Treatment Approaches

CBT is a structured psychological treatment that focusses on understanding the relationship between cognitions, behaviours and emotions. In CBT, you work with your psychologist to identify and change unhelpful thought and behaviour patterns that may be contributing to psychological distress. CBT has been shown to be effective in the treatment of a range of presenting issues, including mood and anxiety disorders.

ACT uses acceptance, mindfulness strategies and commitment to behaviour change to enhance psychological flexibility and better cope with suffering. You work with your psychologist to develop skills to enhance present-moment connectedness, observe and disengage from unhelpful thinking patterns, and reduce avoidance to ‘let go’ of struggle with difficult emotions. These skills, along with increasing your connection with your values (what’s important to you), will support you in working towards important life goals in order to create a rich, meaningful and fulfilling life.

DBT is a type of CBT that focuses on the use of acceptance and change skills to work towards personal goals and develop a life worth living. You work with your psychologist to develop skills in the areas of mindfulness, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness and distress tolerance. DBT is most recognised for the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder but has been found to be helpful for other conditions, including PTSD, eating disorders, and suicidal and self-harm behaviours.

CFT is a multi-modal treatment approach that focusses on cultivating and using compassion skills in attending to suffering, including challenging emotions and situations. You work with your psychologist to develop compassionate strategies to engage with your struggles, reduce self-criticism and alleviate the suffering that comes from difficult life situations.

Mindfulness involves paying attention to one thing at a time and learning to bring your attention back when your mind gets distracted. It also involves bringing an attitude of non-judgemental awareness, openness, and curiosity to your experience. Meditation refers to the formal practice of mindfulness.  In mindfulness training, you work with your psychologist to improve your capacity for ‘present-moment’ awareness. You increase your ability to observe and be non-reactive to external situations and internal experiences, such as distressing thoughts and feelings. Cultivating this stance of observation enables you to relate to your experiences with greater awareness, perspective and compassion. It also facilitates breaking automatic and unhelpful patterns of responding to your experiences, which may be contributing to distress in your life.  Mindfulness is incorporated in a number of psychotherapy treatments, including ACT, DBT, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and Compassion-Focussed Therapy.

IPT is a structured attachment-based therapy that focusses on interpersonal relationships and the impact on psychological distress. Within this therapy, you work with your psychologist to enhance interpersonal functioning, relationships and social supports to reduce psychological distress symptoms. IPT focusses on interventions and skills-building to address interpersonal contributors to psychological distress including relationship conflict, grief and loss issues, and life and role transitions.