A Holistic, Integrated Perspective
Holistic View
Change work can be most effective when elements of a person's whole life are considered. Clients are always invited to explore the 8 Dimensions of Wellness framework that includes emotional, financial, social, spiritual, occupational, physical, intellectual, and environmental elements. People are not made up of separate parts that do not interconnect, and people do not exist alone. Understanding positive and negative influences and connections helps in developing change that is appropriate and sustainable.
Integrated Approach
Each client has different issues, life situations, and ways of processing information and experiencing change. To optimize treatment, it is often useful to integrate, or blend together, different therapeutic approaches. This helps to:
- Define specific, measurable, achievable goals
- Gain clarity on why and what to change, and assess readiness to change
- Name key strengths, tap into ways to use them in therapy, and decide how to develop them further
- Practice holding new beliefs and thoughts and translating them into personal action for sustainable change
- Identify relevant ideas and build skills that enhance awareness of maintaining a healthy, congruent living style
Approaches that Guide Treatment at Sun Ridge
The following therapeutic approaches are used singly or in combination to best address each client's needs. They are evidence-based approaches, meaning research is ongoing to understand and improve effectiveness. In evidence-based practice, therapy combines well-researched interventions, the therapist's clinical experience and ethical practices, and the client's preferences and culture to optimize treatment and assess results.
CBT - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - Helps identify and address thoughts and feelings that influence behaviors. Just because we have a thought does not mean it is true. The work examines negative, distorted thoughts and beliefs to replace them with healthy ones. Clients learn strategies to reduce negative and obsessive thoughts and internal critical voices.
DBT - Dialectical Behavior Therapy - Supports learning and practicing new skills to manage emotions, reduce distress, and decrease conflict in relationships. The work addresses four specific areas: Mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness to communicate clearly, maintain self-respect, and strengthen relationships.
EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing - Helps process and reduce negative feelings around memories of traumatic events. Specific EMDR steps are designed to help the brain resolve unprocessed traumatic memories rather than only focusing via talk therapy on identifying and changing emotions, thoughts, or behaviors resulting from the events.
FST - Family Systems Therapy (Bowen) - Uses the perspective that it is easier to understand individuals' problems when they are viewed in the context of family relationships. The work is to explore and assess the family as an interdependent system, and help family members develop emotional independence while maintaining healthy family connection.
Psychodynamic Therapy - Helps to explore how thoughts and emotions began in childhood and to identify past experiences that influence current difficulties. There can be conscious and unconscious ideas and motivations that block healthy change and growth. Identifying important experiences in the family of origin and other key relationships is an important aspect of this approach.
SFBT - Solution-Focused Brief Therapy - Focuses on a person's present situation and future goals. The work is to develop a clear and specific vision of the desired future; clarify specific goals and objectives; and identify the skills, abilities, and resources the client has already or needs to obtain to achieve the goals quickly.
Other important approaches are also used singly or in combination to further strengthen self-awareness, self-appreciation, recognition of personal values, and belief in a positive future.
ACT - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - Helps in learning how to be present with what life brings, stay open to difficult or unpleasant feelings without overreacting, and not avoid situations that can cause such feelings to occur. The work combines elements of acceptance and mindfulness strategies, together with commitment and behavior change strategies, to increase psychological flexibility.
MSC - Mindful Self-Compassion - Focuses on combining mindfulness with the emotional practice of self-compassion. The work is to develop mindfulness (awareness and presence) and utilize it to support emotional development for self-compassion -- the capacity to comfort, soothe, and encourage oneself when suffering, failing, or feeling inadequate.
Narrative Therapy - Helps in understanding how personal experience forges influential stories that shape identity. The work is to step out of a long-held story; the client becomes a narrator to objectify an issue, develop greater self-compassion, and address the issue in a more productive way. This can strengthen the sense of being capable of change and the ability to create new, more positive stories.
Relational Therapy - Based on the the view that relationships are essential to emotional well-being. The work is to clarify how a client operates in relation to others and how relating patterns can impact mental and emotional well-being. A goal can be to move from a sense of disconnection or diminished self-worth to enjoying and trusting connections with people and feeling greater self-respect.