Types of Therapy Reference Guide
Humanistic Therapy
Humanistic therapy is an approach which emphasizes the importance of being your true self in order to have a fulfilling life.
Humanistic therapy helps individuals feel empowered and active in the process of making changes in their lives.
Individuals who struggle with feeling empty, lack positive support in their lives, and seek to improve themselves benefit the most from humanistic therapy.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is used to help patients recognize negative and unhealthy thought and behavior patterns.
CBT helps you become aware of negative thinking you may be displaying and allows you to respond to challenging tasks in a more positive light.
Individuals who exhibit many forms of anxiety such as panic disorders, social anxiety, and phobias benefit from CBT.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EDMR)
EMDR is used to help individuals heal from symptoms caused by emotional stressors resulted from traumatic experiences.
EMDR is proven to be very effective for reducing PTSD and depression.
Individuals who struggle with severe trauma and have intense dreams, flashbacks, and anxiety-induced isolation interfere with their lives benefit from EMDR.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a treatment used for treating people’s emotional problems and mental illnesses.
Psychotherapy builds self-esteem, reduces anxiety, strengthens coping mechanisms, and improves social functioning.
Individuals struggling in coping with daily life, traumatic experiences, experiencing death of loved ones, depression, and anxiety will benefit from psychotherapy.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT is used to treat interpersonal conflicts and learning how to manage difficult emotions.
DBT helps people accept the reality of their lives and their behaviors, as well as learning how to change their lives and remove unhelpful behavior patterns.
Individuals who feel their lives are emotionally painful benefit from dialectical behavior therapy.
Trauma-Focused Therapy
Trauma-focused therapy is an approach which emphasizes the understanding of how traumatic experiences impacts an individual’s well-being.
Trauma-focused therapy helps individuals adapt skills and improve coping strategies to respond healthier towards triggers associated with the traumatic event.
Individuals who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder benefit from trauma-focused therapy.
Interpersonal Therapy
Interpersonal therapy focuses on diminishing negative symptoms and improving interpersonal functioning.
Interpersonal therapy helps identifying problems in how a person interacts or doesn't interact with others.
Individuals suffering from depression and anxiety benefit from interpersonal therapy.
Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT)
MBT is an evidence-based treatment which focuses on the individuals present, rather than past experiences.
MBT helps individuals increase the understanding of their and other people's feelings, as well as responding appropriately to other people's behaviors.
Individuals who suffer from borderline personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder benefit from MBT.
Animal-Assisted Therapy
Animal-assisted therapy is a therapeutic intervention which incorporates animals, namely dogs, horses, cats, and birds to help with treatment.
Animal-assisted therapy helps people recover and cope with health problems, such as heart disease, cancer, and mental health illnesses.
Individuals in long-term care facilities and who are receiving treatment for cancer benefit from animal-assisted therapy.
Holistic Therapy
Holistic therapy is an approach to support the individual as a whole, not just for their mental health concerns.
Holistic therapy helps individuals develop a deeper understanding for themselves by incorporating spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional forms of improvement for their well-being.
Individuals suffering from anxiety, depression, and trauma-related disorders benefit from holistic therapy.
Psychoanalytic Therapy
Psychoanalytic therapy is a form of in-depth talk therapy which aims to bring unconscious thoughts and feelings to the conscious mind for reexamining repressed experiences and emotions.
Psychoanalytic therapy helps individuals identify self-limiting patterns, heal from past experiences, and understand how their unconscious mind influences their behavior.
Individuals suffering from depression, emotional struggles, and emotional trauma benefit from psychoanalytic therapy.
Play Therapy
Play therapy uses play toys and games for children to explore, express, and safely experience the difficulties they are going through.
Play therapy helps children cope with difficult emotions and find solutions to their problems.
Children between the ages of 3-12 years old benefit from play therapy.
Gestalt Therapy
Gestalt therapy is centered on increasing a person's awareness, freedom, and self-direction.
Gestalt therapy helps individuals focus on the present and discover what immediate thoughts, feelings, or behavior that trigger anxiety.
Individuals who are interested in improving their self-awareness and have trouble understanding their own thoughts and actions benefit from gestalt therapy.
Prolonged Exposure Therapy
Prolonged exposure therapy (PE) allows you to work through painful memories in a safe supporting environment,
PE therapy allows you to participate in activities you're avoiding because of the trauma.
Individuals suffering from PTSD benefit from PE therapy.
§ Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is a mind-body intervention in which hypnosis is used to create a state of focused attention
Hypnotherapy helps with managing stress and anxiety
Individuals who suffer from depression, anxiety, PTSD, and eating disorders benefit from hypnotherapy.
Art Therapy
Art therapy is a practice which incorporates creative methods of expression through visual arts
Ø Art therapy helps patients interpret, express and resolve their emotions and thoughts.
Ø Individuals who suffer from severe stress, anxiety, and addictions benefit from art therapy.
Cognitive Processing Therapy
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) teaches you how to evaluate and change upsetting thoughts that triggered from trauma.
CPT helps reduce PTSD symptoms.
Individuals suffering from PTSD benefit from CPT.
Reality Therapy
Reality therapy views all behaviors by choice, this therapy doesn't consider mental health conditions.
Reality therapy helps people address any behavior that may prevent them from finding a solution to their issues.
Individuals suffering from addictions benefit from reality therapy.
Schema Therapy
Schema therapy focuses on changing schemas that are hindering the patient's life.
Schema therapy helps treating chronic depression, anxiety, and relationship difficulties.
Individuals who suffer from long-term mental health difficulties benefit from schema therapy.
Music Therapy
Music therapy uses musical interventions to accomplish individualized goals the patient is wanting to achieve.
Music therapy helps reduce stress, improves mood and self-expression.
Individuals who suffer from dementia, asthmatic episodes, and pain in hospitalized patients benefit from music therapy.
Family/Couple Therapy
Family/Couple therapy works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development.
Family/Couple therapy helps maintain healthy boundaries.
Single parent families and couples going through communication issues benefit from family/couple therapy.
General Systems Therapy
General Systems Therapy explores relationships as a system, including components, parts, relationships, and purpose
General Systems Therapy helps by resolving issues within a family as a complex entity.
Families who have communication issues benefit from general systems therapy.
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
PCIT is an approach for children who are disruptive at age 2-7 years old, as well as who have been abused from ages 2-12.
PCIT help improve the quality of the parent-child relationship and changing parent-child interaction patterns.
PCIT benefits foster caregivers and adoptive caregivers.
System Family Therapy
System family therapy focuses on exchanges of behavior that takes place in any given interaction between family members.
System family therapy increases family functioning through adaptive development and positive change.
Single parent families and families affected by chronic illnesses benefit from system family therapy.
Strategic Family Therapy
Strategic family therapy is aimed at encouraging family members to solve their issues as a unit.
Strategic family therapy reduces the risk factors that contribute to behavior problems and helps protect kids from future issues that may arise.
Children and adolescents 6 to 17 years old who deal with behavior problems benefit from strategic family therapy
