Modalities of Psychotherapy

What modalities of psychotherapy will your therapist suggest for you?

Conventional therapies

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) 

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT): cognitive restructuring, goal setting and relaxation (Ehlers et al., 2021)

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), one of the pillar modalities of psychotherapy, is often referred to as ‘talk therapy’ but it is so much more than that. CBT involves a range of exercises and techniques aimed at retraining your thoughts, feelings, behaviour, and physical stress responses.

CBT trains you to identify deeply ingrained thought patterns that influence your emotions, behaviour, and even your biology. Learn how to replace inaccurate beliefs with positive ‘self talk’ through exposure therapy, role playing, relaxation exercises, journalling, reframing, and other CBT techniques.

With a focus on cognitive restructuring, goal setting and relaxation (Ehlers et al., 2021) this type of therapy can benefit everyone and is especially beneficial for people suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Mindfulness 

Mindfulness: guided meditation, deep breathing exercises, relaxation techniques (Schreiner & Malcolm, 2012).

Mindfulness is a gentle non-intrusive practice of becoming aware of the world around you through the activation of the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste and hear). We all become engrossed in our daily tasks, we often forget to “smell the roses” and take time out to relax, declutter the mind and destress. 

Regular mindfulness practice can help to eliminate stress and anxiety, creating a sense of wellbeing through relaxation (Schreiner & Malcolm, 2012).  Activities include deep breathing exercises, meditation, listening to relaxing music, walking, yoga or simply sitting in silence while listening to what is around you.

Narrative Therapy 

Narrative Therapy: assist client to reauthor their stories with a strength-based perspective using a range of techniques (White, 2016).

Narrative Therapy is another valuable modality of psychotherapy, helping to empower the client by providing opportunities to tell their stories and be the expert in their own lives (White, 2016). As clients experience different events and interactions, individuals give meaning to those experiences and, in turn, they influence how you see yourself and the world around you, contributing to personal autobiographical memories. If appropriate, therapists can support clients to reauthor their stories to create resilience and an alternative lens to promote recovery and growth.

Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) 

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) (De Shazer, el al., 2021).

Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a goal oriented, evidence based, approach to therapy. The focus is on solutions, not problems. SFBT includes positive psychology principles to enable clients to construct solutions and make practical, meaningful, sustainable changes.

Alternative therapies

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) 

You may know our next modality of psychotherapy, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), as ‘tapping therapy’ or ‘psychological acupressure’. EFT is an alternative treatment for pain and distress, both physical and emotional.

EFT has been found to be an “evidence-based” practice beneficial for chronic pain, anxiety, depression, phobias, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Reiki Energetic Healing 

Reiki is an alternative therapy based on the belief that our biomagnetic field of energy, which extends a short distance beyond the skin, can be subject to massage for the purpose of balance and healing.

Using open palms, a trained practitioner will gently massage the energy field surrounding your body to achieve physical and mental harmony. Many clients experience profound results, reporting an improvement in physcial and emotional pain,

Other modalities

Psycho Education 

Psycho Education: Health & Wellness Wheel to invite clients to view their life holistically to achieve balance (Doyle et al., 2013).

While not constituting a modality of psychotherapy in itself, psycho education can help patients, as well as their friends and relatives, to gain a deeper understanding of any mental health they may be experiencing. By understanding the diagnosis, patients and their families can feel equipped to deal with future challenges.

Knowledge is power.

Art Therapy

Art Therapy: techniques to help clients visually communicate pain and sorrow, using Tree of Life to depict hopes and dreams for the future (Newland & Bettencourt, 2020).

Art therapy is a therapeutic tool that can be incorporated into counselling sessions to help people of all ages during treatment to develop self-awareness, explore emotions, address unresolved emotional conflicts, improve social skills, and increase self-esteem. Art therapy primarily aims to help individuals experiencing emotional and psychological challenges achieve personal well-being and improved levels of function. Research has shown art therapy to slow down the mind and achieve a sense of calm during the therapy session, treating a variety of symptoms and disorders (Slayton et al, 2010).

---

References

De Shazer, S., Dolan, Y., Korman, H., Trepper, H., McCollum, E., & Kim Berg, I. (2021). More Than Miracles. A State of the Art of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy.

Doyle, J., Walsch, L., & Sassu, A. (2013). Health and Wellness Self-management for Older Adults. ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI): Workshop on Personal Informatics.

Ehlers, A., Wiedemann, M., Murray, H., Beierl, E., & Clark, D. M. (2021). Processes of change in trauma-focused CBT. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 12(1).

Newland, P., & Bettencourt, B. A. (2020). Effectiveness of mindfulness-based art therapy for symptoms of anxiety, depression, and fatigue: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, v.41.

Schreiner, I., & Malcolm, J.P. (2012). The Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation: Changes in Emotional States of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress. Cambridge University Press, 25(3).

White, M. (2016). Narrative Therapy Classics. Dulwich Centre Publications.

Sarah C. Slayton MA, ATR-BC, Jeanne D’Archer MA, ATR-BC & Frances Kaplan DA, ATR-BC (2010) Outcome Studies on the Efficacy of Art Therapy: A Review of Findings, Art Therapy, 27:3, 108-118, DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2010.10129660