Therapy Types

Mission Harbor continues to stay on the cutting edge of technology and research by continually evolving its offerings in therapy. From traditional forms such as family therapy–where the family of the individual is joined in counseling for assistance and love–to the more advanced and revolutionary therapy types such as psychodynamic therapy, our team of licensed therapists integrate the most effective and trusted methods into your recovery plan.

ADHD

Attention Deficit Disorder is a chronic condition by which it’s afflicted are continually inattentive, hyperactive, and occasionally impulsive. ADHD starts in childhood and often lingers into adulthood. As many as 2 out of every 3 children affected by ADHD continue to have symptoms well into adulthood. This includes inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity – which are the key behaviors of those with ADHD.

Crisis Management

Often characterized by a mental breakdown, crisis management is dealing with extreme situations in an effective manner. People who suffer from this are typically incapable of thinking of practical solutions and will negate the issue at hand. The patient suffering from crisis management tends to need help very early on in the process. This means reaching out to family/friends and contacting a doctor or mental health provider.

Grief & Loss

After loss, some individuals have a difficult time returning to their lives before and require special attention and help. The grieving process is very individualized; there is no actual timetable for it to end. Grief encompasses shock and disbelief, sadness, guilt, anger, and fear.

Stress Management

Dealing with stress and stressful situation with calm, level-headed intentions and charisma. Physical symptoms of stress range from low energy and headaches to chest pain and dry mouth. If left unchecked, ongoing stress can cause serious health issues including depression, cardiovascular disease, obesity, sexual dysfunction, and gastrointestinal problems.

Substance Use Disorders

Abuse, consistent use, or addiction characterizes the plight of substance use disorders. The substance could be interfering with the person’s personal or professional life or even life-threatening. Common Substance Use disorders include Alcohol Use Disorder, Tobacco Use Disorder, and Cannabis Use Disorder. Regardless of the substance, many of the same behaviors are prevalent and require the same course of treatment.

Anger Management

Anger management is dealing with the inability to cope with stressful situations, controlling one’s anger, attitude, and ability to deal with situations productively and responsibly under calm duress. Suppressed anger can also be an underlying cause of anxiety and depression. Doctors suggest deep breathing and positive self-talk as the first steps in helping manage anger.

Chronic Pain Issues

People with issues resulting from medicating chronic pain issues require specialized healing that can come in numerous forms and must be discovered individually with guidance from a trained professional. Chronic pain is often defined as any pain that lasts longer than 12 weeks. Whereas acute pain is a normal sensation that alerts us to possible injury, chronic pain is very different. Chronic pain persists—often for months and sometimes even longer and may be complicated by issues associated with prescription medication.

Impulse Control Disorders

Controlling feelings or actions that are immediate and often reactionary. These individuals need assistance in finding new psychology in dealing with their intense immediacy and needs.  Scientists are still researching the cause of these types of disorders but many think that there are a good handful of factors including physical or biological, psychological or emotional, and cultural or societal issues.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Caused from a moment or moments of extremely stressful situations, environments, and individuals. This disorder can cause the afflicted to avoid people, places, or activities in fear and completely disrupt their personal and professional lives. Not every traumatized person develops ongoing (chronic) or even short-term (acute) PTSD. Not everyone with PTSD has been through a dangerous event. Some experiences, like the sudden, unexpected death of a loved one, can also cause PTSD.

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are a cluster of mental disorders marked by feelings of anxiety or loathing. Anxiety is a worry about the future and loathing is a reaction to current happenings. These feelings could manifest in physical forms, such as a faster heart rate or trembling. Disorders in this category include Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Sleep Disorders.

Mood Disorders

Mood disorders refer to a plethora of swinging, bipolar, or mood control disorders. These disorders often ruin relationships and take control of the individual’s free will. About 20% of the U.S. population reports at least one depressive symptom in a given month, and 12% report two or more in a year. Depression is a common feature of mental illness, whatever its nature and origin. People are more easily demoralized by depression and slower to recover if they are withdrawn and unreasonably self-critical or irritable, impulsive, and hypersensitive to loss.

Relational Trauma

Trauma is caused by a personal experience with another individual. Often characterized by mental, verbal, and physical abuse inflicted on the sufferer.  Women experience remarkably high rates of relational trauma including child abuse and neglect and intimate partner violence (IPV) during adulthood, and the childbearing years are no exception.

Personality Disorders

Personality disorders are disorders in which a person may forget who they are or become another person they think they are. It causes major disruptions in their daily lives and relationships. Symptoms of each personality disorder differ and can be either mild or severe. People with personality disorders often have trouble identifying that they have a problem; they believe their thoughts are normal and that it is other people who are to blame. Treatment usually includes talk therapy and sometimes medicine.

Body Image Issues

Body image issues are when an individual sees themselves in an extremely negative light. It could stem from mental and verbal abuse from any age and typically attacks the psyche by focusing on what the sufferer perceives as a flaw.  Researchers have noted that people with body image issues or disordered eating have difficulties with visual processing.

Family Issues

Issues pertaining to family are treated with the help of clinicians who know how to break down communication barriers in relationships in order to fix the problems at hand. Conflicts are a part of family life. A lot of different issues, such as Parenting Issues can lead to conflict, including illness, disability, addiction, job loss, school problems, and marital issues. Listening to one another and actively working to resolve conflicts are key to reinforcing the family.

Relationship Issues

Problems between loved ones typically stemming from communication breakdowns and the inability to compromise or change to make the other person happy. These issues can arise from a couple spending too little – or even too much – time together. They can stem from fighting over the same issues, from insecurities over your future to feeling misunderstood. Money is also a common root of relationship issues.

Sexual Disorders

Sexual disorders are involving sex, perversion, or acts that have nothing to do with sex in the standard definition but have been fetishized and cause a disruption in the individual or society’s regular agenda. Psychotherapy is a common treatment for desire disorders. Treatment focuses on bringing awareness to any unresolved conflicts and how they impact the patient’s life. While improvement is possible, the sexual dysfunction often becomes autonomous and persists, requiring additional techniques. Various hormones have also been studied for the treatment of sexual desire disorders.

ADHD

Attention Deficit Disorder is a chronic condition by which it’s afflicted are continually inattentive, hyperactive, and occasionally impulsive. ADHD starts in childhood and often lingers into adulthood. As many as 2 out of every 3 children affected by ADHD continue to have symptoms well into adulthood. This includes inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity – which are the key behaviors of those with ADHD.

Crisis Management

Often characterized by a mental breakdown, crisis management is dealing with extreme situations in an effective manner. People who suffer from this are typically incapable of thinking of practical solutions and will negate the issue at hand. The patient suffering from crisis management tends to need help very early on in the process. This means reaching out to family/friends and contacting a doctor or mental health provider.

Grief & Loss

After loss, some individuals have a difficult time returning to their lives before and require special attention and help. The grieving process is very individualized; there is no actual timetable for it to end. Grief encompasses shock and disbelief, sadness, guilt, anger, and fear.

Stress Management

Dealing with stress and stressful situation with calm, level-headed intentions and charisma. Physical symptoms of stress range from low energy and headaches to chest pain and dry mouth. If left unchecked, ongoing stress can cause serious health issues including depression, cardiovascular disease, obesity, sexual dysfunction, and gastrointestinal problems.

Substance Use Disorders

Abuse, consistent use, or addiction characterizes the plight of substance use disorders. The substance could be interfering with the person’s personal or professional life or even life-threatening. Common Substance Use disorders include Alcohol Use Disorder, Tobacco Use Disorder, and Cannabis Use Disorder. Regardless of the substance, many of the same behaviors are prevalent and require the same course of treatment.

Anger Management

Anger management is dealing with the inability to cope with stressful situations, controlling one’s anger, attitude, and ability to deal with situations productively and responsibly under calm duress. Suppressed anger can also be an underlying cause of anxiety and depression. Doctors suggest deep breathing and positive self-talk as the first steps in helping manage anger.

Chronic Pain Issues

People with issues resulting from medicating chronic pain issues require specialized healing that can come in numerous forms and must be discovered individually with guidance from a trained professional. Chronic pain is often defined as any pain that lasts longer than 12 weeks. Whereas acute pain is a normal sensation that alerts us to possible injury, chronic pain is very different. Chronic pain persists—often for months and sometimes even longer and may be complicated by issues associated with prescription medication.

Impulse Control Disorders

Controlling feelings or actions that are immediate and often reactionary. These individuals need assistance in finding new psychology in dealing with their intense immediacy and needs.  Scientists are still researching the cause of these types of disorders but many think that there are a good handful of factors including physical or biological, psychological or emotional, and cultural or societal issues.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Caused from a moment or moments of extremely stressful situations, environments, and individuals. This disorder can cause the afflicted to avoid people, places, or activities in fear and completely disrupt their personal and professional lives. Not every traumatized person develops ongoing (chronic) or even short-term (acute) PTSD. Not everyone with PTSD has been through a dangerous event. Some experiences, like the sudden, unexpected death of a loved one, can also cause PTSD.

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are a cluster of mental disorders marked by feelings of anxiety or loathing. Anxiety is a worry about the future and loathing is a reaction to current happenings. These feelings could manifest in physical forms, such as a faster heart rate or trembling. Disorders in this category include Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Sleep Disorders.

Mood Disorders

Mood disorders refer to a plethora of swinging, bipolar, or mood control disorders. These disorders often ruin relationships and take control of the individual’s free will. About 20% of the U.S. population reports at least one depressive symptom in a given month, and 12% report two or more in a year. Depression is a common feature of mental illness, whatever its nature and origin. People are more easily demoralized by depression and slower to recover if they are withdrawn and unreasonably self-critical or irritable, impulsive, and hypersensitive to loss.

Relational Trauma

Trauma is caused by a personal experience with another individual. Often characterized by mental, verbal, and physical abuse inflicted on the sufferer.  Women experience remarkably high rates of relational trauma including child abuse and neglect and intimate partner violence (IPV) during adulthood, and the childbearing years are no exception.

Personality Disorders

Personality disorders are disorders in which a person may forget who they are or become another person they think they are. It causes major disruptions in their daily lives and relationships. Symptoms of each personality disorder differ and can be either mild or severe. People with personality disorders often have trouble identifying that they have a problem; they believe their thoughts are normal and that it is other people who are to blame. Treatment usually includes talk therapy and sometimes medicine.

Body Image Issues

Body image issues are when an individual sees themselves in an extremely negative light. It could stem from mental and verbal abuse from any age and typically attacks the psyche by focusing on what the sufferer perceives as a flaw.  Researchers have noted that people with body image issues or disordered eating have difficulties with visual processing.

Family Issues

Issues pertaining to family are treated with the help of clinicians who know how to break down communication barriers in relationships in order to fix the problems at hand. Conflicts are a part of family life. A lot of different issues, such as Parenting Issues can lead to conflict, including illness, disability, addiction, job loss, school problems, and marital issues. Listening to one another and actively working to resolve conflicts are key to reinforcing the family.

Relationship Issues

Problems between loved ones typically stemming from communication breakdowns and the inability to compromise or change to make the other person happy. These issues can arise from a couple spending too little – or even too much – time together. They can stem from fighting over the same issues, from insecurities over your future to feeling misunderstood. Money is also a common root of relationship issues.

Sexual Disorders

Sexual disorders are involving sex, perversion, or acts that have nothing to do with sex in the standard definition but have been fetishized and cause a disruption in the individual or society’s regular agenda. Psychotherapy is a common treatment for desire disorders. Treatment focuses on bringing awareness to any unresolved conflicts and how they impact the patient’s life. While improvement is possible, the sexual dysfunction often becomes autonomous and persists, requiring additional techniques. Various hormones have also been studied for the treatment of sexual desire disorders.

What are the Main Types of Therapy Used to Treat Addiction and Mental Health Disorders?

Treatment for addiction and mental health disorders has come a long way in the 21st century. Numerous studies and clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of different therapy techniques for treating a variety of ailments, including depression, PTSD, drug addiction, and more. For patients with mental health and substance use disorders, therapy is critical for improving their emotional and physical health and avoiding a relapse of either a mental health disorder, drug addiction, or both. Despite the proven effectiveness of the three major therapy types – cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and family-based therapy – patients still face many barriers to therapy and treatment.

Therapy types

Mission Harbor Behavioral Health offers a wide range of effective therapy techniques for their patients, including impactful and effective CBT, DBT, and family-based therapy. Mission Harbor gives patients a full and comprehensive psychiatric evaluation and tailors therapy and treatment plans for each patient’s specific needs and concerns. Mission Harbor patients have access to the following therapy types:

How does cognitive behavioral therapy work?

CBT is a type of therapy that can be used to treat a wide range of disorders and emotional issues. Many studies have found CBT to be useful in addressing things as serious as clinical depression, anxiety, and PTSD, all the way to marital and interpersonal problems. As a therapy technique, CBT can be used to effectively treat the most diverse range of disorders and relationship dysfunctions.

At its core, CBT is based on the premise that part of a person’s suffering is rooted in faulty ways of thinking, believing, and acting on those beliefs. For example, a person with depression will be filled with shame and self-loathing that is not rooted in reality. Depression sufferers will focus on negative, and often overblown aspects of their personality or behavior that they deem worthy of scorn and self-loathing.

What CBT does is aim to point out these flaws in thinking, and help reframe and refocus the patient’s attention on factors that are more realistic and less catastrophic. CBT also gives patients tools to cope with stressful situations without turning to negative thinking and behavior patterns, and it is especially helpful for treating drug abuse and addiction.

In CBT sessions, a trained therapist will guide their patients on how to effectively face their fears instead of avoiding them or escaping from them through drugs and alcohol. The therapist may use role-playing techniques to show patients how to prepare for potentially distressing interactions with other people. Also, the therapist will teach patients how to calm their mind and their normal stress responses.

People with mental health disorders or substance use disorder can find themselves stuck in the past and ruminating on adverse actions or events that have led to their present circumstances. CBT therapy sessions help steer patients away from dwelling in the past, and instead, steer them toward what is happening in the “now” and how they can further improve their circumstances, set goals, and make progress.

How does dialectical behavior therapy work?

DBT is a form of CBT. While CBT uncovers a patient’s thought processes that are contributing to their distress and aims to reframe those thoughts, DBT teaches patients how to create positive behavioral changes. Patients who are suicidal or who engage in harmful behaviors can significantly benefit from DBT. While CBT can help patients change their harmful and negative thoughts, DBT is an excellent and useful therapy technique for assisting patients in improving their actions and the belief systems that compel and inform their behaviors.

The foundational principle behind DBT is that therapy must aim to combine acceptance and change and that focusing on both beliefs and behaviors will give patients better results than only focusing on one aspect alone. DBT therapists also focus on accepting and acknowledging the patient’s unique experiences and reassuring them.

How does family therapy work?

While CBT and DBT are ongoing therapy models, where patients may need to attend sessions off and on for years, family therapy sessions are given an end-date and are focused around specific communication and conflict resolution goals. Family therapy is often beneficial for people in recovery for addiction. In most cases, anyone who wishes to attend family therapy can, and sessions typically last for about an hour, and most prescriptions are written for 12 meetings. Members can also meet with the therapist one-on-one if they wish.

In instances where a family has been affected by addiction or mental health disorders, family members are often afflicted with different, painful and distressing emotions that can be difficult to process. Also, family members struggle with expressing and positively handling these emotions. What a family therapist will do is work on conflict resolution techniques with the family, and try to help the family members form deeper bonds and strengthen their ties. Family therapists will also help each member learn how to focus on the progress their addicted loved one has made, instead of dwelling on the past and the trauma the family may have experienced.

Although drug addiction and mental health disorders affect almost half of the world’s population, these disorders are as unique as the individuals they afflict. It’s critical that patients have access to numerous therapy types that can adequately and effectively address their unique mental health and behavioral needs.

For years, Mission Harbor Behavioral Health has been helping patients, and their families find relief from distressing mental health disorder symptoms and the pain of addiction. If you or a loved one is struggling with a behavioral, mental health, or addiction disorder, it’s never too late to reach out for help — the representatives at Mission Harbor are standing by to assist. Please contact the dedicated and experienced therapists at Mission Harbor Behavioral Health today to explore your options for treatment.

The years leading up to young adulthood fills most kids with stress. Family dynamics, peer pressure, and trying to navigate junior high through high school in one piece are struggles in themselves. Then comes college, a job, or moving out on their own. It’s no wonder that adolescents are a petri dish for mental health issues. Therapy proves helpful for so many millions of people that it is worth looking into the options available for the adolescent or young adult in your life.

Types of Mental Health Problems That Face Adolescents

The teenage years are often the most challenging time in a person’s life. Their minds and bodies are going through so many changes that it’s difficult for them to grasp reality when things are changing so quickly. Some of the adolescent mental health issues that we have had success treating include:

  • Eating disorders
  • Depression
  • Mood disorders
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder
  • Addictions of many types
  • Impulse control

Best Types of Therapy for Young Adults

There is no distinct type of therapy that is suitable for every mental health situation. Therapy provides help for each person in a way that best suits the individual. We have a selection of healing treatments that we use to help our adolescent patients that have proven to have the most positive results. Some of the most successful forms of treatment at Mission Harbor include:

  • Therapy for the whole family
  • Courses specifically for parents
  • Groups that include more than one family
  • Individual counseling for the adolescent

The right therapy type is different for each individual and often is a discovery made between the clinical professionals and the patient. With an open mind and accepting attitude, each therapy can bring the patient closer to a successful recovery.

  • Cognitive Therapy
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
  • Psychodynamic Therapies
  • Management of Anger and Stress
  • Mindfulness / Meditation Techniques
  • Interpersonal Psychotherapy
  • Solution-Focused Therapy
  • Family Therapy
  • Experiential Therapy
  • Trauma Therapy
  • Psychiatric Evaluation
  • Psychoeducation
  • Psychopharmacologic Interventions
  • Neuropsychological Assessment

What Is Therapy Like for Adolescents?

Even adults can be wary of going into counseling or treatment of any kind. Even adults can be wary of going into counseling or treatment of any kind. Although there has been a negative connotation when someone admits to having mental health problems in the past, present perspectives are finally starting to change for the better. It’s common for people to want to know what therapy is like before committing to any form of treatment.

Much of therapy is talking to a trained person who will guide you to find the answers within yourself. Some treatment is group therapy that includes other people in a similar situation. You will have a therapist leading the group, but much of your time is listening to others share their experiences and feelings.

Other therapies use drugs when necessary, and some analyses use behavioral guidance and reinforcement techniques, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy. Positive reinforcement therapies tend to work better for most people as opposed to aversion therapy.

Mission Harbor offers a large variety of therapies for adolescents and young adults. Please see our website at your convenience at Mission Harbor Behavioral Health. We pride ourselves on being able to treat a wide range of mental health issues and we might have just the therapy that would work best for your situation.

Updated on 2/4/21

 

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