Ross W. Davidson

   Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor

   Masters Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor

A good therapist is able to select and utilize several therapy treatments that both suit the client and the type of mental health condition they are suffering. There are many good therapies, but if one does not work for you to successfully alleviate your condition, then other therapy techniques must be used. The best approach is to borrow from several therapies. This is known as the eclectic approach. Some of the therapy techniques I utilize are described below.
 

Psychodynamic therapies

There are several types of psychodynamic approaches. The most well known is perhaps Psychoanalysis. Psychodynamic therapies, originally pioneered by Sigmund Freud, concentrate on utilizing the relationship between the therapist and client as a means of examining the client’s other relationships. People develop ways of relating to others by learning from their parents, siblings and peers while growing up. Sometimes the ways we learn to relate to others are only functional while we are children, becoming dysfunctional as we become adults. Psychodynamic models of therapy assume that clients unconsciously “project” onto the therapist various roles and unconsciously relate to the therapist as if they were, for example, one’s father or mother. In examining the ways in which the client interacts with the therapist, the therapist can bring to consciousness these unconscious, dysfunctional ways of relating to others. Additionally, psychodynamic approaches assume that people are driven by unconscious instincts, for example the death instinct, which conflict with other, conscious desires, such as the desire to be safe and sane. Therapists seek to bring to consciousness in the client these primal instincts and how they may be creating dysfunction. More information about psychodynamic therapies can be seen at Psychodynamic at Wikipedia.
 

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

Developed by Marsha Linehan originally for those suffering Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), DBT combines CBT, Buddhist mindfulness, and distress tolerance, self-soothing and emotion regulation skills to help people develop and use their “wise mind”. The “wise mind” enables people to validate their own emotional experiences while tempering impulsive, unconsciously motivated actions that often led people into painful situations and relationships. There are many useful ideas and skills to be learned from DBT that can apply to a number of mental health disorders. 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

CBT addresses problematic thoughts (cognition) and behaviors by first making them known to the client and then substituting more realistic thoughts and less harmful behaviors for those that are dysfunctional. Keeping journals, such as a feelings journal, can help the client become more conscious of thoughts and feelings that are problematic. Likewise, logs or journals of behaviors, such as when you go to bed and what you do just before going to bed can bring to consciousness problematic behaviors. Behaviors and thoughts influence each other and it is best to look at them together. 
 

Humanistic Psychology

Therapies such as Gestalt Therapy, Existential Psychology and Carl Roger’s Client-Centered Psychology are all humanistic therapies. The therapist employs empathy and “unconditional positive regard” in partnering with the client to discover and correct problematic self-concepts and behaviors. The client is not identified with their diagnosis but rather the client is seen as a whole and complicated person with faults and strengths. In addition to thoughts, behaviors and emotions, people are thought to have a higher self or to be part of the collective unconscious.