Therapy modalities = fancy talk for a flexible approach that can inform how things go
Narrative Therapy and Constructivism
How can I help you become more you? Perhaps in telling your stories you will find a voice you didn't know you had. Sometimes we tell ourselves stories that interrupt our growth and keep us stuck. Perhaps there is another version of the story. Narration means that you are the author of your story: you are the expert. The word deconstruction comes up in narrative therapy, but my central modality is constructivism. Let's work together to construct, build, name, voice, be you.
How this can look in therapy: last session we came up with a writing prompt for you that felt right. You spent time with it and wrote comfortably to the prompt. In this session you read it to me and then we talk about it. When your voice is present and clear, I listen. If you stumble or struggle to explain, then I ask you questions to guide and prompt. You say, "I want to do more with this, but I'm not sure what. I feel like I'm getting somewhere, but I don't know what else to write because I feel like I've said it all." And because I already know that you are comfortable with multiple choices, I ask if you might like to do an art piece, or would like to retell the story from someone else's perspective, or write a letter from your older self to the younger version that came out in your story you brought in this week.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Do you suffer from executive functioning problems? Or maybe you do something called catastrophizing when problems come your way--you start worrying about one thing and suddenly find yourself thinking of everything that can and will go wrong and the spiral is unbearable. Some people have something called persistent demand avoidance (PDA), which can also look like task initiation problems, but isn't exactly the same. CBT is not "the answer" to these struggles, but let's see if it can help. There are many ways to use CBT in and out of sessions. I have flash cards, worksheets, and can give you tools and homework/outside of session skills to try out. CBT goes hand-in-hand with mindfulness work.
How this can look in therapy: last session you spoke of feeling so anxious at work recently. You explained all the ways to me that your supervisor makes things hard for you at work, and then when you get home your partner doesn't understand and keeps telling you to not worry so much, so you try calling your mother, but she just reminds you of how you said you want to go back to school, but if you go to school then you will have more stress in your life and you'll still be working for this jerk who just makes everything harder! This session we pull out the flowchart I sent you on cognitive distortions. We explore the chart fully until you feel like you understand not only what it means, but also what you can practice this coming week at work to de-catastrophize.
Expressive Art Therapy
I am not an art therapist, nor trained expressive art therapist. I find modalities other than talking through every session can sometimes unstick a stuckness. I do artistic work with people like me who do not define themselves as artists, writers, musicians, but are open to exploring. Sometimes working on a doodle, a collage, or word art can help a person feel more comfortable and relaxed in a session; sometimes it is the work itself that opens doors.
How this can look in therapy: last session you said that you want to try out looking at your difficulties with task initation in a whole new way. I suggested that we could try a mixed media piece of art and you agreed you would like to try that even though you've never done this thing called mixed media before. I checked in to see if you could come to the next session with the following materials and you agreed you have all of those things at home: a piece of paper, crayons, some leaves, twigs, pine needles, glue, and some paint. Together in our next session we talk while each drawing our own mountain. Your mountain doesn't look like mine because we are working with different supplies. Once the outline of the mountain is on paper, you start filling it in and naming all these obstacles. And when I ask you how will you get through the obstacles, you take your paintbrush and make a gliding path around them all the way up one side and down the other. That wasn't what I had planned, but I can see that you look very pleased. Next I ask if you want to put abstract or metaphorical helpers in your sky. We talk about it...
