What is Psychotherapy?

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) defines Psychotherapy (sometimes called “talk therapy”) as "a variety of treatment techniques that aim to help a person identify and change troubling emotions, thoughts, and behavior".

In other words, Psychotherapy is a therapeutic technique that will assist your child/family with identifying "areas of concern" that you would like to be addressed. These concerns can range from anxiety and depressive symptoms to coping with social challenges/expectations. My goal as the psychotherapist is to essentially help your child learn how to cope & manage unwanted emotions, thoughts, and/or behaviors as well as how to apply coping skills and techniques to navigate situations/experiences that they may encounter in life.

There are several different forms of psychotherapy including but not limited to: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Psychodynamic Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Trauma-Focused Therapy to name a few. CBT is the most common form of psychotherapy and is one that I largely focus on. CBT is used to assist children with identifying how their thoughts influence their behaviors and actions. The goal of treatment is to be able to identify said thoughts, and use coping skills and therapeutic techniques learned in therapy, to alter behaviors influenced and impacted by undesired thought patterns.

For more information on Psychotherapy and different types of therapy approaches, visit the NIMH website: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/psychotherapies

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