Mental Health Services

I offer individual evidence-based therapy for teens, adults, and military veterans

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Trauma-focused therapies are:

Prolonged Exposure therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and Stage 2 DBT

The primary focus is decreasing trauma-related symptoms.

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Therapies for other psychological challenges are: 

CBT and Stage 3 DBT

The primary focus is decreasing psychological distress related to emotions, thoughts, and behaviours. 

As related to your situation, I consider these experiences through a trauma-informed lens.

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Trauma-focused therapy descriptions:

Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE):

This therapy helps you learn how to live and effectively cope with your trauma memories, emotions and thoughts

so that those experiences no longer control your life. PE generally lasts for 12-16 sessions. 

Through exposure techniques, you would learn at least three key things:

1. Your trauma happened in the past (even though your brain sometimes makes you think it is happening now).

2. Your strong emotions sometimes get less intense as you practice staying with and not avoiding them.

3. When your emotions stay strong, you can learn to handle them even better and live a fulfilling life anyway.

 

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT): 

This therapy helps us pinpoint which of your trauma-related thoughts are helping you and which are holding you back. CPT generally lasts for 12-16 sessions. I would teach you cognitive therapy strategies to help change the thoughts that are keeping you stuck with your trauma-related symptoms. 

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Stage 2 DBT: 

We would engage with either PE or CPT within a DBT framework to specifically target decreasing trauma-related symptoms, while also juggling other challenges that pop up (like suicide thoughts and self-harm, or other problematic behaviours). A DBT framework focuses on reinforcing the use of DBT skills to help you learn to accept and change certain emotions, thoughts, and behaviours.

Phone coaching is included, and I am on a DBT consultation team.

As needed, I would provide you with DBT skills refresher sessions.

Stage 2 DBT typically lasts between 6 months to 1 year.

Please note: In order to engage in Stage 2 DBT, you must have already completed Stage 1 DBT. This includes that you graduated from a 6-month skills group, had individual Stage 1 DBT therapy for at least 6-months, were eligible to receive phone coaching for at least 6 months, and that your therapist was on a DBT consultation team for the 6 month period that you were their client. 

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Descriptions of therapies for a variety of psychological challenges:

CBT: 

This style of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy helps you learn about the interrelation of emotions, thoughts, and behaviours within your own unique culture, values, and goals for therapy. The style of CBT that I practice (technically called third-wave CBT) typically involves mindfulness strategies, though that is not required. We would work together to help you move between accepting and changing your emotions, thoughts, and behaviours. We would agree on a set of treatment goals, I would propose a treatment plan, and we would agree on a length of treatment.

Given the evidence for this style of therapy, I think in terms of treatment chunks of 3-6 months.

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Stage 3 DBT: 

Within a DBT framework of acceptance and change, we would use DBT skills and evidence-based therapy strategies to specifically target emotions, thoughts and behaviours that decrease your overall quality of life. This could include symptoms of depression, isolation, social anxiety, relationship distress; behaviours like not being able to get to school, spend time with friends, lashing out in anger at people; thoughts like "I'm disgusting", "Everyone is out to get me", "I'll always be alone", "It's my fault".

Stage 3 DBT typically lasts between 3 months to 1 year.

As needed, I would provide you with DBT skills refresher sessions.

Please note: In order to engage in Stage 3 DBT, you must have already completed Stage 1 DBT. This includes that you graduated from a 6-month skills group, had individual Stage 1 DBT therapy for at least 6-months, received phone coaching for at least 6 months, and that your therapist was on a DBT consultation team for the 6 month period that you were their client. Depending on your life experiences, you may also need to have completed Stage 2 DBT.