Modalities
Alyssa has competed advanced training in a range of evidence-based treatment modalities. This means any treatment approach or technique she uses has a large body of research demonstrating its effectiveness.
Alyssa takes an integrative approach to treatment. After assessing your background, concerns, and needs, she develops a formulation that examines what makes it more likely you would experience the distress (historical and childhood factors) and what elements in the present are maintaining the distress (such as unhelpful thoughts or behaviours, or a lack of useful emotion regulation skills). Treatment then generally progresses along two themes. Firstly, a present-focused intervention address elements maintaining your distress. This gives you some immediate relief and allows you to explore the longer-term causes of the distress. This deeper work promotes more sustained change.
Alyssa will discuss the different approaches she thinks are appropriate with you and together you will choose one (or a blend) that best suits your needs and personality.
EMOTIONALLY FOCUSED THERAPY (EFT)
Alyssa is certified in EFT-C (EFT for couples) and EFIT (EFT for individuals); both approaches have the same underlying theory and use similar experiential skills. EFT examines a client’s attachment history (childhood relationships and emotional experiences) to explore how the client relates to others and how they communicate to have their emotional needs met.
EFT-C works with couples to identify the negative interaction patterns and unmet needs that continue their distress. The negative cycle is replaced with a positive one of calm, clear communication that asserts underlying emotions and needs. A safe space is created for the couple to express wants and needs or heal past injuries (e.g., infidelity) in the relationship.
EFIT takes a similar approach to explore how the client relates to themselves and others and helps them to form connected and meaningful relationships. Distress (anxiety, depression, stress) is seen as the result of disconnected relationships with the self and others. Communication patterns and coping styles to distress are explored, and, where unhelpful, replaced with reactions that are better able to help the client express their emotions and communicate their needs and develop rewarding, meaningful relationships.
This approach works well with clients wanting to improve their emotional fluency, increase the connection in their relationships, and understand how their past relationships and experiences have informed who they are in the present.
ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY (ACT)
ACT is a popular cognitive therapy that uses skills to help you tolerate discomfort (thoughts, emotions, or memories) that can lead you away from a thriving life or into unhelpful actions that can make life harder and more distressing. By working out techniques to disengage from unhelpful thoughts, feelings, or actions, you can then focus on what really matters – your values. ACT helps you clarify what is important to you and the person you want to be.
This approach works well for clients struggling to manage their emotions, those needing to clarify their life direction, or those who are hijacked away from healthy choices by avoidance or self-soothing.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY (CBT)
CBT is the original cognitive therapy, with a long history of use. CBT asserts that unpleasant emotions comes from maladaptive thoughts (which develop out of maladaptive attitudes and core beliefs). CBT creates improvement by identifying, challenging, and changing these thoughts and core beliefs, as well as any unhelpful behaviours that stem from these thoughts.
This approach suits clients who like a systematic, logical approach. It is useful for those who find they have unhelpful thinking styles (such as catastrophising). It is a good starting point for therapy, as it provides an ordered approach to understanding the association between thoughts, feelings, and actions.
EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITISATION AND REPROCESSING THERAPY (EMDR)
EMDR is one of the most efficient and effect treatments for trauma (both “T” and “t” traumatic events, including natural disasters, abuse experiences, death of a loved one, and crime/accidents). This approach accesses and processes all aspects of traumatic events, including the associated emotional distress, painful memories and sensations, and negative beliefs that comes from the event. By processing past trauma the client is freed from the impact of this on the present and able to properly ‘move on’; and the distress associated with the traumatic event is significantly decreased.
This approach suits clients who have experienced a traumatic event (or events) that continue to impact them in the present.
SCHEMA THERAPY
Schema therapy is a cognitive and experiential therapy that identifies core schemas (self-defeating patterns of thoughts and behaviours developed in childhood). These schemas are identified, their historical origins are understood and the childhood injuries that caused them are processed and resolved. This allows the client to be free from their influence in the present.
This approach suits those who like a cognitive approach but want to explore the impacts of their deeply.
COACHING PSYCHOLOGY
Coaching psychology is a collaborative approach focused on goals achievement. This may include working with you to clarify what you goals are and what the barriers to action are, and working out a plan to address these. This approach is best suited to those who have some dilemmas in life (such as decisions around relationships, career, or other life choices) or need help with communication skills or stress management.
The approach suits clients who are not experiencing distress but want to be achieving more in life.