My Therapeutic Approach

My approach has always been guided by the principles of evidence-based practice. This means I attempt to follow clinical practices and therapeutic techniques that have been shown to be effective through scientific studies (such as randomized controlled trials).

Alongside the principles of evidence-based practice during my 20+ years of working with clients, I have also found myself following an approach that can be referred to as practice-based evidence. By this, I mean that I use many ideas and practices that I have found to be highly effective in practice. How do I know this? Many of my clients show real improvements in the areas we’ve been working on. Sometimes this is in observable ways (they appear happier, more relaxed, less angry or anxious, better at communicating); sometimes this is what they tell me; and sometimes they demonstrate clinical improvement through formal measures (scales to measure anxiety or depression). If it seems to work, I do more of it!

My therapeutic approach combines ideas and techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). To this mix, I incorporate my learning about relationships from my systemic (family therapy) training and draw upon the important work of family and couples experts including John and Julie Gottman, David Schnarch, Sue Johnson and others.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is talking therapy that focuses on how your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes affect your emotions and behavior. It teaches you coping skills for dealing with different problems and helps you examine what you think and do, noticing how these elements influence each other.

CBT is based on the idea that the way we think about situations can affect the way we feel and behave. For example, if you interpret a situation negatively then you might experience negative emotions. Those bad feelings might then lead you to behave in a certain way, sometimes with unwanted outcomes!

Numerous clinical studies have shown CBT to be effective in the treatment of depression, anxiety, OCD, phobias, PTSD, substance abuse, anger problems and other specific behavior problems.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a type of talking treatment. It’s based on CBT but has been adapted to help people who experience emotions very intensely, struggle to tolerate difficult aspects of their lives, or have problems getting along with other people. It is a skills-based approach that helps people manage their emotions better, cope with distressing situations, and get along more easily with other people (family, spouses, friends and/or colleagues).

Like CBT, DBT also helps you to change unhelpful behaviors, but it differs from CBT in that it also focuses on accepting who (and where) you are now. DBT places particular importance on the client-therapist relationship, and this relationship is used to actively motivate you to change. In DBT, there is also a big emphasis on mindfulness, something that has increasingly become a vital part of many therapeutic approaches to psychological well-being. I have practiced and taught mindfulness for over 15 years. DBT is proven to be very effective with people who experience strong urges to harm themselves or suffer with suicidal thoughts and urges. Drawing upon my extensive experience as a DBT therapist, I aim to provide DBT-informed, skills-based style of therapy.

Family Therapy (Also Known As Systemic Psychotherapy)

Family Therapy – sometimes known as Systemic Psychotherapy – pays attention to relationships rather than focusing exclusively on the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of a single person. Family Therapy can help family members, couples and others who care about each other to talk about and explore difficult thoughts and emotions safely. Through understanding each other’s experiences and views, people can better appreciate each other’s needs, build on existing strengths and make useful changes in their relationships and their lives.

These days, I use my Family Therapy training in my work with couples, but will also work with other kinds of relationships. For example, if you’re having difficulties getting along with your siblings, your parent(s) or your child(ren), I may be able to help.

As a family therapist I aim to be inclusive and to consider the needs of all family members as well as other key relationships in people’s lives. I strive to recognize and build on peoples’ strengths and relational resources and to work in partnership “with” families and others, not “on” them. I always try to be sensitive to each family’s setup, beliefs, cultural influences and values.

Family therapy offers people a valuable opportunity to hear each other talk in a different way. This can lead to new ways of thinking about each other (e.g. “I didn’t know you thought that”) and a better understanding of each other’s perspectives, experiences, thoughts and feelings. This can then lead to new ways of doing things as a family, changes to relationships, and to real resolutions to problems and issues.

Mindfulness

Woven into everything I do in therapy is the core concept of mindfulness. Simply put, mindfulness is awareness. This means being aware of everything that you can be aware of at any one time (such as sounds, smells and other sensory information, but also thoughts, beliefs and opinions, judgments, emotions and urges). I would go as far as to say that CBT, DBT and family therapy cannot be effective without awareness. As noted, above, mindfulness itself is a core component of DBT.

There’s plenty of scientific evidence that convinces me that mindfulness really helps towards living a happier, more serene life including coping with pain, stress and worry much more effectively (see the work of scientists and practitioners such as Richard Davidson, Jon Kabat-Zinn and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche).

In my therapy I frequently introduce my clients to mindfulness; provide guidance and pointers towards learning more about it and how to do it; and encourage them to draw upon mindful awareness while addressing their issues and problems.