Therapeutic Approaches

Everyone is different and your individual needs and personality are the starting point for the counselling process. We will use our first session to make an assessment of the concerns and issues that are important to you and discuss the counselling process. A variety of therapy approaches are available depending on your needs.

Emotion Focused Therapy
The approach primarily used in our practice is Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT). This approach helps clients access and reflect on emotions as a source of meaning and growth. Twenty-five years of research has found the emotional processes in EFT help promote therapeutic change. A principle in EFT is 'the only way out of an emotion is through it'.

• EFT has been proven effective for individuals suffering from moderate depression, the effects of childhood abuse or deprivation, and a variety of general 'problems of living' including interpersonal problems.
• Research at York Psychotherapy Research Clinic has found 16-20 weeks of EFT for treatment of depression to have a 75% success rate.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
One of the more familiar approaches used to address the current demand for shorter-term therapy, we utilize Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) when indicated or in combination with other approaches.

• CBT is aimed at increasing awareness of, and challenging automatic thoughts triggered by particular situations and replacing these core thoughts and schemas with more constructive and empowering thoughts and beliefs.
• CBT is supported by empirical studies showing it is an effective mode of treatment for depression and anxiety disorders, and that depressed clients treated with CBT have a lower relapse rate than those treated with antidepressant medication alone.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) was first used with combat veterans suffering with PTSD and scientific research has established that it is effective for postraumatic stress. EMDR has continued to develop and evolve through the contributions of therapists and researchers worldwide.

• Clinicians using EMDR have reported success using EMDR in treatment of conditions such as: panic attacks; addictions; disturbing memories; anxiety disorder; phobias; performance anxiety; stress reduction; complicated grief and sexual/physical abuse.
• EMDR is a set of protocols that include elements from many different treatment approaches. Though no one understands exactly how EMDR works, what is known is that when someone is very upset, the brain cannot process information as it normally would. Moments can become frozen in time and continue to have a negative effect, interferring with the living of life. EMDR appears to have a direct effect on brain functionning allowing normal information processing to resume.
• For more information go to the EMDRIA website or contact Darlene Bamford.

Marital / Couple Counselling
The approach used in this practice is an experiential, family systems and research-based approach that focuses on the circular interactional cycles and emotional responses in a close relationship. This approach is a collaborative, respectful one that balances the input of each partner and utilizes techniques from several empirically tested models, including:

• Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples, designed to access new emotional experiences and foster a secure attachment bond. Studies have found 70-73% effectiveness rates after 8-12 sessions and stable results at a 2 year follow-up.
• Gottman Research based marital therapy, a systematic approach to building friendship and love, based on a 16 year research study on happily married couples.

Pastoral Counselling
In addition to our clinical training as individual and couple counsellors, we have received specialized training in pastoral counselling. Where appropriate, and when requested by the client, we bring openness to the spiritual dimension invloved in the complexities of life, and offer exploration and reflection on spiritual issues.

• Research has shown that including the spiritual dimension in counselling is valuable to some clients, in particular those who are religiously or spiritually oriented.

GriefRecovery®

• Grief is a normal and completely natural response to the losses we experience in life. These include loss caused by death, divorce or any other significant emotional loss. This program teaches effective tools for dealing with grief and provides the griever with opportunities to complete unfinished emotional business that time alone will not heal. Incomplete loss can shut down a person's ability to live in the present and love again. This process can be experienced in a one on one format through seven sessions or through a ten session workshop delivered in group format. Contact Darlene Bamford for more information.