LIFE DIRECTION THERAPY

Emotional Focused Therapy (EFT) was developed by Leslie Greenberg at York University in the 1980s and 1990s. Dr Greenberg and his colleagues have adapted EFT for both couples and families. Over the years, research on EFT has provided evidence that it is an effective treatment for emotional issues; i.e. it is an empirically supported therapy.

Basically, Emotion-focused Therapy (EFT) is built on the premise that all emotions are helpful and adaptive, even the emotions normally regarded as “negative” (e.g. sadness and anger). They are not viewed as negative because they are a problem. They are called negative because most people experience them as unpleasant. Despite being unpleasant, they serve a purpose and are adaptive. All emotions are intense and their common purpose is to get our attention. Specific emotions have specific purposes, but in general they guide us towards what we need and want. They help us protect our boundaries, manage our own behaviour and avoid things that we do not want in our life. The goal of EFT is to help people accept, tolerate, express, regulate, and make sense of their emotions. EFT often encourages people to experience their emotions in the safety of therapy, and not just “talk about” their emotions. EFT helps people develop emotional intelligence and helps them build healthy relationships. EFT helps people to be comfortable with their emotions, trust them, and rely on them. EFT also helps people identify old, maladaptive emotional/behavioural patterns from the past that interfere with relationships in their present lives.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) was developed by Aaron Beck in the 1960s and quickly grew to be the most widely used therapy in North America.

Basically, CBT assumes that the way we feel is largely determined by how we think and how we behave. It is also true that our mood can affect how we think and behave, and our physical body affects and is affected by these factors as well. This interaction of thinking, behaviour, physical body and mood is shown in Figure 1 on the back of this page.

Unfortunately we cannot change mood directly. If you can remember being angry and someone telling you NOT to be angry, you know this first hand. You cannot simply change your mood state directly. Mood can be affected by the physical body through the action of psychotropic drugs (e.g. antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication). However, there is growing research evidence that shows psychotherapy can produce the same changes in neurotransmitters in the brain as medication.

The basis of CBT is then to get people to change their behaviour and their thinking to produce a change in their mood. The behaviours that are often a focus of CBT include exercise, healthy eating, socializing, and engaging in pleasurable activities. More specific behaviours include physical relaxation exercises (e.g. deep breathing and muscle relaxation).

The most important part of CBT is changing thoughts, beliefs and thinking patterns. Problematic thoughts can often be automatic (i.e. we are unaware of them). Some problematic thoughts can be thought of as “twisted thinking” or cognitive “errors”; inaccurate ways of assessing a situation. CBT is NOT “positive thinking”, rather it is looking at situations accurately and not making assumptions, especially assumptions that are emotionally upsetting. CBT also examines more core beliefs about yourself, other people and the world.

One of the most important things to know about CBT is that it works. CBT is an “empirically supported therapy”, i.e. there is an extensive body of research which demonstrates that it is an effective therapy. In addition to being an effective therapy, CBT has been shown to be effective for a wide variety of difficulties including: anxiety, depression, personality disorders, psychosis, problem gambling, irritable bowel syndrome and the list goes on and on.

I offer virtual therapy sessions through the Jane scheduling software. I am able to provide virtual therapy sessions to residents of Prince Edward Island. There is also a mutual agreement among the licensing boards for psychology in the Maritime provinces that allows psychologists to provide services within the Maritimes as long as they notify the respective province. Therefore, I can provide virtual services to residents of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Unfortunately, I am not licensed to provide virtual services in other Canadian provinces. I hope that this may be possible in the future if rules change.

I would be happy to work with you.

The fastest and easiest way to book an appointment is to call my reception service at (902) 436-6799

They are remote (in Halifax) but can see the schedule online. They can create a profile for you in the system and find a time that works for you. The reception service answers the phones from 8am until 8pm and 9-5 on Saturdays.