Strength-based therapy concentrates on a client’s internal strengths and resourcefulness and reduces the focus on failures or weaknesses.  This approach creates a positive mindset that encourages increased self-awareness, improves resilience, and assists in creating a more balanced sense of self.   This therapy is highly effective for anyone who deals with poor self-esteem, or who has emotional issues resulting from an abusive relationship with a parent or partner.  This theory has been shown to help in dealing with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia, by building confidence and reducing the stress of living with such a condition.  Strength-based therapy can be used as an intervention for individuals of all ages, couples and families.

This therapy focuses on finding solutions in the present time and exploring one’s hope for the future to find resolutions for current problems.  SFBT is based on the premise that everyone already has the answers to their problems, and with the appropriate help, can find the best solutions.   Goal setting is one of the primary elements of this theory and views identifying and clarifying goals as essential for success.  The concept that once a goal is clarified and a clear plan is applied, then the person will have the solutions needed for change.  This theory can be integrated with other therapy styles or remain a separate intervention.  SFBT is used with all ages, a variety of issues, and may improve the quality of life of people who suffer from multiple diagnoses.

This is a psychotherapeutic approach that utilizes the activity of play to create a safe place to explore repressed thoughts and emotions through play and learn healthier ways of interacting with others.  Play therapy is generally used for children ages 3 to 12 but can also be utilized to assist adults.  The goal of this therapy is to increase communication skills, change behaviors, develop problem-solving skills, and relate to others more effectively.  It is appropriate for clients undergoing or witnessing stressful events in their lives, such as a serious illness or hospitalization, domestic violence, abuse, trauma, a family crisis, or an upsetting change in their environment. Play therapy can help children with academic and social problems, learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, anxiety, depression, grief, or anger, as well as those with attention deficit disorders or who are on the autism spectrum.

Multicultural therapy deals with the concerns of anyone who is marginalized in society.  This can be due to a person’s race, ethnicity, religion, gender identification, income, disability, or other social factor falls outside of the majority. Issues that arise for minority groups, such as oppression, racism, and marginalization, are relevant and recognized. Multicultural therapy can be applied to many other therapeutic frameworks and is appropriate for all ages and individual and family work.  The therapist has increased cultural awareness and places an increased emphasis on individualism than in some traditional therapy settings that take a more universal approach. 

IFS is an evidence-based approach that has been shown to be effective for treating various conditions and their symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, phobias, panic, as well as improving general overall well-being.  Recent research has demonstrated that IFS is very effective when working with trauma issues.  IFS works to create a unified self with the belief that each person holds multiple sub-personalities or families within their mental system.  These sub-personalities are identified as wounded parts, painful emotions such as anger and shame, and parts that protect the individual from the pain of the wounded parts.  These sub-personalities create a division within the core of the person, thus causing a separation within the self.  IFS focuses on healing the wounded parts and restoring mental balance and harmony by changing the dynamics that create discord among the sub-personalities and the Self.

Integrative therapy focuses on the individual needs of a person and combines the most effective approaches and therapeutic tools to meet that individual’s specific treatment needs.  Integrative therapy is more flexible than traditional singular forms of psychotherapy.  This theory focuses on the multifaceted aspects of each client (such as personality characteristics, preferences, physical abilities, spiritual beliefs, and motivation levels) and considers the most effective form of treatment based on information provided.  With more than 400 different types of psychotherapy, some therapists simply refer to themselves as integrative therapists rather than one specific therapeutic model. 

Humanistic therapy is a positive approach to psychotherapy that focuses on a person’s individual nature, rather than categorizing groups of people with similar characteristics as having the same problems.  Humanistic therapy looks at the whole person with the emphasis being on a person’s positive traits and behaviors, and the ability to use their personal instincts to find wisdom, growth, healing, and fulfillment within themselves.  A humanistic approach may be incorporated into various therapies and requires the participating therapist to be empathetic, understanding and non-judgmental.  Additionally, the humanistic therapist provides an atmosphere of support, empathy, and trust that allows the individual to share their feelings without fear of judgment.  A humanistic approach may be incorporated into various therapies resulting in increased rapport building between the client and therapist.

This approach focuses on a person’s capacity to increase self-awareness, make rational choices, self-determination, and create change.  Existential therapists believe that everyone is continually changing and growing and possessing a unique identity that can be discovered through relationships with others.  Interventions focus on increasing self-awareness, personal responsibility, and the freedom of choices.  Existential therapists not only focus on working to alleviate symptoms of apathy, isolation, shame, despair, guilt, resentment, etc., but focus on increasing life-enhancing experiences such as courage, creativity, will, individuation, self-actualization acceptance and authenticity.

Culturally sensitive therapy focuses on the therapist’s understanding of a client’s background, ethnicity, and belief system. Therapists can incorporate cultural sensitivity into any therapy modality to accommodate and respect differences in opinions, values, and attitudes of various cultures and different types of people.  Research has documented the positive effects of cultural sensitivity practices and has also outlined examples of how therapists can be more culturally competent in their interactions with clients of different backgrounds.  Supporters for cultural sensitivity believe it is more effective to customize a therapeutic approach to fit an individual’s personal needs, depending on client’s culture group, than to simply apply the same standard approach for everyone.

Attachment Theory focuses on how the interactions people engage in as adults were formed partially by the relationships that they experienced as children.  The lessons caregivers teach children how to express emotions, show support and love, experience appropriate touch, and how to feel safe. these are important factors in the future adult relationships of those children. Based on a person’s attachment style, the way he or she approaches intimate relationships, marriage, and parenting can vary widely.  Attachment Theory is used to address issues of grief and trauma associated with loss, parenting skills, as well as interpersonal relationship issues. Although attachment theory may not explain every aspect of personality issues, it provides a solid understanding of oneself and those around us when it comes to connecting and interacting with others.  

ACT is an evidence-based theory that has been effective in addressing multiple levels of anxiety, depression, chronic pain, obsessive compulsive disorders, and eating disorders.  Its unique goal is to help patients create a rich and meaningful life and develop mindfulness skills alongside the existence of pain and suffering. ACT works to create psychological flexibility and is a form of behavioral therapy that joins mindfulness skills with the practice of self-acceptance. ACT encourages people to embrace their thoughts and feelings rather than fighting or feeling guilty for them.  ACT is effective for a wide range of psychological disorders, and it is also effective as a life-affirming and inspirational perspective of self-determination.

This form of therapy rests on the premise that thoughts influence behavior and emotion. Through a variety of techniques focused in the here-and-now, the CBT therapist partners with the client on modifying dysfunctional thought patterns that contribute to problem behaviors. CBT has been extensively researched and is considered an evidence-based treatment option for a wide range of diagnoses, such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress, adjustment disorders, bipolar disorder, to name a few.

This is an adaptation of traditional CBT that has extensive research support and has proven effective in decreasing positive and negative symptoms of psychosis, as well as improving overall functioning and quality of life of the person.

This is another evidence-based treatment developed initially to help people with severe difficulties regulating emotions. DBT teaches four core skills: mindfulness, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness and distress tolerance. It balances change and commitment strategies with the ultimate goal of reaching a life worth living. While DBT draws from behavioral and cognitive therapies, it uses a unique dialectical approach. Dialectics is the search for synthesis of two apparently contradictory opposites. When applied in therapy, the ialectical mindset allows both client and therapist to get “unstuck” and move towards acceptance and/or change.

This is an evidence-based treatment initially developed to target traumatic experiences and heal the distress caused by them. It consists of a total of eight phases of treatment, some of which are assessment, learning coping strategies to cope with distress, work on exposure to traumatic memories and reprocessing beliefs associated with them.

This is an evidence-based treatment approach developed to treat posttraumatic stress symptoms. Avoidance of pain and discomfort is a natural human response and it’s common for people who experience distressing symptoms after a traumatic experience to try to avoid anything that triggers emotions, thoughts or physical sensations associated with the trauma. The problem with avoidance is that it blocks the person from getting new feedback that would allow them to realize they are no longer in danger. PE uses techniques that break the cycle of avoidance by using gradual exposure (in session and in “real life”) to situations that allow the person to get corrective feedback from reality. Through PE, the individual will reengage with life, distinguish between danger and safety, and experience relief from posttraumatic stress.

This short-term treatment approach is also used to heal distress caused by traumatic experiences. The focus is on physical sensations associated with traumatic experiences and in helping the person learn how to regulate their autonomic nervous systems that trigger disruptive sensations on their own. It can be used alone or as an adjunct to other therapies.