DALLAS PSYCHOTHERAPY CENTER |
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ABOUT DALLAS PSYCHOTHERAPY COUNSELING
Our Dallas therapy is a cooperative process, resulting in a close, mutually respectful relationship between the therapist and client. By calmly mirroring aspects of the client's experience back to him or her, the Dallas counselor facilitates greater awareness of underlying patterns of thinking, feeling and doing that keep the client from enjoying certain aspects of life, achieving overall satisfaction or simply "being" him- or herself. Therapy is more about establishing a safe, effective laboratory for increased self awareness and a supportive environment for profound personal change than it is about advice giving. For the Dallas counseling process to be effective, both the therapist and the client must be genuine, open and committed to growth. Often, our Dallas mental health clients are struggling with issues of depression, anxiety or other common issues that present stubborn obstacles to satisfying relationships, connected emotional lives, fulfilling careers and a multitude of other psychological wants and needs. Undergoing a minimum of eight years of collegiate and post-collegiate learning and training, a psychotherapist is uniquely suited to help individuals address such problems. In addition, as emotional functioning closely interfaces with physical functioning, Dallas, Texas psychology and psychotherapy can help clients deal with medical issues such as chronic pain, high blood pressure, stomach ulcers and many other mind-body distresses and discomforts. As therapy is concerned with the most authentic, core self, some clients use the treatment process to examine conflicts related to spirituality, religion, life philosophy, grief and death. Therapeutic approaches
differ in many basic
ways, but they all include work with a trained psychotherapist that helps
the client, through seeing him or herself in a variety of new ways and from
ever-shifting viewpoints, to facilitate dynamic change
and personal growth. Sessions are usually scheduled on a weekly basis,
but can be scheduled more or less frequently, depending on individual wants,
needs and financial resources. Sessions typically
run 45-50 minutes, and most therapists begin and end sessions in a timely
manner so as not to impinge on the time of other clients. Treatment can be
either short- or
long-term in its focus, emphasizing
cognitive-behavioral
(CBT) and/or psychodynamic techniques. If you
think you might be interested in scheduling an initial appointment with Heather
or James Robbins,
or would like to ask a specific question about psychotherapy, contact
Dallas Psychotherapy Center.
Almost all material discussed in any therapy session is fully confidential, meaning that the therapist may not disclose personal information about the client to any party without the client's permission. However, there are some important limits to confidentiality of which clients should be aware. Currently, Texas state law requires that mental health professionals contact appropriate authorities if there is suspected child abuse, elder abuse or dependent adult abuse, or if the client represents an imminent threat to himself or others (ie. the client directly indicates a real and immediate intention of committing suicide or homicide). Please note that some insurance companies require a release of confidential information in order to evaluate coverage. It is important to discuss the possible consequences of such releases with your therapist. This is especially the case when using in-network benefits. For this reason, Dallas Psychotherapy Center files claims for client insurance reimbursement only as an out-of-network provider, thereby avoiding situations in which the privilege of therapist-client confidentiality may be called into question. There are other circumstances (such as conferring with a client's psychiatrist, for example) where confidentiality may not be absolute, and these issues should be discussed with your therapist at the beginning of treatment. Details of confidentiality, meeting schedule and therapist fee will be discussed during the initial consultation.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive-behavioral therapy involves evaluating the way the client thinks and feels from situation to situation, helping him or her identify faulty thinking patterns that were learned earlier in life. For example, if a client is a "perfectionist" and has the belief that she must do everything perfectly in life, she may sometimes feel very poorly about herself when she makes normal human mistakes. Consequently, cognitive-behavioral therapy includes tasks and strategies designed to help the client re-evaluate his or her core beliefs and cognitive patterns, allowing for a more informed, conscious decision as to whether these beliefs are, in fact, accurate or desirable. Cognitive-behavioral therapy also includes specific components aimed at altering behavioral responses. Often incorporating stress reduction goals, CBT treatment may include training in relaxation and visualization exercises, and may integrate meditative techniques. CBT work also commonly involves practical strategies for problem solving, time management and increased focus. If a client wishes to change careers, lose weight or improve his dating life, for instance, CBT helps him better structure his time, organize his goal-directed strategy and become increasingly aware of self-defeating habits as he pursues his desired behavior. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is usually of a shorter duration than other types of therapies, and is especially appropriate when the client has specific goals that he or she wishes to reach in a relatively short amount of time. CBT is supported by a large body of research indicating it is quite effective in treating a variety of emotional difficulties in the short term, although studies of long term efficacy have mixed results. Aspects of CBT may be used in conjunction with other types of therapy in order to achieve more long-lasting effects. Dr. Heather Robbins has received extensive training in cognitive-behavioral therapy at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where she was supervised by widely recognized CBT expert, Monica Basco, Ph.D., author of Never Good Enough (as seen on Oprah). Dr. Robbins is qualified to administer CBT for the treatment of depression, anxiety and a multitude of other common issues. She utilizes the CBT approach within the context of individual, couples or family psychotherapy, when appropriate.
At any previous life stage, a person may have become "stuck" in a way of reacting or problem solving that is not all that adaptive or effective. As an adult, these same limiting patterns often play out, time and again, automatically and reflexively. These "hidden" patterns may interfere with the client's ability to have intimate relationships with others, bounce back from rejection, sustain physical health, fully and spontaneously experience his or her true feelings or realize a satisfying, successful career. These patterns are often quite subtle in their effect. Despite an individual's relatively mature exterior and ability to function quite successfully in most areas of his or her life, he or she may nonetheless be unknowingly constricting opportunities for personal growth and resisting living a more dynamic, passionate life. Psychodynamic psychotherapy works by making the unconscious conscious. The treatment process is designed to allow the client to get in touch with previously suppressed feelings, desires and thoughts, helping him recognize how these unconscious aspects greatly affect the way he thinks, reacts, feels and relates in the Here and Now. Clients are encouraged to talk freely about conflicts, past and present, and to discuss spontaneous feelings and thoughts that arise toward the therapist (a process known as transference). Oftentimes, the client realizes that she tends to replay past struggles in the present moment, reflexively displacing unfinished business with her parents, for example, onto her therapist, employer or spouse. In essence, the psychodynamic therapy session creates a safe microcosm of the client's daily life, allowing the client to re-examine and experiment with "leftover" feelings without acting them out in a self-defeating way. Another important tool used in psychodynamic psychotherapy is dreamwork. This technique involves discussing and interpreting the client's dream material in order to bring hidden aspects of the unconscious mind into consciousness. Although there is no prescribed length for this treatment approach, psychodynamic psychotherapy is usually of longer duration than other types of therapy. As this treatment goes deeper into the core of the patient's psyche, more time investment is typically necessary. The profound gains made in psychodynamic psychotherapy are typically more permanent and long lasting than other shorter duration approaches, meaning that familiar problems may be less likely to resurface later in life. Psychodynamic treatment is arguably the treatment of choice for already high-functioning clients who desire to know themselves deeply, "from the inside out," and take greater personal responsibility for their lives and daily experience. In exploring the deepest layers of personality formed in early childhood, this treatment also addresses deeper existential issues relating to death, grief, life meaning and loss. Psychodynamic treatment may be effectively applied to a variety of common issues, and is often utilized in individual, couples and family psychotherapy.
Existential and Spiritual Therapeutic Work Some clients wish to enter therapy in order to examine spiritual or religious beliefs, or to reevaluate life philosophy. This is often the case with clients who are suffering from a prolonged or terminal illness, as well as clients with chronic pain or other ongoing medical issues. Often, the deterioration of physical health, at any age, will cause a person to examine his or her mortality and physical limitations. In these cases, it can be very therapeutic to discuss changing beliefs and anxieties in the context of an individual psychotherapeutic relationship. In addition, some clients who have worked through many issues in psychodynamic psychotherapy develop an interest or desire to examine their spiritual, artistic or philosophical side in more depth. In such a journey, core existential issues are likely to emerge, and the client may benefit from discussing his or her feelings, beliefs, thoughts and desires as they relate to some of life's most fundamental struggles and conflicts. These clients may identify themselves as Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim or any other traditional or non-traditional spiritual faith. Similarly, they may just as easily identify themselves as agnostic or atheistic. Dallas Psychotherapy Center does not seek to impose any particular belief system onto the client. Rather, existential or metaphysical beliefs can be discussed in such a way as to reaffirm them, dismiss them altogether, or leave them up to ongoing revision. James Robbins, M.A., specializes in the addressing of spiritual and existential issues. He is the author of Build A Better Buddha, a book which examines a cross-section of Eastern and Western philosophies. He is an experienced meditation teacher and lecturer at holistic learning centers across the country.
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