Therapeutic Approaches

Generally speaking…

A stress-vulnerability approach to mental health recognises that genetic and psychological vulnerability to mental illness can be exacerbated by stressful life experiences.

Recovery can require a specific treatment for a specific disorder. For example, factors that maintain a disorder like social anxiety may differ from factors that maintain a disorder such as depression.

However, some vulnerability factors are consistent across disorders and can be treated with “transdiagnostic” approaches. For example, difficulty managing uncomfortable emotions, thoughts or physical experiences are common to many disorders. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment therapy, Mindfulness/ Self-Compassion based approaches and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy can all assist in increasing willingness to tolerate discomfort, thus decreasing intensity of those experiences and improving emotional health and subjective well-being.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is based on the premise that our thoughts, feelings and behaviours exist in a self-reinforcing cycle. Sometimes our thoughts become very rigid - we operate on the basis of assumptions and create rules for ourselves or others which cause emotional and mental suffering. For example if we move through the world with the belief that “no one likes me” this can become a self-fulfilling prophesy - we might look for experiences that fit in with our world view and discount those that don’t. This impacts our mood and our behaviour and further reinforces negative thinking. CBT will typically require monitoring and examination of our thoughts and our emotions and experimentation with our behaviour in order to reduce distress.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps individuals create flexibility in thinking in order to live life more fully. Accepting the limitations of the human experience can lessen suffering and enable us to engage with more positive aspects of our lives.

ACT might help you to identify the factors that keep you stuck, such as the way you think about things or behaviours that are unhelpful and then open the way to letting go of life limiting patterns.

Mindfulness based psychological therapy asks us to bring our awareness to our mental and emotional experiences, allow them to be there without judgement and choose how to respond rather than to react automatically. Mindfulness practices encourage us to focus on the present, whether that is via meditation practice, movement such as yoga or surfing or bringing mindful awareness to our interactions with others. Therapy can help with improving our awareness of our “in the moment” mental processes and emotions and help us to develop our capacity to determine what is helpful and what is not and choose how to respond.

All of us carry a critical voice in our heads. It’s there to help you learn from mistakes and predict future problems but this can get out of hand, coming to dominate thinking and making us vulnerable to distress and mental illness. Research shows that self-criticism raises stress hormones in the body which contribute to the fight-flight-freeze response, whereas self-compassion helps to calm our nervous system, allowing us to reduce our reactivity. It might feel a bit strange at first but with time you can learn to be your own friend.

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR)

EMDR is an evidence based therapy for addressing symptoms of trauma, whether they have arisen in the context of single incident traumas, such as accidents or illnesses, or in traumatic relationships. The therapy involves eye tracking exercises in conjunction with the reprocessing of memories. Assessment is made to determine suitability for this treatment prior to commencement.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

CPT is an evidence based therapy for trauma. The focus is on challenging and modifying unhelpful beliefs related to the traumatic incident which can maintain and prolong trauma symptoms.