About Therapy
There are many different styles of therapy for clients and therapists to choose from. While the most important indicator of success is the therapist-client relationship (whether or not you like your therapist), therapy can also feel weird if it happens differently than you want or expect. I’d like to tell you a bit about the styles of individual and family therapy I practice and how that translates to our sessions together.
Types of therapy
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Narrative therapy
Narrative therapy is my main therapeutic model. It’s interested in the stories that we tell ourselves and others, and how looking at those stories in new ways might help us change. Narrative therapy emphasizes people’s strengths and resources and has a strong social justice stance.
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Solution-focused therapy
Solution-focused therapy is focused on setting goals and making incremental, tangible progress towards those goals. It’s great for concrete thinkers. I incorporate solution-focused interventions in my narrative therapy framework, so we can better track whatever it is what you are working on.
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Family systems therapy
Family systems therapy considers how important the family unit is in making sustainable change. It looks at family patterns across generations and helps understand relationships and power dynamics within the family.
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Other therapy models
There are so many more types of therapy! Some other methods I pull from include the Gottman method for couples and motivational interviewing for clients struggling to make changes (usually medically-related).
If you have had negative experiences with therapists in the past but weren’t totally sure why, I encourage you to do more research on types of therapy - maybe their style just wasn’t for you. However, a good clinician will also ask for your feedback and your preferences in the therapy room.
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