what if traditional therapy isn't your thing?
I offer so many alternatives to traditional "talk therapy", because I've found what works for some doesn't work for others...
Some examples:
Maybe something like this really could help.
We'll be here when you're ready.
Some examples:
- Walk and Talk therapy. Instead of sitting in the office, many of my clients will choose to take a walk around our neighborhood instead. Moving helps them think more clearly and easily.
- Games and Fidgets. Instead of feeling like your therapist is staring at you, sometimes, shifting the focus to a card game or board game, allows conversation to happen more naturally.
- Neurofeedback (also known as Neurological Biofeedback). Allows your brain to see it's own activity while you watch a movie or play a special video game. The incredible thing is... this "feedback" of the screen changing allows the brain to calm itself down, to help it focus better. More on that here.
- Movie therapy. So, this is more "out of the office" movies you watch and then we talk about the movie and how it applies to you, your life, your family, etc. Movies and art provide great metaphors for our lives.
- Bibliotherapy. Basically book therapy, similar to the last one, books can be great to give us information, help, content, perspective, metaphors, etc. And then we discuss in the office.
- Pet Assisted therapy. Our office is lucky enough to have a therapy-dog-in-training, named Mac. He is a three-year old Border Collie and loves to help our clients feel safe and more comfortable. He's been helping me work with clients since he was a puppy.
- Hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy has a mountain of positive research behind it and I tend to have fantastic results with clients. We usually use this as a way to get past hard things that block you from making progress. This is very different from "stage hypnosis". We're not exploring past lives or making anyone cluck like a chicken.
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). This fascinating therapy helps to break the intense and painful emotional connection that some memories hold for us. Using eye movements or bilateral stimulation, to engage both sides of the brain, your therapist guides you so that you can remember without that emotional charge, without you having to talk about every aspect of the memory.
- Sandtray therapy. This is a particular passion of mine when working with adults. Sandtray Therapy is for anyone who doesn't like to talk about "feelings". Using a large collection of miniatures, the client builds a representation of their world or experiences in the tray. Sometimes adults feel silly "playing with toys", but usually end up finding that it can be one of the most powerful forms of therapy because of it's visual nature. Children gravitate towards this type of therapy naturally.
- Floortime. For children and adults with developmental differences (e.g. Autism, Asperger's, or other delays), I use an approach based on the work of Stanley Greenspan. By engaging them where they are interested first, playfully, we can encourage interaction in an enjoyable way. I coach and train parents in these techniques at home, as well as in session. When anxiety is lower, interacting with others in a more meaningful way becomes much easier.
Maybe something like this really could help.
We'll be here when you're ready.