New York City & Westchester County
THERAPY SERVICES
Cognitive Behavioral Therapies (CBTs)
This evidence-based therapeutic approach relies on the connections between our thoughts, body sensations, and behaviors. In part, CBT is a skills based therapy - patients learn different strategies to more effectively manage their symptoms. One of the greatest predictors of positive outcomes is the application of skills to situations in the moment, outside of the therapy office. However, equally important to CBT is the therapeutic relationship and the processing of emotions or behaviors within the context of our past life experiences. CBT has repeatedly shown to be effective for a wide variety of mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression. There are many types of CBTs for different areas of difficulty, many of which are listed below.
cbt for anxiety disorders, ocd, and ptsd
Exposure Therapy and Exposure/Response Prevention (E/RP)
Exposure therapies for anxiety disorders and OCD are one of the most widely researched types of CBT, with evidence consistently supporting their effectiveness. The goal with this intervention is essentially facing our fears - gradually approaching a feared situation or object and learning that it isn't necessarily dangerous, as well as increasing our ability to tolerate distress along the way.
Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE)
SPACE is a parent-based intervention for parents of anxious children. A significant amount of research has show that reducing parental accommodations (i.e., doing things to prevent a child's experience of anxiety), is key in reducing childhood anxiety or OCD symptoms in the long-term. Parents meet with a therapist weekly to learn about more effective ways to support their anxious child.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT is a mindfulness-based therapy that involves the use of strategies to increase psychological flexibility. One the goals is of this approach is to learn how to experience our emotions, wanted or unwanted, without necessarily trying to change the emotion or having to act on emotional urges. Key to this therapy is also the identification of core values and priorities, and working towards making decisions based on these values.
Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
TF-CBT is an evidence-based treatment for PTSD in children and adolescents. Patients learn coping skills rooted in CBT, and engage in a "trauma narrative," or retelling of the traumatic event. The goal of this approach is to "clean out the wound" that the trauma has left behind, and develop a new understanding of the event within the context of the youth's life story.
behavior therapy for Behavioral and social Difficulties
Parenting Interventions
The evidence-based treatment to address problem behaviors in children is Behavioral Parent Training (BPT), such as Parent Management Training (PMT) and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). Being a parent is hard work, yet children don't come with instruction manuals to help with all of the challenges that come with parenting. It can be even harder when a child exhibits disruptive behaviors, such as aggression, non-compliance/oppositionality, or tantrums. BPT teaches parents specific skills to both decrease inappropriate behaviors and increase more desirable behaviors (or "positive opposites"). This intervention not only addresses how to respond to problem behaviors, but helps prevent them from occurring when possible.
Social Skills Training
Social skills training is provided to children, adolescents, young adults struggling with social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties in an individual or group format. Support and social skills are often provided to individuals who present with behavioral and social difficulties secondary to neuro-developmental disabilities (ASD, ADHD) and/or intellectual disabilities.
Dialectical Behavior therapy (DBT)
Adolescent DBT (DBT-A) - Informed Treatment
DBT was developed for individuals with significant emotional and behavioral dysregulation. In this treatment, teens learn skills to increase awareness of emotions/thoughts/urges (Mindfulness skills), resist unhelpful urges/accept reality (Distress Tolerance skills), regulate emotions (Emotion Regulation skills), communicate more effectively (Interpersonal Effectiveness skills), and find the "middle path" within relationships, especially with family members (Middle Path skills). What is unique about DBT is its emphasis on the use of "dialectics" (balancing of opposing view points), with the core dialectic being the balance of acceptance and change. The goal of DBT is to help patients build a life and make decisions based on their values and goals.
Although we don't currently offer a fully adherent/comprehensive Adolescent DBT program, we provide DBT skills training and apply DBT principles during individual therapy.
DBT for Pre-Adolescent Children (Child DBT)
Child DBT includes weekly individual DBT skills training for youth and weekly parenting sessions for caregivers. During individual child sessions, children learn DBT skills within the areas of Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. Children also learn to improve their relationships with themselves, including their sense of self-love, sense of safety, and sense of belonging.
The function of the extensive parent component is two fold: (1) teach parents skills to manage their child's challenging behaviors, using a DBT perspective, and (2) teach parents the DBT skills that their children are learning in session. Parents learn to create a validating and change-ready environment, act as coaches to promote more helpful responses to stressors, identify functions of their child's behavior, and implement specific behavior management interventions to decrease problematic behaviors, and increase more helpful or skillful behaviors.