Counseling Services

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (mindfulness based behavioral therapy) is an approach that utilizes mindfulness to guide clients to being present and learning to observe and accept emotional states (anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, low self-esteem). Emotional control strategies (avoidance and denial) produce more emotional distress and the negative behaviors frequently utilized to manage distressing emotions. The goal of ACT is to reduce the power of people’s painful emotions, memories, thoughts and experiences. It is not to deny the pain, but to minimize its power through mindful awareness and action.

Emotional control strategies (e.g. denial and avoidance) often result in more emotional distress and the negative behaviors utilized to manage it. The goal of ACT is to reduce the power of people’s painful emotions, memories, thoughts and experiences. It is not to deny the pain, but to reduce its power through mindful awareness. In addition, ACT teaches clients to make the necessary situational and behavioral changes that will allow them to begin to live a full and meaningful life.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy stresses the role of thinking in how we feel and what we do. It is based on the belief that thoughts, rather than people or events, cause our negative feelings. Our enhanced cognitive-behavioral therapy incorporates newer derivations including Positive Psychology, Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.

Using CBT principles, the client is assisted in identifying, testing the reality of, and correcting dysfunctional beliefs underlying his or her thinking. The client is then assisted in developing new thought patterns and behaviors that lead to healthier functioning.  There is strong scientific evidence that CBT is effective in helping clients in a relatively short amount of time with a wide range of psychological problems, including eating disorders, depression and anxiety.

It is important for therapy to be sensitive to the fact that people from different backgrounds have different values, practices, experiences and beliefs.  The New Perspectives Counseling therapists understand the major impact these difference have for clients and are committed to providing an approach to treatment that is attuned to these differences when working with individuals and families in therapy.

Person-centered therapy uses a non-authoritative approach that allows clients to take more of a lead in discussions so that, in the process, they will discover their own solutions.  The therapist acts as a compassionate facilitator, listening without judgment and acknowledging the client’s experience without moving the conversation in another direction.  The therapist is there to encourage and support the client and to guide the therapeutic process without interrupting or interfering with the client’s process of self-discovery.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a type of psychotherapy utilizes a cognitive-behavioral approach. DBT emphasizes the psychosocial aspects of treatment and is particularly helpful for people who are prone to react in a more intense and emotional manner toward certain situations, primarily those found in romantic, family and friend relationships. DBT helps a person with these extreme emotional reactions develop skills in mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance and how to regulate emotions.

Exposure therapy is a specific type of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy technique often used in the treatment of anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and phobias. Exposure therapy involves exposing the target patient to the anxiety source or its context without the intention to cause any danger. Scientific research has shown that it can be a powerful method to help a person overcome the anxiety and fear associated with anxiety, phobias or PTSD.

Family Therapy is an effective form of treatment for children, adolescents and some adults and assumes that problems within the family as the result not of particular members’ behaviors, but of the family’s group dynamic. The family is seen as a complex system having its own language, roles, rules, beliefs, needs and patterns.

The therapist helps each individual member understand how their childhood family operated, their role in that system, and how that experience has shaped their role in the current family.

Therapists with the MFT credential are usually trained in Family Systems therapy.

Interpersonal Therapy (ITP) is a time-limited form of therapy that focuses on interpersonal issues. ITP tends to be solution-focused and is not intended to be a long-term process.

The delivery of IPT will range anywhere from six to 20 sessions (although generally delivered in 12-16 sessions) and may include additional sessions over the long run as a form of maintenance treatment. ITP is particularly helpful in dealing with interpersonal problems and role transitions.

Interpersonal Problems: This becomes the area of focus when disputes with others are main contributors to the problem. Some examples of disputes include hostile conflicts (e.g., verbal abuse or domestic violence), betrayal (e.g., infidelity, conflicting loyalties with family members or friends, or improprieties in relationships), disappointments (e.g., unmet expectations with family, work, or school), and inhibited conflicts (e.g., being angry at a partner or family member’s disability or illness but not overtly expressing this anger or disappointment).

Role Transitions: One of the main experiences that individuals must face is adapting to life changes. ITP recognizes that clients often experience distress as a result of these changes. Change as a result of role transitions are often experienced as a form of loss. They can include changes in job status, changes in relationship status (e.g., divorce, parenthood, etc.), being diagnosed with an illness, and the results of traumatic stressors, such as accidents.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a method of therapy that works to engage the motivation of clients to change their behavior.

Clients are encouraged to explore and confront their ambivalence. Therapists attempt to influence their clients to consider making changes, rather than non-directively explore themselves.

Motivational Interviewing is frequently used in cases of problem drinking or mild addictions.

Unlike traditional psychology that focuses more on the causes and symptoms of mental illnesses and emotional disturbances, positive psychology emphasizes traits, thinking patterns, behaviors, and experiences that are forward-thinking and can help improve the quality of a person’s day-to-day life.

These may include optimism, spirituality, hopefulness, happiness, creativity, perseverance, justice, and the practice of free will. It is an exploration of one’s strengths, rather than one’s weaknesses.

The goal of positive psychology is not to replace those traditional forms of therapy that center on negative experiences, but instead to expand and give more balance to the therapeutic process.