emotions. This includes recognizing emotional triggers, learning to tolerate emotional distress, and developing strategies to reduce emotional reactivity and impulsive behavior.
Distress Tolerance:
DBT teaches clients how to endure emotional pain without resorting to maladaptive coping mechanisms like self-harm, substance abuse, or avoidance. Skills like radical acceptance help clients tolerate the discomfort of difficult emotions in more adaptive ways.
Interpersonal Effectiveness:
Interpersonal effectiveness skills focus on teaching clients how to develop and maintain healthy relationships. This includes learning how to assert needs, set boundaries, and manage conflict without feeling overwhelmed or reacting destructively.
The Four Modules of DBT
Mindfulness:
Mindfulness involves paying attention to the present moment and observing one’s thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations without judgment. It helps individuals pause before reacting, allowing them to choose more adaptive responses to difficult emotions.
Techniques include practices like breathing exercises, body scanning, and grounding techniques.
Example: A client might be taught to focus on their breath to center themselves when they feel overwhelmed by emotion.
Distress Tolerance:
Distress tolerance skills help individuals cope with and survive crises without resorting to unhealthy behaviors like self-harm, substance abuse, or aggression.
Skills include radical acceptance (accepting situations and emotions as they are), distraction techniques, and self-soothing strategies.
Example: If a person is experiencing intense distress, they might use self-soothing techniques, such as running their hands under cool water, to reduce the intensity of their emotions.
Emotional Regulation:
Emotional regulation skills teach individuals to identify and label their emotions and change unhealthy emotional responses. This can include learning to reduce the intensity of emotions and increase positive emotional experiences.
Techniques include checking the facts (looking for evidence that supports or disproves emotional reactions), changing emotional responses, and increasing positive activities.
Example: If a client feels angry, they might be taught to identify the situation that triggered the anger and explore alternative, less distressing ways to respond.
Interpersonal Effectiveness:
This module focuses on building healthy relationships and learning skills for assertiveness, setting boundaries, and managing conflict effectively.
It includes techniques like the DEAR MAN acronym for effective communication:
Describe the situation.
Express your feelings.
Assert your needs.
Reinforce the outcome you want.
Mindful of your goals.
Appear confident.
Negotiate if necessary.
Example: A client might practice asserting their needs in a relationship by using clear, direct communication to express how they feel.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a highly effective treatment for individuals dealing with emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, and self-destructive behaviors. By combining acceptance and change, DBT teaches clients essential skills in mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. It is particularly beneficial for those with Borderline Personality Disorder, but its techniques have been successfully adapted to treat a range of mental health issues, including suicidal ideation, eating disorders, and substance use disorders.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapeutic approach developed by Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s. EMDR is primarily used to help individuals process and heal from traumatic memories and emotional distress, particularly those associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but it has also been used to treat a range of other mental health issues.
The core principle behind EMDR is that unprocessed traumatic memories can be stored in the brain in a way that disturbs emotional and psychological well-being. Through bilateral stimulation (usually through guided eye movements), EMDR aims to desensitize the emotional charge associated with these memories and reprocess them in a way that reduces their psychological impact.
Core Concepts of EMDR
Bilateral Stimulation:
Bilateral stimulation (BLS) is the process of stimulating both sides of the brain alternately, typically through eye movements (moving eyes back and forth) but sometimes using auditory tones or tactile sensations (like tapping). The idea is that this stimulation helps integrate the emotional, cognitive, and physical components of traumatic memories, making them easier to process and resolve.
It is believed that bilateral stimulation facilitates the processing of the traumatic memory and allows the brain to reorganize it in a more adaptive and less distressing way.
Adaptive Information Processing Model:
EMDR operates on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, which proposes that traumatic memories are inadequately processed when they are stored in the brain. These memories are often fragmented, causing emotional and psychological distress.
The goal of EMDR is to process these memories so they can be integrated into the client’s existing memory networks, allowing them to be stored in a way that no longer triggers distressing emotions or physiological responses.
Desensitization and Reprocessing:
Desensitization refers to reducing the emotional charge or intensity attached to traumatic memories. Through EMDR, a person may gradually reduce their distress about the traumatic memory as the therapy progresses.
Reprocessing involves reinterpreting the traumatic memory with new, healthier perspectives. This process helps the individual reinterpret their beliefs about the trauma (e.g., from “I am worthless” to “I am strong and capable”).
The Eight Phases of EMDR Therapy
EMDR is conducted in a structured, eight-phase process. These phases help the client process traumatic memories and achieve lasting healing:
History Taking:
In the first phase, the therapist conducts a comprehensive assessment of the client’s history, including traumatic events that need to be addressed. This phase also involves identifying specific memories, negative beliefs, and positive beliefs to focus on during the therapy.
The therapist and client set specific treatment goals, such as reducing the distress related to certain memories or overcoming negative beliefs.
Preparation:
The therapist explains the EMDR process and prepares the client for the therapy. This phase includes establishing trust and creating a safe environment. It also involves teaching the client grounding techniques and relaxation skills to manage any emotional distress that may arise during the therapy.
Clients are also educated about the nature of traumatic memories and the importance of processing them in a safe and supportive way.
Assessment:
In this phase, the therapist works with the client to identify specific target memories for EMDR processing. These are often memories that are central to the client’s distress.
For each target memory, the therapist helps the client identify:
The image associated with the memory (e.g., a visual or emotional image from the trauma).
The negative belief (e.g., “I am powerless,” “I am unlovable”).
The desired positive belief (e.g., “I am in control,” “I am worthy of love”).
The physical sensations that come up when thinking about the memory.
The therapist then establishes a validity of cognition (VOC) score to assess how much the client believes the desired positive belief, and a Subjective Units of Distress (SUD) score to assess the distress the client feels related to the memory.
Desensitization:
This is the core phase of EMDR therapy, where the therapist uses bilateral stimulation (usually through eye movements) to help the client process the identified traumatic memory. During this phase, the client focuses on the memory while simultaneously following the therapist’s hand movements (or auditory or tactile stimuli).
The goal is to reduce the SUD level (distress level) associated with the memory. Over several sets of bilateral stimulation, the client is encouraged to let their mind wander and notice any new thoughts, emotions, or sensations that arise.
Installation:
In this phase, the therapist helps the client strengthen the positive belief that was identified during the assessment phase. For example, if the client’s negative belief was “I am powerless,” the therapist would help them focus on replacing it with a new, healthier belief like “I am in control.”
The client is asked to focus on the positive belief while using bilateral stimulation to install the new thought and reinforce it emotionally.
Body Scan:
In this phase, the therapist asks the client to scan their body for any remaining physical tension or distress related to the memory. The client is encouraged to notice any areas of discomfort or tightness and use bilateral stimulation to reduce or eliminate this physical discomfort.
This phase ensures that the traumatic memory is fully processed, not just on a cognitive level, but also physically and emotionally.
Closure:
At the end of each session, the therapist helps the client return to a state of calm and balance, regardless of whether the processing of the traumatic memory was fully completed.
The therapist may use relaxation exercises, grounding techniques, or mindfulness strategies to help the client feel safe and stable.
The therapist also ensures that the client has the tools and coping strategies to manage any distress that might arise between sessions.
Reevaluation:
At the beginning of each new session, the therapist evaluates the progress made during previous sessions. This involves checking in on the target memories that have been processed, reviewing the client's emotional response, and assessing the client’s SUD and VOC scores.
If necessary, the therapist may revisit and process additional aspects of the traumatic memory or target new memories.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an effective, evidence-based therapy primarily used to treat trauma-related disorders such as PTSD. By using bilateral stimulation to process and reframe traumatic memories, EMDR helps individuals reduce distress, reframe negative beliefs, and integrate painful memories in a way that promotes healing. With its holistic approach and rapid results, EMDR offers a powerful tool for those struggling with the emotional aftermath of trauma.
Gottman Method
The Gottman Method (or Gottman modality) is a research-based approach to couples therapy developed by Drs. John and Julie Gottman. It is grounded in over four decades of scientific research with thousands of couples and is designed to improve relationship stability and satisfaction.
Core Principles of the Gottman Method
The Gottman Method focuses on disarming conflicting verbal communication, increasing intimacy, respect, and affection, removing barriers that create a feeling of stagnancy, and creating a heightened sense of empathy and understanding.
The Sound Relationship House Theory
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The Love Lab Research
Goals:
Enhance friendship and intimacy
Promote respectful conflict resolution
Support shared goals and values
The Gottman Method is widely used by therapists and also adapted for workshops and self-help resources. It's recognized for its practical tools and strong empirical foundation.
Exposure Therapy: Overview
Exposure therapy is a highly effective, evidence-based treatment for anxiety-related disorders. It works by helping individuals gradually face and reduce their fear or distress through repeated, controlled exposure to feared situations, thoughts, or sensations. Over time, this process retrains the brain to perceive these triggers as less threatening.
Core Principle
The basic idea behind exposure therapy is that avoidance maintains fear, while gradual and repeated exposure to the feared object or situation allows the brain to learn that it is safe — this is known as habituation or extinction learning.
Goals of Exposure Therapy
Reduce avoidance behavior
Decrease fear and anxiety responses
Improve daily functioning and quality of life
Restructure maladaptive thought patterns associated with fear
Key Points:
Based on the principle that avoidance maintains anxiety.
Involves systematic, safe exposure to feared stimuli.
Used to treat conditions like phobias, OCD, PTSD, and panic disorder.
Can involve real-life, imagined, interoceptive, or virtual exposures.
Often integrated into Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
Exposure therapy empowers individuals to regain control over their lives by breaking the cycle of fear and avoidance. When done correctly and consistently, it can lead to lasting symptom relief and improved quality of life.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Psychodynamic therapy is a form of talk therapy that focuses on exploring unconscious processes, early life experiences, and emotional conflicts to gain insight into current behavior and relationships. It is rooted in psychoanalytic theory, originally developed by Sigmund Freud, but has evolved into a more modern, flexible approach.
Core Principles:
Unconscious Mind: Emotions and motivations outside of conscious awareness influence behavior.
Early Childhood Experiences: Past relationships, especially with caregivers, shape present dynamics.
Defense Mechanisms: Individuals unconsciously protect themselves from distress (e.g., repression, denial).
Transference and Countertransference: Client’s feelings toward the therapist reflect past relationships; therapist’s reactions may also provide insight.
Insight-Oriented: Focuses on increasing self-awareness and understanding the root of emotional struggles.
Goals:
Gain insight into unresolved conflicts and patterns.
Understand how the past affects the present.
Improve emotional functioning and interpersonal relationships.
Foster long-term psychological growth and self-awareness.
Psychodynamic therapy is a deep, insight-focused modality that helps individuals understand the hidden roots of their emotional distress. By bringing unconscious patterns to awareness, clients can achieve lasting emotional change and greater self-understanding.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a modern, evidence-based form of psychotherapy that helps people live more meaningful lives by embracing their thoughts and feelings rather than fighting or avoiding them.
Core Principles:
ACT is based on psychological flexibility — the ability to stay present, accept difficult emotions, and take action aligned with your values.
It integrates six key processes:
Acceptance – Allowing thoughts and feelings to come and go without struggling with them.
Cognitive Defusion – Learning to see thoughts as just thoughts, not literal truths.
Being Present – Focusing on the here and now with openness and curiosity.
Self-as-Context – Observing self; recognizing that you are more than your thoughts and experiences.
Values – Clarifying what truly matters to you.
Committed Action – Taking action guided by your values, even in the presence of discomfort.
Goals:
Increase psychological flexibility
Reduce the impact of painful thoughts and emotions
Promote value-based living
Improve overall well-being, not just symptom reduction
ACT helps individuals accept what they can’t control and commit to actions that enrich their lives. Rather than eliminating difficult emotions, ACT focuses on changing the relationship with those emotions, empowering clients to live more fully and authentically in line with their values.
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a structured, short-term approach to couples, individual, and family therapy. Developed by Dr. Sue Johnson, EFT is grounded in attachment theory and focuses on improving emotional connection and bonding in relationships.
Core Principles:
EFT helps clients understand and restructure emotional responses to enhance relationship security. It views emotional expression and needs as key to healing and connection.
Three stages guide EFT:
De-escalation – Identify negative interaction patterns and underlying emotions (e.g., fear, hurt).
Restructuring Interactions – Encourage open expression of emotional needs and promote responsive, empathetic engagement.
Consolidation – Reinforce new patterns of connection and resolve past hurts.
Goals:
Strengthen emotional bonds in relationships
Increase empathy, trust, and responsiveness
Break negative cycles of conflict
Promote secure emotional attachment
Emotionally Focused Therapy helps people create secure, lasting emotional bonds by identifying and reshaping emotional patterns that drive disconnection. It is highly effective for couples and families, promoting deep, lasting change through emotional attunement and secure attachment.