Therapy Sketches
Reflections from the members of our clinical team on connections and insights made in psychotherapy about the lives we live and how it impacts our mental health.
Older sketches
Feedback Informed Treatment: What does it mean?
July 2025
Therapists generally use various tools to assess their clients, including standardized tests, individual narratives, and other assessment methods. A feedback-informed approach is also a tool for therapists to get real-time information about treatment progress. A feedback-informed treatment (FIT) functions as more than just an assessment tool in therapy; […]
Meeting Clients Where They Are: Cultural Competency in Psychotherapy
July 2025
In today’s world, which has been overtaken by globalization and the spread of multiculturalism, mental health professionals are serving individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds more frequently than in the past. The current situation necessitates a cultural competence framework that enables clinicians to provide sensitive, effective, and […]
The Power of Being Trauma-Informed: Transforming Therapeutic Relationships
June 2025
It is well known that most individuals experience trauma during their lifetime (SAMHSA, 2014). Trauma is a widespread problem that deeply affects every individual, regardless of age, background, or community. Generally defined as an experience that exceeds an individual’s coping capacity, trauma can result from a series […]
Evidence-Based Approach in Psychotherapy: Why is it important?
June 2025
According to the American Psychological Association (APA, 2006), evidence-based approach or practice is “the integration of the best available research results with clinical practice in the context of an individual’s characteristics, culture, and preferences.” In this respect, evidence-based practice is a way to approach empirical knowledge and […]
The Person-Centered Approach: A Humanistic Framework for Therapeutic Growth
June 2025
In contemporary psychotherapy, the therapeutic relationship is increasingly recognized not only as a means of delivering interventions but also as a fundamental tool for psychological change in its own right (Norcross & Wampold, 2011). Among the approaches that place the therapeutic relationship at the center of […]
Understanding Psychodynamic Therapy: Theory, Mechanisms, and Therapeutic Scope
June 2025
Psychodynamic therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach that aims to understand the unconscious processes that shape an individual’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Psychodynamic therapy, which seeks to take a deep journey into the individual’s inner world, is concerned not only with the visible symptoms but also with the […]
From Beliefs to Behavior: A Scientific Perspective on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
May 2025
Developed by American psychologist Albert Ellis in the 1950s, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), previously called rational therapy and rational emotional therapy, is an active-directive, philosophical, and empirically based psychotherapy method that aims to help individuals solve their emotional and behavioral problems and […]
Emotion Regulation and Beyond: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
May 2025
Developed in the 1970s by psychologist Marsha Linehan to treat her own Borderline Personality Disorder, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a type of talk therapy specifically adapted for individuals who experience emotions very intensely. DBT is based on helping individuals accept the reality of their lives and behaviors, […]
EMDR Therapy: A Comprehensive Overview of Theory, Mechanisms, and Applications
May 2025
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing, known as EMDR, was developed by Francine Shapiro in 1987. This method, which has been approved by institutions such as the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), […]
Shifting Between Survival Modes: Understanding Trauma Through Polyvagal Theory
May 2025
The Polyvagal Theory, developed by Stephen Porges to explain the autonomic nervous system’s relationship with social connectedness, security perception, and threat responses, provides a neurophysiological framework. Polyvagal Theory proposes that the autonomic nervous system, specifically the vagus nerve, regulates an individual’s health and behavior. Unlike previous […]
The Science of Safety & Social Connection: Polyvagal Theory
April 2025
Many traditional modalities often overlook that feelings of safety stem from intrinsic physiological states. Polyvagal Theory highlights that our sense of safety stems from a measurable neurophysiological basis. Furthermore, it integrates neuroanatomy and neurophysiology to explore the need for security, which provides a fresh scientific perspective […]
Understanding Internal Family Systems: A Contemporary Approach to Psychotherapy
April 2025
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an evidence-based psychotherapy method developed by Richard C. Schwartz. The theory of IFS offers a way to understand and treat inner processes by applying systems theories and techniques. This therapy approach is designed to release internal constraints that prevent people from […]