Choosing your therapist can feel like a daunting first step in your therapy journey, especially understanding the methods shared by each therapist on their profile. Here's a cheat sheet to provide some information about the most common therapy treatment methods, or modalities.
Modality | Acronym | What can I look forward to? | How can this help? |
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy | CBT | Your therapist will help you connect how your triggers affect your thoughts and actions. You may complete worksheets to help you track your thoughts and actions. Sessions can last anywhere from 3-6 months. | It can help replace your unhelpful thoughts and patterns with more constructive ways of thinking and acting. It is very helpful for anxiety and depression. |
Internal Family Systems | IFS | Your therapist will help you identify different pieces of who you are and how the pieces function. Session length can vary depending on initial presenting challenges. | It helps in accessing deep, underlying feelings about yourself and how to forgive and accept all the pieces of you. Sometimes referred to as “inner child work.” |
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing | EMDR | Your therapist will use specific tools (like eye movement techniques) while you recall traumatic experiences. Sessions can be anywhere from 3-12 occurrences. | It has proven to be effective for individuals that would like to work through past traumatic experiences. |
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy | DBT | Your therapist will help you to learn skills to regulate impulsive reactions and overwhelming feelings. Sessions can last up to 6 months. | It provides specific skills, i.e. acronyms and metaphors, to help in regulating overwhelming feelings. |
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy | ACT | Your therapist will help you accept and focus on your emotions and thoughts, while also helping to align your values. Sessions could last anywhere from 2-4 months. | It promotes mindfulness, acceptance of difficult experiences, and a commitment to taking actual steps towards a desired outcome. |
Cognitive Processing Therapy | CPT | Your therapist will help you learn how to modify and challenge unhelpful beliefs. This typically lasts around 12 sessions. | It helps to create a new understanding of past traumatic experiences. |
Solution Focused Brief Therapy (Solution Focused Therapy) | SFBT | Your therapist will focus on previously successful resources and solutions to help you focus on the present and future. This typically lasts anywhere from 2-10 sessions. | It promotes your natural resourcefulness and can be utilized for present, brief challenges. |
Brief Psychodynamic Therapy | Psychodynamic | Your therapist will explore repressed thoughts, feelings, and experiences and the impact they have had on your life. Session length can vary greatly depending on presenting challenges. | It creates a space to explore past experiences, dreams, fantasies, and childhood memories to understand your worldview. |
Emotion Focused Therapy | EFT | Your therapist will work with you and/or your partner(s) to uncover root emotions and insecurities to help you reconstruct your relationship. This typically lasts about 3 month- 6 months. | It aids yourself and/or partner(s) in better understanding your attachment styles. |
Motivational Interviewing | MI | Your therapist will use a series of steps to help you explore and resolve ambivalence to change. Sessions typically are 4-6 occurrences. | It can help in creating and clarifying realistic goals, which can increase motivation and confidence in initiating positive changes. |
Strength-Based Therapy | Strength-Based | Your therapist will help you focus on your strengths, abilities, and resources to promote healing, growth, and resilience. Therapy can occur anywhere from 3-5 sessions. | It shifts problem-focused thinking to an open mind that identifies resources and self strengths. |
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy | MBCT | Your therapist will use a combination of mindfulness practices, i.e. meditation, breathing exercises, and body awareness, cognitive techniques to develop skills to cope with challenges. Therapy could occur for up to 8 sessions. | It can reduce the risk of depression relapse and help in managing anxiety symptoms by increasing self-awareness and promoting a more positive relationship with thoughts and emotions. |
Narrative Therapy | Narrative | Your therapist will collaborate with you to discuss your constructed narrative of your lived experience. Therapy length is determined by your view of progress. | It empowers individuals by helping them to externalize their challenges and creates space to explore broader societal contexts that exacerbate lived experiences. |
Humanistic Therapy (Humanistic-Existential Therapy) | Humanistic | Your therapist will create a supportive, non-judgemental environment to help you feel fulfilled and connected to your authentic self. Therapy could occur from 15-20 sessions. | It promotes developing a deeper understanding of your true self and your ability to empathize with your experiences. |
The Gottman Method | Gottman | Your therapist will use activities and worksheets to help yourself and your partner(s) enhance your friendship, manage conflicts, increase affection, and create a shared meaning. Sessions span over 12-16 occurrences. | It can identify negative relationship patterns that predict stress and replace those patterns with healthier communication and conflict resolution strategies. |