What Kind of Therapy is Right for Me?
If you’re thinking about starting therapy, first of all–yay! You’re thinking of doing something brave.
Therapy is hard work, and it takes a lot of vulnerability, but it can be one of the most rewarding processes to go through. Deciding you’re willing to do the hard work to understand the experiences that inform your worldview and heal the wounds that keep you stuck is an incredible choice and deserves credit and celebration.
But while it can seem like a simple choice, “I want to start therapy,” there are actually a lot of little choices that come along with it. Will you be doing in-person or virtual therapy? Will you find a therapist in-network with your insurance or out of network? Is individual therapy the right choice for you, or would couples, family, or group therapy be more effective?
And, a question that a lot of people don’t know to ask, what modality would be most helpful for you? A modality is the way a therapist practices therapy. It is the “mode” in which therapy is done–AKA how your therapist guides you through the process of treatment. Not every therapist offers the same type of treatment, and depending on the type of support you’re looking for, some modalities may be more effective than others!
Read on for a few brief introductions to 6 different types of therapy available at Hope+Wellness.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy:
CBT is an approach that focuses on how our thinking patterns influence our behavioral patterns. The main idea behind CBT is that thoughts influence how we feel and act. Basically: how we act can in turn also affect how we think and feel in a given situation, and our unhelpful thoughts can then lead to unhealthy behaviors and feelings. CBT helps you to understand and break this cycle.
A teen who is depressed might think, "Everything is hopeless," or "There's no point to anything I do."
Emotionally, these thoughts may occur with feelings of sadness, depression, apathy, and lack of motivation. Behaviorally, the depression may appear as increased isolation, withdrawal from usual activities, refusal to attend school, etc. However, these behaviors only reinforce the negative thinking patterns, and exacerbates the cycle of withdrawing from life due to a feeling that there’s no point in participating.
Read more about how CBT works here.
Exposure & Response Prevention:
ERP was developed to treat OCD, and it can be an incredibly effective form of treatment for folks dealing with obsessive thoughts and compulsions.
To understand ERP, it can help to understand more about how Obsessive Compulsive Disorder works. OCD involves intrusive thoughts that are disturbing and unwelcome. Often, these thoughts create a lot of distress for the person who is experiencing them. When these thoughts pop up and cause distress, people with OCD attempt to relieve the distress through compulsions, which may work briefly.
There are two parts to ERP - the exposure and the response prevention. Within the safety of a therapist’s office, you’ll be exposed to the triggers and thoughts that cause you distress. Then, you’ll practice resisting the urge to perform the corresponding compulsions or rituals.
Read more about what Exposure & Response Prevention is here.
Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It’s a kind of psychotherapy that was developed in the 1980s by Francine Shapiro. Dr. Shapiro was walking outdoors in 1987 when she noticed that the distress she was feeling, related to upsetting memories, was lowered when she moved her eyes back and forth. She did further studies on this phenomenon, and eventually developed EMDR as the treatment it is today, as well as the Adaptive Information Processing model to explain how the treatment works.
The basic premise of EMDR is that our minds can heal wounds in the same way that our bodies can, but sometimes those wounds don’t heal correctly and cause pain long after the event in question. It’s almost like the painful memories and emotions get stuck. When this happens, we experience negative outcomes like trauma, anxiety, and other kinds of emotional and mental distress. Resolving these issues requires us to access and process these stuck memories and emotions, which happens through EMDR.
EMDR offers a way to locate, access, and reprocess these stuck memories and emotions. The goal is to change the way the brain is storing these stuck memories so that they stop causing pain. EMDR treatment requires a clinician who is trained in EMDR, because the process of accessing and reprocessing traumatic memories is very sensitive. EMDR therapists have extensive training in the background of why EMDR works, and how to adapt it for different situations based on what the client needs.
Group Therapy:
Group therapy is what it sounds like - a small group of people, usually facing similar challenges or circumstances, who meet regularly with a therapist to share experiences, offer support, and practice new coping strategies together.
Unlike one-on-one therapy, where the focus is solely on you and your personal struggles, group therapy provides you an opportunity to connect with others, hear new perspectives, and realize that you’re not alone in what you’re experiencing. While it may feel unfamiliar at first, the support, community, shared understanding, validation, and insights you gain from a group setting can be deeply healing and transformative.
Therapy groups are typically led by a licensed therapist who ensures a safe, respectful, and supportive environment. Group therapy facilitators provide psychoeducation about the challenges that members are experiencing, and teach coping skills that can help members navigate those challenges more effectively. Whether it’s strategies to manage distress, tools for improving communication, or insights into emotional regulation, group members receive expert guidance throughout the process.
Learn more about Group Therapy here.
Internal Family Systems Therapy:
The main idea behind Internal Family Systems therapy is that our mind is not a single entity but a system of parts, each with its own perspectives, feelings, and roles. These parts are often in conflict, which can lead to emotional distress and mental health issues. Rather than there just being one true version of ourselves, IFS recognizes that we often have subpersonalities and different parts that can contribute to distress when they are not in alignment. These parts each play different roles, like different members of a family.
IFS helps individuals understand and heal their internal world by focusing on the relationship between these parts. Internal Family Systems views everyone as having a Self that is wise, compassionate, and capable of leading the internal system (your internal family of parts) toward healing and harmony.
Spiritually Integrated Therapy:
Spiritual wellness asks us to explore our beliefs, our values, and how we connect with and interact with the world we live in. It asks us to think deeper than the present moment, and find a larger meaning to pursue. Being spiritually well can mean feeling in alignment with your beliefs and actions, and aid in reducing feelings of depression, anxiety, listlessness, or an overall lack of purpose.
Within Spiritually Integrated Therapy, your therapist will make use of your spiritual beliefs and incorporate them into your care. Rather than being rooted in a single expression of spirituality or religion, spiritually integrated therapy will draw on your connection to your spirituality, to work within your core values and beliefs to help facilitate your growth and healing.
Learn more about Spiritually Integrated Therapy here.
Have more concerns about starting therapy? Check out our other resources:
At Hope+Wellness, we offer a variety of different modalities, addressing a wide variety of concerns. Our clinicians at Hope+Wellness offer therapy in our office and online. We serve the McLean, Great Falls, Falls Church, Arlington, Alexandria, and the greater Washington DC regions, as well as offering online services in DC, MD, VA, and all PSYPACT states. If you would like to talk to one of our therapists, please contact info@hope-wellness.com.
The act of movement via slow to moderate walking as you walk with your therapist outdoors can help facilitate healing in a profound way.