Getting to Know Therapies

Therapies Andrea Works With

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy reprograms the conscious mind by challenging and changing unhelpful mental distortions and behaviours. Through practicing new personal coping strategies a client develops new habits, responses and reactions to life and its challenges. Andrea uses CBT as an adjunct therapy combined with EMDR, hypnosis and Parts Work, IFS informed.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has beenproven effective for the treatment of trauma, anxiety disorders and many other mental health problems. It uses a protocol that assists troublesome memories, thoughts, emotions, and sensations (these are particularly resistant to updating, change and integration) and moves them from the limbic (fight, flight and freeze) system into proper memory where they will feel unactivated, neutral and "in the past".

Here is an effective at home EMDR-type practice from the Rapid Eye Movement Institute that helps to quickly remove stress:https://rapideyetechnology.com/ret-quick-stress-relief/

Hypnosis allows for deep focus and attention, so our hurt parts, often our childhood selves stuck and frozen in time, can be witnessed and healed, and so the parts holding outdated distorted beliefs may be updated with new positive ones. People are uncertain about hypnosis due to distortion created by Hollywood movies. Hypnosis is an evidence-based method that can remove fears, and phobias and update beliefs and attitudes that may be keeping you stuck in negative patterns. It is used by dentists and hospitals for those requringin surgery but areallergic to anesthetic. During hypnosis you are thinking, alert, and awake though more in a receptive state than an active state. Hypnosis is key to communicating with the unconscious because hypnosis is what the brain naturally does. All day we naturally cycle through various brain waves (except Delta which would cause us to fall asleep while we are at work). Anytime you watch a show on a screen you are under hypnosis. This was proven by wiring subjects to a TV. They were instructed to keep the TV on by staying in Beta brainwaves (the brain waves of alert awareness). For each participant the TV shut off within two minutes as the TV put them in an altered, relaxed state. I alway joke, if you are afraid of hypnosis be afraid of TV.

PARTS WORK (SUBPERSONALITIES, INNER CHILDREN, ARCHETYPES) and INTERNAL FAMILY SYSTEMS THERAPY: We are naturally born with multiple parts and a "core" or "true Self". Like members of a family, a person's inner parts can take on extreme roles or subpersonalities when we expereince single event pain and trauma or experience prolonged stress and pain such as in childhood neglect. Each part has its own perspective, interests, memories, and viewpoint. Every part has a positive intent, even if its actions are counterproductive and/or cause dysfunction. There is no need to fight with, coerce, or eliminate parts; Parts Work (informed though Internal Family Systems therapy) is an evidenced-based method that promotes internal connection and harmony to bring the mind back into balance.

In the IFS model, there are three general types of parts:

Exiles represent psychological trauma, often from childhood, and they carry the pain, shame and fear. Managers and Firefighters try to protect us by preventing the Exiles' pain from coming to awareness.

Managers take on a protective role. They influence the way we nteract with the external world, protecting us from harm and preventing painful or traumatic experiences from flooding our conscious awareness.

Firefighters emerge when Exiles flood us or demand attention. They work to divert attention away from the Exile's hurt and shame, which leads to impulsive and/or inappropriate behaviors like overeating, drug use or violence. They can also distract us from pain by excessively focusing attention on overworking or over-medicating.