Treatment Methods
A treatment method is an approach to therapy that focuses on a particular aspect of a client's needs. Counselors may utilize one or more of these methods in personalizing your therapy.
General Application
Behavioral therapy examines the causes and consequences of your behavior, as well as the influences that
reinforce harmful behavioral patterns.
Cognitive therapy considers your "core beliefs" — ingrained assumptions about yourself and your world — that color your perceptions and reactions to people and events.
Existential therapy explores questions of meaning and purpose in your life, and can be integrated with issues of spirituality.
Gestalt therapy provides a means to explore and re-experience the emotions connected with significant life events.
Interpersonal therapy identifies the effect of past hurts on your present ways of relating, and provides a "corrective emotional experience" through your relationship with the therapist.
Narrative therapy looks at harmful "life stories" you may have accepted about yourself, and guides you in "rewriting your life script" according to healthier self-concepts.
Psychodynamic therapy focuses on unconscious processes that affect your personality and behavior.
Marriage and Family
Family systems therapy highlights the effects of inter-relationships in your current family and in past and future generations.
Emotionally focused therapy helps couples see the roles they play in each other's emotional security.
Integrated couples therapy helps spouses identify and correct longstanding and harmful communication patterns.
Play therapy gives children the opportunity to express their feelings and concerns through familiar and engaging activities.
Special Applications
Vocational counseling explores your career interests and motivations, and the practical steps needed to implement them.
Group therapy offers a supportive environment where individuals can learn about themselves and experiment with new ways of relating to others.
These are just a few of the hundreds of therapies that are available to the trained counselor, but in practice most therapists will use only a small subset of these techniques, as appropriate to their clients' needs. According to your desires, we also add to this list Spiritual Interventions such as prayer, scripture, and devotional reading, and Christian Spiritual Direction, a form of counseling that involves directed experiences in "listening to God" and "companionship on the spiritual journey."