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CBT – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

“What we think, we become.”

-Buddha-

CBT places great emphasis on thought and behaviour to target change and development. It recognizes that we are influenced by what is going on around us and that our environment makes a contribution towards the way we think, act and feel. It maintains that we make a difference in the way we feel by changing unhelpful ways of thinking and behaving, even if we can not change our environment. CBT also puts strong emphasis on behaviour. Many techniques of CBT involve changing the way we think and feel by modifying the way we behave.

ACT – Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

“I’ve never transcended what I haven’t embraced.”

-Jon Marc Hammer-

ACT is a unique behaviour therapy approach that addresses people’s concerns about their mental states in a mindful and compassionate way, while encouraging them to pursue what really matters for them. ACT is about helping people to do three things: accept themselves and others with compassion, choose valued directions in their lives and commit to action that leads to those directions. ACT teaches acceptance of unwanted thoughts and feeling our bodies come up with, and rather than struggling with these thoughts and feelings, relate to them as new experiences to be had.

Mindfulness

“Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.”

-Thich Nhat Hanh-

Successful therapy changes our relationship to our own particular form of suffering: if we are less distressed by the events in our lives our suffering will decrease. Life includes pain and mindfulness is a skill that allows us to be less reactive to what is happening in the moment. It is the way we relate to all our experiences: negative, positive and neutral such that our suffering is reduced and our well-being increased. Mindfulness focuses our attention on the present moment (not entangled in the past or future) and we are not judging or rejecting what is happening in the present. This kind of attention generates energy, clearheadedness and joy.

Positive Psychology

“Ultimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them.”

– Youngey Mingyur Rinpoche-

Our brains typically detect negative information faster than positive because, from the perspective of evolution, it is negative experiences not positive ones that have the most impact on our survival. If we missed out on a carrot (food or mating), we can usually have later opportunities, but if we missed the stick (a predator) we might be lunch and there will be no carrot opportunities in the future. Therefore, negative events have more impact on us than positive ones. We can acquire feelings of learned helplessness after a few failures but it is hard to unlearn it even with many successes; bad information about a person carries more weight than positive, and in relationships, it takes 5 positive interactions to overcome the effects of single negative one. Given this negativity bias of the brain, it takes active effort to internalize positive experiences and heal negative ones. It is for this reason that positive psychology places emphasis on cultivation of what is positive in us.

“I am larger, better than I thought, I did not know I held so much goodness.”

– Walt Whitman- “Song of the Open Road”

Our character strengths (24 in total) and virtues (six in total) are moral traits we do not inherit but build even sometimes on frail foundations. They are acquired voluntarily and with effort, will, practice, persistence and determination. Our strengths and virtues often produce good consequences. Each person possesses several signature strengths, which that person consciously owns, and celebrates and exercises every day at work, love, play and parenting. What are your highest personal strengths?

EFT – Emotionally Focused Therapy

“ We are never so vulnerable, as when we love.”

– Sigmund Freud-

EFT is based on principles of emotion and attachment theories. It is a structured approach developed by Leslie Greenberg and Sue Johnson. The therapy is “emotion-focused” as it is based on the concept that emotional experiences play a powerful role in shaping couple’s relationship. The word “emotion” comes from Latin form emovere meaning, literally, “to move”. Emotion motivates and signals key moves in the dance between spouses. The interactions of distressed couples are characterized by negative cycles such as pursue-withdraw and criticize-defend. The therapist helps couples go to the underlying emotions that keep them stuck in these rigid positions and negative interaction cycles. Positive cycles then become self-reinforcing and a safe heaven and healing environment for both partners.

Gottman Method Couples Therapy (level 2)

“Its a myth that if you solve your problems you’ll automatically be happy. We need to teach couples that they’ll never solve most of their problems.”

– John Gottman –

Gottman Method Couples Therapy was created by Dr.s John and Julie Gottman. John Gottman, Ph.D. spent his 35 years of breakthrough research on marriage and relationships. His work made him one the of the top ten most influential therapists in the last quarter century. The Gottman method focuses on emotion, skill building for managing conflict, developing new skills for enhancing friendship, and helping the couple to create a system of shared meaning together.

Family Systems Therapy

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”

– Elizabeth Kübler-Ross-

Family Systems Therapy is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families to nurture change and development. It is based on the belief that, regardless of the origin of problem, whether clients consider it an individual or family issue, involving families in the solution is often beneficial. During sessions the therapist catalyses the strengths, wisdom and support of the family in fostering change. Therapy emphasizes family relationships as an important factor of psychological change.

Hypnosis

“The more one sees of human fate and the more one examines its secret springs of action, the more one is impressed by the strength of unconscious motives and by the limitations of free choice.”

– Carl Gustav Jung-

Hypnosis is a therapeutic technique which allows a trained professional (a qualified therapist) to assist you in creating meaningful and long-lasting positive changes in your life. Hypnosis is both a natural state of mind and a process in which you and the therapist work together to promote positive change.

Hypnosis is an effective method of achieving change; it is a valuable tool for self-empowerment and continuous personal growth. Whether it is to quit smoking, weight loss, develop a healthier lifestyle, increase concentration levels, improve sports performance, overcome fears and anxiety, achieve better results in business and personal situations or just to enjoy your next visit to the dentist…hypnosis can help you achieve those results faster than you ever imagined or thought possible.