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The Psychology Lab

Making Sense of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use problems, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness.

CBT is based on several core principles, including:

• Psychological problems are based, in part, on faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking.
• Psychological problems are based, in part, on learned patterns of unhelpful behavior.
• People suffering from psychological problems can learn better ways of coping with them, thereby relieving their symptoms and becoming more effective in their lives.

CBT treatment usually involves efforts to change thinking patterns. These strategies might include:

• Learning to recognize one’s distortions in thinking that are creating problems, and then to reevaluate them in light of reality.
• Gaining a better understanding of the behavior and motivation of others.
• Using problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations.
• Learning to develop a greater sense of confidence in one’s own abilities.

CBT treatment also usually involves efforts to change behavioral patterns. These strategies might include:

• Facing one’s fears instead of avoiding them.
• Using role playing to prepare for potentially problematic interactions with others.
• Learning to calm one’s mind and relax one’s body.

Not all CBT will use all of these strategies. Rather, the psychologist and patient/client work together, in a collaborative fashion, to develop an understanding of the problem and to develop a treatment strategy.

CBT places an emphasis on helping individuals learn to be their own therapists. Through exercises in the session as well as “homework” exercises outside of sessions, patients/clients are helped to develop coping skills, whereby they can learn to change their own thinking, problematic emotions, and behavior.

CBT therapists emphasize what is going on in the person’s current life, rather than what has led up to their difficulties. A certain amount of information about one’s history is needed, but the focus is primarily on moving forward in time to develop more effective ways of coping with life.

What is a Brainspot?

Brainspotting (BSP) was discovered in 2003 by David Grand, Ph.D. Over 10,000 therapists have been trained in BSP in the US, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

“Where we look affects how we feel”. Brainspotting makes use of this natural phenomenon through its use of relevant eye positions. This helps the Brainspotting therapist to locate, focus, process and release a wide range of emotionally and bodily-based conditions. Brainspotting is also a brain-based tool to support the therapy relationship. It has been shown that Brainspotting taps into and harnesses the body’s natural self-scanning, self-healing ability. When a Brainspot is stimulated, the deep brain appears to reflexively signal the therapist that the source of the problem has been found. Brainspotting can be used to find and strengthen our natural resources and resilience. Brainspotting is designed as a therapeutic tool that can be integrated into many of the healing modalities, and can also be used for performance and creativity enhancement.

What is Gottman Method Marriage Counseling

The Gottman Method is an approach to couples therapy that includes a thorough assessment of the couple’s relationship and integrates research-based interventions based on the Sound Relationship House Theory. The goals of Gottman Method Couples Therapy are to disarm conflicting verbal communication; increase intimacy, respect, and affection; remove barriers that create a feeling of stagnancy; and create a heightened sense of empathy and understanding within the context of the relationship.

What is Equine Therapy?

Equine-assisted psychotherapy incorporates horses into the therapeutic process. People engage in activities such as grooming, feeding, and leading a horse while being supervised by a mental health professional.

Horses are, simply put - good for the soul. Just as being around and handling horses can offer incredible benefits to those dealing with physical and mental health issues. Many of us experience some level of stress or anxiety in our work or life, but being around horses has been proven to reduce our stress levels.

Therapeutic Riding is considered an Equine-Assisted Activity, rather than Equine Therapy, and has proven effective in helping children heal from trauma, as well as improve confidence and self-esteem.

Equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) focuses on those with mental or substance use disorders, cognitive issues, and other disorders. While still a form of “talk” therapy, EAP allows clients to use multiple senses while identifying and processing emotional issues. The outdoor environment and use of animals lend a unique, positive dimension to the experience.

A recent article in Psychology Today discusses a number of ways people benefit from EAP:

• Increased trust
• Reduced anxiety
• Less feeling of depression and isolation
• Increased self-esteem, self-acceptance, and social skills
• Better impulse control
• Increased problem-solving skills
• Improved communication skills, including non-verbal
• Better understanding of healthy boundaries and the importance of assertiveness
• Learn to get outside own negative, self-absorbed thoughts and nurture another creature

Certain equine-assisted therapies are effective for children with cerebral palsy, behavioral tics, motor control issues, and coordination problems, and for people of any age with reduced mobility.

Research has found Equine Therapy to also be beneficial for those with eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. The therapy helps individuals to better manage their emotions and learn to express feelings more positively. Riding and caring for the horses improve self-esteem and anxiety, and improves negative body issues.

Help with Addiction

An addiction is a chronic dysfunction of the brain system that involves reward, motivation, and memory. It’s about the way your body craves a substance or behavior, especially if it causes a compulsive or obsessive pursuit of “reward” and lack of concern over consequences.

Someone experiencing an addiction will:

• be unable stay away from the substance or stop the addictive behavior
• display a lack of self-control
• have an increased desire for the substance or behavior
• dismiss how their behavior may be causing problems
• lack an emotional response

Over time, addictions can seriously interfere with your daily life. People experiencing addiction are also prone to cycles of relapse and remission. This means they may cycle between intense and mild use. Despite these cycles, addictions will typically worsen over time.

What is Polyvagal Therapy and how would it help me?

Polyvagal informed therapy is based on Polyvagal theory, originated by Dr. Stephen Porges, which provides a physiological and psychological understanding of how and why people move through a continual cycle of mobilization, disconnection, and social engagement. Based on this theory our Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is the foundation upon which our lived experience sits. We come into the world wired to connect. Connection and feeling safe is our birth right. “With our first breath, we embark on a quest to feel safe in our bodies, in our environments, and in our relationships with others. The autonomic nervous system is our personal surveillance system, always on guard, asking the question “Is this safe?” Its goal is to protect us by sensing safety and risk, listening moment by moment to what is happening in and around our bodies and in the connections we have to others”.

Dr. Porges coined the term neuroception to describe the way our autonomic nervous system scans for cues of safety, danger, and life threat without involving the thinking parts of our brain. Neuroception is detection without awareness. It’s automatic and it’s been shaped based on our early life experiences.

Trauma interrupts the process of building the autonomic circuitry of safe connection and sidetracks the development of regulation and resilience. People with trauma histories often experience more intense, extreme autonomic responses, which affects their ability to regulate and feel safe in relationships. The extreme behaviours are autonomic actions in service of survival—adaptive responses ingrained in a survival story that is entered into automatically. Trauma compromises our ability to engage with others by replacing patterns of connection with patterns of protection. If unresolved, these early adaptive survival responses become habitual autonomic patterns. Therapy through a Polyvagal lens, supports clients in re-patterning the ways their autonomic nervous systems operate when the drive to survive competes with the longing to connect with others.

What is The Emotional Freedom Technique

Emotional freedom technique (EFT), which people often refer to as EFT tapping, is an alternative therapy for anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and some other conditions.

According to the developer of EFT, Gary Craig, tapping on different parts of the body helps balance energy and reduce physical and emotional pain. People can see an EFT practitioner for treatment or treat themselves using this technique.

To use EFT tapping, follow these five steps:

1. Identify the issue

During this step, the person thinks about the problem that they wish to resolve. They should only choose one issue to focus on at a time.

2. Test the initial intensity

A person should rank the intensity of the issue on a scale of 0–10, with 10 being the worst the issue has ever been. This ranking system allows the person to assess the effectiveness of the tapping at the end of the treatment.

3. The setup

Before beginning each round of tapping, the person should decide on a simple reminder phrase to repeat while tapping the karate chop point. This point is at the center of the fleshy part of the outer hand.

The reminder phrase should acknowledge the issue and convey self-acceptance in spite of it. For example, a person might choose to say:

“Even though I have [issue], I deeply and completely accept myself.”

4. The sequence

During this step, the individual taps on specific points on the body while repeating the phrase that they have chosen. If a practitioner is performing the treatment, they will carry out the tapping.

The tapping points, in sequence, are as follows:

• top of the head (TOH) — directly in the center of the top of the head
• beginning of the eyebrow (EB) — the beginning of the brow, just above and to the side of the nose
• side of the eye (SE) — on the bone at the outside corner of the eye
• under the eye (UE) — on the bone under the eye, approximately 1 inch (in) below the pupil
• under the nose (UN) — the point between the nose and upper lip
• chin point (CH) — halfway between the underside of the lower lip and the bottom of the chin
• beginning of the collarbone (CB) — the point where the breastbone (sternum), collarbone, and first rib intersect
• under the arm (UA) — at the side of the body, approximately 4 in below the armpit
• When tapping, use two or more fingertips and repeat the tap approximately five times on each point.

While some points — for example, the EB, SE, and UE — have a “twin point” on the other side of the body, it is only necessary to tap on one side. However, individuals can tap these points on both sides if both of their hands are free.

5. Test the intensity again

Again, rank the intensity of the issue on a scale of 0–10. Ideally, this will have improved. Repeat the process until the intensity reaches 0 or plateaus.