Areas of Specialty

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is an effective, rigorously validated treatment for a wide range of conditions including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, addiction, ADHD, and other childhood disorders. CBT is based on the premise that negative emotions are often the cause of our suffering but cannot be changed directly. Emotions are affected by patterns of thinking (cognitions) and learned behaviors. Therefore, emotions can be improved by identifying and challenging unhelpful thoughts and learning and employing new behavioral strategies.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

DBT was originally developed as a cognitive behavioral treatment for individuals with borderline personality disorder, suicidal ideation, and self-harm behaviors. However, in the decades since its creation, DBT has been found to be an extremely effective treatment for difficulties in many other areas (anxiety, eating disorders, addiction, emotion dysregulation). DBT is a didactic, structured, and intensive treatment that combines the techniques of CBT with acceptance and mindfulness strategies. Fully adherent DBT programs incorporate a skills training group in addition to individual therapy. East Side CBT does not currently have a skills training group. However, skills training is integrated into the DBT-informed individual therapy sessions.

Anxiety

Anxiety can manifest in many forms: generalized anxiety, OCD, phobias, social anxiety, school-refusal, and panic. Not all anxiety is bad. In general, anxiety can be useful in ensuring our safety and motivating changes. However, when anxiety reaches a point where it is interfering with daily life, it might be time to work on getting it more under control. Anxiety treatment typically focuses on shifting away from avoidance behaviors toward approach behaviors to help re-train the body and mind to better cope with life’s stressors.

Depression

Like anxiety, depression is a normal emotion that is a part of everyday life, and like anxiety, it becomes problematic when depression feels like it is pervasive, inescapable, and seems to occur without a cause. Treatment for depression involves an array of techniques, both cognitive and behavioral that focus on confronting feelings of hopelessness, debunking personal myths, and increasing daily positive experiences.

Self-Injury and Suicidal Ideation

Some individuals feel their negative emotions so strongly that they lead to thoughts of suicide or other self-destructive behaviors such as cutting, burning, or scratching. There are significant differences between self-injury, thoughts of suicide, feeling hopeless about life, and active urges to commit suicide. Active suicidal urges will likely require a higher level of care. However, suicidal thoughts and urges to self-harm can be treated quite effectively in an outpatient, office setting. DBT is the gold-standard treatment for these types problems.

Children, Adolescents, and Adults

Anxiety, depression, and all mental health disorders can manifest at any stage of life. CBT and DBT have been well studied and empirically validated across the lifespan, and while the basic principles are universal, their application varies depending upon each individual client. That is why it is extremely important to tailor an intervention for each individual. Consequently, a distress tolerance technique may be presented differently for children, adolescents, and adults. No two clients are the same and no two interventions are the same, but rest assured the core concepts and theories of CBT and DBT are always driving the therapy.