Cognitive Behavioral
Cognitive therapy or cognitive behavior therapy is a kind of psychotherapy used
to treat depression, anxiety disorders, phobias, delusional disorder, eating disorders
and other forms of mental disorders. It involves recognizing unhelpful or destructive
patterns of thinking and reacting, then modifying or replacing these with more realistic
or helpful ones. Clinical depression is typically thought to be associated with
negatively biased thinking and irrational thoughts.
Psychodynamic
Psychodynamics is the study of the interrelationship of various parts of the mind,
personality, or psyche as it relates to mental, emotional, or motivational forces
especially at the subconscious level. A focus in psychodynamics is the connection
between the emotional states in the id (child), ego (adult), and superego (parent)
as they relate to early childhood developments and processes.
Gestalt
At Gestalt Therapy's core is the promotion of awareness, the awareness of the unity
of all present feelings and behaviors, and the contact between the self and its
environment. It is a very "here and now" philosophy of addressing the issues or
problems within the context of "today", as opposed to what happened in one's childhood.
Family Systems
Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy and family systems
therapy, works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change
and development. It tends to view these in terms of the systems of interaction between
family members. It emphasizes family relationships as an important factor in psychological
health. Family therapists focus more on how patterns of interaction maintain the
problem rather than trying to identify the cause, as this can be experienced as
blaming by some families. It assumes that the family as a whole is larger than the
sum of its parts.
Integrative
This technique combines the core needs of the client with whatever therapeutic focus
is best suited for the client's needs. Some people respond best to certain specific
directives, such as cognitive behavioral approaches. Other people may want or require
in-depth psyche analysis. Still others may have different needs at different times,
for different situations. This therapeutic focus allows the therapist not to be
locked into one approach, but allow for the best approach for the needs of the individual
client.