Therapy has been shown to have benefits for the individuals who go through it. Those benefits can far outweigh discomfort experienced during the process. Therapy can lead to improved relationships, solutions to specific problems, and can help to decrease in distress in a person’s life.

In my view, working with clients means tailoring the therapeutic approach taken in sessions, and in treatment, to meet the needs of each client individually. This involves assessing current concerns and helping the individual work towards a productive life experience. Whatever the situation, the therapeutic work is based on the assumption each client knows what they need and the therapeutic process allows for clients to utilize their innate capacity to discover solutions for themselves.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy or EMDR is an effective type of therapy which has been thoroughly researched and shown to help people heal from trauma and other distressing life experiences like PTSD, anxiety, and depression. EMDR is designed to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in the brain and resume its natural healing process.

When something scary happens, stress responses are part of our natural fight, flight, or freeze instincts. Our brains have a natural way to recover from the stress response from traumatic memories and events. While many times traumatic experiences can be managed and resolved spontaneously, sometimes they may not be processed without help. When distress from a disturbing event remains, the upsetting images, thoughts, and emotions may create feelings of being overwhelmed, of being back in the moment, or of being stuck. By mimicking REM (rapid eye movement) sleep EMDR therapy helps the brain process these memories, and allows the natural healing process of the brain to resume. The experience is still remembered, but the fight, flight, or freeze response has been processed.

EMDR is different from other therapies as EMDR does not require a person to talk about the disturbing event. Instead EMDR uses a set of procedures to help organize the negative and positive emotions and thoughts and then uses eye movements or tapping to help process the disturbing memory. During EMDR a person remains in wide-awake and in control, they can stop the process at any time. Because EMDR uses the brain’s natural healing process, new connections and insights come from the person.

More information can be found at emdria.org

TF-CBT is an evidence-based treatment to help children and adolescents recover after trauma. TF-CBT is a structured treatment model that effectively improves a range of trauma-related outcomes with the participation of child/adolescent and caregiver. Although TF-CBT is highly effective at improving youth posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and diagnosis, a PTSD diagnosis is not required in order to receive this treatment. TF-CBT also effectively addresses many other trauma impacts, including affective (e.g., depressive, anxiety), cognitive and behavioral problems, as well as improving the participating parent’s or caregiver’s personal distress about the child’s traumatic experience, effective parenting skills, and supportive interactions with the child. Research now documents that TF-CBT is effective for diverse, multiple and complex trauma experiences, for youth of different developmental levels, and across different cultures.

More information can be found at tfcbt.org

While sexual exploration and play are a natural part of childhood sexual development, some children's sexual behavior indicates more than harmless curiosity. In cases where sexual behaviors pose a risk to the safety or well-being of the child and other children, it is imperative for families and communities to step in and intervene through proper identification, support, and treatment.

Problematic Sexual Behavior - Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (PSB-CBT) is a comprehensive family-based clinical treatment intervention for school aged children with problematic sexual behaviors. The treatment model is family-oriented and are designed to eliminate problematic sexual behaviors and improve prosocial behavior and adjustment, while reducing stress and enhancing skills in parents and caregivers. The PSB-CBT models were developed and tested at the Center on Child Abuse and Neglect at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

More information can be found at psbcbt.ouhsc.edu