Where the science of therapy blends with the art of meaningful connection

Attachment/relational/psychodynamic therapy is based on the idea that behaviour and mental well-being are influenced by childhood experiences and inappropriate repetitive thoughts or feelings that are unconscious (outside of the person’s awareness). An individual works with the therapist to improve self-awareness and to change old patterns so they can take charge of their life (American Psychiatric Association).

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) is an evidence based short-term treatment initially developed to treat depression, and expanded to address additional concerns as well, such as anxiety and trauma related issues. Treatment is tailored to address four possible areas of focus: grief/complicated bereavement, role transitions, role disputes, general difficulties to communicate with others.

Mentalization-based therapy, a form of psychodynamic psychotherapy, aims to increase client's emotional awareness of themselves and others, as well as ways to improve ways of grappling with emotions, communicating and relating to others.

Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) is a therapeutic modality that focuses, at the core, on the processing of emotions. Emotions are understood to be the driving force in the development of our sense of self. Within the context of this type of treatment, the goal is to help clients process their blocked emotions, by enhancing their emotional awareness, and in turn support clients to increase their window of tolerance of painful emotions. In this sense, both relational psychodynamic approaches and EFT share a common goal.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helps people identify and change thinking and behavior patterns that are harmful or ineffective, replacing them with more accurate thoughts and functional behaviors. It can help a person focus on current problems and how to solve them. It often involves practicing new skills in the “real world.” CBT can be helpful in treating a variety of disorders, including depression, anxiety, trauma related disorders, and eating disorders. For example, CBT can help a person with depression recognize and change negative thought patterns or behaviors that are contributing to the depression (American Psychiatric Association).

Mindfulness based approaches are based on ample research evidence that supports the use of mindfulness mediation to enhance a sense of psychological wellbeing. At the core, these various approaches strive to support clients to cultivate a sense of being present in the moment, particularly when facing multiple stressors.

IFS offers a conceptual framework for understanding the different “parts” of an individual’s personality. Such aspects have different functions within the human psyche, and in IFS they are divided into managers, firefighters and exiles. As a therapeutic modality, IFS attempts to foster a sense of ease by exploring the interactions between the different “parts.”