A modality is the approach or way we work in therapy. Each modality uses different techniques that we’ll draw on durring sessions to support you in reaching your goals.
Internal Family Systems
Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is a gentle and empowering approach that helps individuals connect with the different parts of themselves that form their inner world. Developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, IFS posits that our minds are composed of various parts, each with a unique role and perspective. These parts often take on specific roles to protect us, especially in response to life’s challenges or traumatic experiences. For example, some parts may act as protectors, becoming cautious, critical, or even harsh to keep us safe. Other parts may carry and hold onto pain, sadness, or fear stemming from past experiences, often referred to as “exiles” in IFS.
The beauty of IFS lies in its compassionate understanding that all parts, regardless of their outward behavior, are trying to help in their own way. Even those that may seem destructive or counterproductive are typically striving to protect us from perceived harm. IFS encourages a non-judgmental exploration of these parts, where each part is acknowledged, given a voice, and listened to with kindness and curiosity. This approach allows clients to build a deeper understanding of their internal world, fostering self-compassion and acceptance.
Central to IFS is the concept of the “Self,” a core state of being characterized by calmness, curiosity, compassion, and confidence. The Self is considered the natural leader within us, capable of healing and guiding our internal parts. When we connect with our Self, we can begin to understand and care for these parts, helping them feel safe, supported, and integrated into a harmonious internal system.
Building a trusting relationship between the Self and these inner parts is a key aspect of IFS therapy. This connection facilitates deep emotional healing, allowing clients to address and heal wounds from the past. As clients work through this process, they often find that they gain greater access to their Self, which enables them to navigate life’s challenges with increased ease, confidence, and balance.
Over time, IFS therapy can lead to a profound transformation, as clients experience a greater sense of inner peace and wholeness. By fostering a compassionate dialogue between the Self and the various parts, IFS empowers individuals to live in alignment with their true selves, free from the constraints of past traumas and limiting beliefs.
Brainspotting
Brainspotting is a powerful therapeutic modality designed to help individuals access, process, and release deeply rooted trauma. Developed by Dr. David Grand, this approach involves identifying specific “brainspots” in the visual field that are connected to unprocessed trauma or emotional distress stored in the brain. By locating and focusing on these brainspots, we can tap into the brain’s natural ability to heal itself, often uncovering and resolving issues that have been difficult to address through traditional talk therapy.
A “brainspot” refers to an eye position that is linked to the emotional and energetic activation of a particular issue within the brain. This activation occurs in key areas of the limbic system, including the amygdala, hippocampus, and orbitofrontal cortex, where emotional experiences are stored in memory form. Brainspotting engages these specific regions of the brain that are involved in neurobiological regulation, while bypassing areas that are not directly involved in this process. The goal is to access the brain’s regulating capacities within the agranular isocortex and allocortex—parts of the brain that facilitate the transition from dysregulation to regulation.
What sets Brainspotting apart is its ability to reach the deeper, subcortical layers of the brain, where trauma and intense emotions are often stored. Traditional talk therapy primarily engages the cognitive, thinking part of the brain, which can sometimes limit the ability to fully process traumatic experiences. Brainspotting, on the other hand, goes beyond words, allowing clients to access the body’s innate wisdom and release trauma on a physiological level. This process can lead to profound shifts in how clients feel and respond to situations that once triggered them.
For individuals with trauma, Brainspotting offers a gentle yet effective way to work through their experiences without the need to relive them in detail. It can be especially beneficial for those who have found other forms of therapy overwhelming or ineffective. By focusing on a specific brainspot, clients can process and release stored trauma, often resulting in a significant reduction in symptoms and a greater sense of emotional well-being.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
DBT is a therapeutic approach designed to support individuals who experience intense emotions and challenging behaviors. Developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan, DBT was initially created to assist those living with Borderline Personality Disorder. Today, it is widely utilized to help people manage a variety of symptoms, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and addiction.
The essence of DBT lies in its focus on teaching practical skills that empower clients to navigate their emotional experiences, manage distressing situations, and enhance their interpersonal relationships. DBT encompasses four core skill areas:
• Emotional Regulation: This area helps clients understand and manage their emotions more effectively, allowing them to achieve a sense of balance and stability.
• Distress Tolerance: This skill set focuses on strategies for coping with crises and emotional pain without exacerbating the situation or resorting to harmful behaviors.
• Interpersonal Effectiveness: This component enhances clients’ abilities to communicate assertively, set boundaries, and build healthier relationships.
• Mindfulness: Mindfulness skills encourage present-moment awareness and non-judgmental observation of one’s thoughts and feelings, fostering a greater sense of calm and clarity.
In therapy, DBT skills are integrated into individual sessions to offer personalized support that addresses your specific needs. While traditional DBT programs may include additional components such as group sessions and phone coaching, an individualized approach focuses on incorporating these skills within personalized one-on-one therapy. This approach allows for flexibility, tailoring the skills to meet the specific needs and goals of each client. By learning and applying DBT skills, you’ll gain practical tools and insights to navigate life’s challenges more effectively.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based therapeutic approach that focuses on helping individuals embrace their thoughts and emotions rather than resisting or avoiding them. Developed by Dr. Steven C. Hayes, ACT encourages clients to accept the full range of their experiences while committing to actions that align with their core values. By increasing psychological flexibility, ACT allows clients to live a more meaningful and fulfilling life, even in the presence of challenges and difficult emotions.
At the heart of ACT is the understanding that our attempts to control or eliminate painful emotions and thoughts often lead to greater distress and suffering. For instance, trying to push away persistent anxiety or suppress deep-seated sadness can make these emotions even more overwhelming. ACT teaches us to step back from this struggle, allowing you to observe and accept your emotions without judgment, and to focus instead on what truly matters to you
ACT also allows for exploration of our core values, which serve as a starting point for making meaningful life choices and to take committed actions that align with those values. It is structured around six key processes that work together to promote emotional and psychological well-being:
• Acceptance: Learning to welcome your thoughts and feelings without trying to change them. This involves allowing yourself to experience emotions fully, rather than avoiding or fighting them.
• Cognitive Defusion: Gaining distance from unhelpful thoughts by recognizing them as mere thoughts rather than facts. This helps reduce their power over you and allows you to interact with them in a more flexible way.
• Being Present: Developing mindfulness skills to stay grounded in the present moment. This involves fully engaging with your current experience, in place of focusing on regrets about the past or worries about the future.
• Self-as-Context: Cultivating a broader perspective on your identity. This means seeing yourself as more than your thoughts, feelings, or experiences—understanding that you are the observer of these experiences, not defined by them.
• Values Clarification: Exploring and identifying your core values, which are the fundamental beliefs and principles that guide your life. Understanding your values helps you make decisions and set goals that are truly meaningful to you.
• Committed Action: Taking concrete steps toward living a life that reflects your values, even in the presence of difficult emotions. This involves setting goals and taking actions that align with what you care about most, despite any obstacles you may face.
ACT helps you build a more flexible and resilient approach to life’s challenges. It encourages you to live authentically and purposefully, making choices that align with your values and allowing you to navigate life’s difficulties.
Coherence Therapy
Coherence Therapy is an experiential, depth-oriented approach to psychotherapy that focuses on identifying and transforming the underlying emotional learnings that drive unwanted symptoms. Rather than viewing symptoms or patterns as irrational or pathological, Coherence Therapy understands them as logical expressions of deeply held emotional beliefs that were formed through past experiences.
These emotional learnings often develop in response to difficult or overwhelming situations earlier in life, including trauma, chronic stress, or attachment disruptions. Over time these learnings can shape how a person interprets situations, responds emotionally, and relates to others, often outside of conscious awareness. When these implicit beliefs remain unexamined, they can maintain patterns such as fear, shame, hyper-vigilance, or avoidance.
In Coherence Therapy, the focus is on helping clients access and fully experience the emotional truths that are driving these patterns. Once the underlying emotional learning becomes conscious and coherent, the brain becomes capable of updating it through a process known as memory reconsolidation. This allows the nervous system to revise outdated emotional learnings that were once necessary for survival but are no longer helpful in the present. By bringing these implicit beliefs into awareness and integrating new emotional experiences, we are able to resolve the root emotional learnings that produce them, allowing the mind and nervous system to naturally reorganize in healthier ways.