Psychotherapy comes in all shapes and sizes. That’s part of what makes it so effective, as clients and their needs are intensely individualized and based on what they're looking for in the therapy room. Each therapist is drawn to a particular orientation that not only fits their specific style, but also meets the needs of the client in front of them.
How do you know what therapeutic modality would be the right fit for you? Below is a breakdown on seven different types of common modalities used in the therapy room. Give them a read and see what feels like the right fit for you.
Motivational Interviewing
Motivational Interviewing, or MI, is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication used to elicit change and make decisions. Using this modality, the therapist is never confrontational, giving unsolicited advice, instructing, confronting or directing. The goal is to help people with high ambivalence towards problems, or low confidence in solving problems, to enhance personal motivation and commitment to goal setting and behavior changes. With this modality, the clinician becomes an equal partner in helping clients feel empowered to make change in a respectful, compassionate, and curious way. Through the use of open-ending questions, reflections, affirmations, and summarization, the clinician aids the client in coming to their own solutions. MI is particularly useful for clients’ struggling to make change, looking for a non-judgmental stance on issues, and seeking to find the power within.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is a well known therapeutic modality based on the theory that psychological problems are based on unhelpful ways of thinking, behaving, and coping. CBT aims to help clients identify distortions in their thinking and perceptions to make shifts towards more empowering and reality based alternatives. Through this, client’s gain a better understanding of their motivations for behaviors, and can use practical problem solving skills to cope with difficult stressors. Simply put, CBT posits that what we think becomes our reality, and challenging these thoughts can lead to drastic changes in behavior and self-image, allowing us to engage in the world more freely. CBT is useful for a client looking for exercises to challenge their perspective and coping strategies, while gaining clarity on confusing thought processes.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
The “D” in “DBT”, stands for Dialectical, meaning the synthesis or integration of opposites. DBT aims to teach clients how to emotionally regulate, develop skills to cope with emotions, improve relationships with others and integrate techniques to feel the present moment. Known most for it’s use in treatment for those with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), it has expanded to have it’s skills building techniques used with a variety of clients. Traditional DBT includes individual psychotherapy, skills building groups, and in the moment phone coaching. DBT is based on four modules of skills building, which includes mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness and emotion regulation. These modules aid clinicians in helping assess situations & behaviors relevant to clients in order to problem solve. For those prone to mood swings, high emotionality, and struggles within relationships, DBT may be the right fit for you.
Trauma Informed Therapy
Trauma informed therapy is typically a blend of other modalities that takes a trauma-informed framework. This therapy involves the realization that the impact of trauma is widespread, recognition of the signs & symptoms of trauma in clients, families, and others, while responding to this with information that actively seeks to integrate knowledge of trauma into clinical practice. The clinician works to actively resist re-traumatization by understanding the tools and techniques needed to process trauma in psychotherapy. For those with a trauma history, seeking a trauma informed therapist is crucial to the healing process.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) is unique in its emphasis of both mindfulness and self-acceptance. It aims to help clients embrace tough feelings and thoughts without fighting or fleeing from them. By doing this, ACT allows for psychological flexibility in dealing with problems, while emphasizing the role of commitment to facing your problems head on. The empowerment that is fostered through ACT allows clients to take full control of their lives. For those ready to take a leap into the unknown, ACT is the modality for you.
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy approach developed to alleviate distress associated with traumatic memories. This type of trauma therapy posits that directed lateral eye movements, and other bilateral stimulation, facilitates the access to traumatic memory networks in order to re-associate new feelings and body sensations with traumatic memories. EMDR therapy must be done with an EMDR certified clinician, and is a type of “bottom up” trauma processing, which aims to engage the body and it’s responses in trauma healing, rather than “top down” approaches of processing trauma via talk therapy. For those struggling with PTSD who have not seen movement in traditional talk therapy, EMDR may be the next track to take.
Exposure Therapy
Exposure therapy is aimed to help people identify and confront fears through breaking the cycle of avoidance and fear. It posits that short-term avoidance creates long-term fear. Through this therapy, a clinician creates a safe environment in which clients can be “exposed” to the things they fear or avoid. Exposure therapy has many different types of application, and has been scientifically demonstrated to be a valid treatment modality. The goal of this therapy is to reduce reactions to fear, weaken previously learned associations, increase a sense of self-efficacy, and allow for deeper emotional processing. For those struggling with panic symptoms, phobias, trauma responses, or acute anxiety, a version of exposure therapy may help you navigate and lessen your symptoms.
Most clinicians carry an eclectic approach, meaning they may blend modalities to aid the clients in finding the right approach towards change. If you are dealing with a specific issue, it’s worth investigating what modality might be the right fit for you, and basing your search for a therapist on this criteria.
