Evidence-based Treatment at CFIR

Over the past 35 years, there has been a substantial amount of research conducted to identify psychotherapy treatments that work. Research suggests that many different types of treatment approaches might be beneficial for a wide variety of disorders. It is vital that a clinician who is providing you treatment is trained in empirically-supported treatment interventions so that you know that you are getting the most scientifically investigated treatment interventions.

Recently, evidence-based practice has come to mean more than empirically-supported treatment (Canadian Psychological Association, 2012). Evidence-based practice involves the thoughtful and informed use of the psychological research base to inform clinical treatment practice. It’s also essential that your clinician be able to attend to a wide range of individual differences and personal client factors (e.g., attachment style, coping styles, cultural factors) in treatment, as well as consideration and use of research in supporting clients in their healing process.

The clinicians at CFIR are invested in providing empirically-supported treatments, tailoring treatment to individuals based on their needs and individual differences, and ensuring that we are kept abreast of leading-edge research related to your presenting issues.

How We Approach Treatment Options at CFIR

Photo by Justin Veenema

At Centre for Interpersonal Relationships (CFIR), we believe it is important for your clinician to be flexible in offering a variety of scientific, evidence-based treatments to address the cognitive, emotional, behavioural and relational aspects of your concerns. Providing you with different possibilities for change is fundamental to us because we know that no one treatment fits all!

Different treatments focus on various aspects of your concerns, including behaviours, cognitions, emotions, perceptions, and relationships. We've compiled a list of a few scientific, evidence-based psychological treatments available at CFIR along with the focus of the treatment approach:

Acceptance and Commitment, Compassion & Mindfulness-based therapies (ACT, MBSR)

Acceptance and Commitment, Compassion & Mindfulness-based therapies (ACT, MBSR) are forms of psychotherapy that support an individual to learn how to observe, be less reactive, accept and be non-judgmental of internal thoughts or emotional reactions. ACT helps you to act from core values as opposed to being entangled in the thoughts and emotional responses that are at the root of your concerns. Developing a more compassionate outlook towards your self is also essential for remediation of various mental health concerns. Treatment focuses on developing the capacity to observe, adopt a non-judgmental stance toward thoughts and feelings, and diminish reactivity while anchoring the self in core values to promote clarity in thinking and action.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT)

Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that addresses psychological issues by focusing primarily on the cognitive and behavioural dimensions of your emotional and behavioural concerns (i.e., the way that your thoughts, beliefs or thinking influences your emotional and behavioural responses). CBT also focuses on problem-solving, finding solutions, improving coping, helping you to challenge distorted cognitions (e.g., thoughts, beliefs) and change problematic behaviours. Your emotional or behavioural responses transform through exposure to specific situations, cues, narratives or places that trigger distress and maladaptive responses. Homework is often assigned.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a form of treatment that came to be from a context of treating patients to deal with and process distressing memories of past traumatic experiences. It's currently used to treat a broader range of psychological issues. Treatment involves visual or auditory bilateral stimulation with a primary focus on the integration of distressing aspects of past, and present experiences and increasing adaptation and resilience by building inner resources to address these experiences.

Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing is a form of counseling that helps individuals achieve changes by increasing their motivation to change difficult behaviours. Treatment targets ambivalences about changing, and becoming increasingly aware of the problems, consequences, and risks of these behaviours. Motivation is increased to create a better future consistent with an individual’s values and principles.

Psychodynamic, Attachment-based, Mentalization therapies

Psychodynamic, attachment-based, mentalization therapies focus on how past and current relationship experiences have influenced a person’s present patterns (i.e., thoughts, thinking about self and other, emotional reactions toward self and others, and behaviours) and relationships. Psychoanalytic-oriented approaches have a rich, historical tradition beginning with Freud and Jung to present-day scientifically validated psychodynamic approaches. The goals of psychodynamic-mentalization and attachment-based therapies are to increase an individual’s self-awareness about these patterns to promote change in the present-day.

Concerns flow from internal conflicts, dynamics, and patterns that create difficulties for our self and block us from building meaningful lives and relationships. Defenses and self-protective strategies that prevent access to earlier emotionally overwhelming experiences are diminished over time to promote more adaptive functioning, self-growth, and change. Treatment focuses on cognition, emotion, and interpersonal dimensions of your difficulties. Your interpersonal relationships, both with your therapist and others, are explored to understand and change how one experiences oneself and relates to others in interpersonal relationships. These approaches tend to focus on the self and relational issues underlying your symptoms and distress, as opposed to targeting symptoms directly.

Systemic therapy

Systemic therapy is a form of psychotherapy that understands problems evolving in interactions and interaction patterns with other individuals and systems. Treatment focuses on the impact of your couple partner, children, family, work and socio-cultural system on your self and your relationship with others.

CFIR clinicians can help you or someone you care about address the concerns, issues or struggles that life may occasionally present.

Most private extended insurance plans, as well as Medavie/BlueCross (RCMP, Veterans Affairs, Canadian Armed Forces) and CUPE, cover CFIR services.

Contact us today. Help is available right now for you and your loved ones! We also offer video-based appointments.

8 Questions You Might Want to Ask Your Therapist Before Starting Your Sessions

1. “Are you trained in scientific, evidence-based treatments that are proven to be effective?”

Over the past few decades, numerous psychological treatments have undergone intensive, scientific investigation to examine their effectiveness in helping individuals with a wide range of psychological disorders. To-date, many empirically-supported therapies have been identified. It is important that your therapist is well-versed in what treatments are most beneficial for you based on scientific evidence. Application of these treatments alone, or in combination, provide you with optimal treatment options.

The registered psychologists at Centre for Interpersonal Relationships (CFIR) have received 3000-4000 hours of clinical training in evidence-based treatments before graduation, and supervise psychotherapists and social workers in the implementation of these treatments.

2. “Do you only offer one type of treatment (e.g., CBT) or do you provide different types of treatment options? What happens if your preferred approach doesn’t fit well with me?”

Not all approaches work for everyone. Not all treatments will fit your concerns and needs!

Research study after research study demonstrates that, while psychological treatments do work, not all treatments work for everyone.  Some individuals drop out of treatment, some do not fare well, and some don’t achieve any significant change. It’s unclear whether one particular brand of therapy fits better with any specific child, adolescent, adult, couple or family. From a practical viewpoint, however, some clients may want a shorter therapy option that targets their symptoms without going into a lot of depth, while others wish to have an in-depth exploration and understanding of their challenges. Sometimes symptoms are addressed first, and then a closer investigation of underlying self and relational causes are explored to acquire more profound change.

Many psychologists and psychotherapists will combine a variety of strategies to help you achieve your treatment goals. At CFIR, our psychologists, psychotherapists, and counsellors may use a variety of cognitive-behavioural, dialectical-behavioural, or mindfulness-based strategies to help you diminish your emotional distress and symptoms.  They may then turn to various experiential or psychodynamic approaches to help you to become more aware of your self and your self in relationship with others to create change at a more in-depth level. 

It is essential to find a therapist that can respond to your needs and concerns by offering a variety of treatment approaches in both a short and longer-term format. CFIR mental health professionals are skilled in various types of evidence-based treatment models and short and long-term treatment. They can help you reduce your immediate distress and diminish your symptoms, as well as help you to understand and change deeper self or relational issues underlying your difficulties. 

3. Will you provide a comprehensive assessment of my condition (i.e., interview and questionnaires)? 

Assessment is vital to understand the nature of your difficulties and can help guide treatment and inform the direction of your recovery process. A medical doctor might use interviews and ask that you complete a variety of tests (e.g., blood pressure, blood, and urine tests, ultrasounds, and other technologies) to understand the nature of your health issues. Similarly, psychologists conduct extensive interviews and administer questionnaires to help with their understanding of your difficulties. Numerous factors can contribute to your current problems. A combination of clinical interview and scientific, evidence-based measures will assist your mental health practitioner to understand the unique circumstances underlying your present concern. 

A clinical interview and questionnaires can also save you money, hours and treatment sessions since a lot of information is ascertained all at once and used to identify contributing factors to your distress and concerns early on in treatment. Reliable and valid questionnaires can save a lot of in-session time by gathering valuable information about factors underlying your condition promptly.

A thorough assessment can also provide relevant information about what to expect regarding the duration of your treatment. CFIR’s comprehensive assessments help us to identify contributing factors underlying your concerns. Realistic timelines for your recovery from your condition can then be determined based on the assessment outcomes.

4. “Are you well-trained? Are you a provincially registered care provider or supervised by a registered clinical psychologist?”

It’s essential that you seek treatment from a practitioner who has been well-trained and a member of a professional college in Ontario such as (but not limited to) College of Psychologists, College of Psychotherapists or College of Social Workers. Registration with a College denotes that your practitioner has completed education and training that has met the standards of practice for the profession. 

Registered psychologists have the most training in evidence-based psychological treatments. The registered psychologists working at CFIR supervise psychotherapists and social workers in the application of evidence-based therapies in their practice with their clients.

5. “Is there a way for us to connect before starting therapy sessions to ensure you’re a good fit for me?”

The relationship with your therapist is a vital aspect of your treatment and recovery from your symptoms and distress. Research studies suggest that the single most significant factor in whether a client changes during a course of therapy is the nature of his or her relationship with a therapist—whereas the treatment itself accounts for a less amount of your development. Make sure you are comfortable with your therapist and how they will work with you to address your concerns. 

Relationships are significant to us! CFIR offers a free initial 30-minute consultation to help determine if he or she will be a good fit for you! Meeting a therapist in-person will give you a sense of whether you feel comfortable with them or in the physical office surroundings. The 30-minute consultation gives you a chance to learn if the therapist is flexible in providing different treatment options. There’s nothing more frustrating, and costly, for you and your loved ones than to start with one therapist, spend numerous sessions working in one treatment approach, only to find it’s not working or fitting well with you. If your therapist primarily works in one treatment modality (e.g., CBT, or EFT, or Psychodynamic), it’s good to know whether he or she will be able to switch treatment direction if therapy is not working for you. 

Ask whether or not your therapist can provide different types of treatment. If your treatment is not working for you, your clinician should ideally provide you with other options or refer you to someone else who may be able to meet your needs for a different type of treatment. CFIR clinicians are skilled in employing different treatment models and often integrate different treatment approaches to offer you the best treatment possible.

At CFIR, we work collaboratively with you to identify your treatment goals and offer different types of treatment options to ensure that you get the help that you need. We are flexible and can change our treatment approach if you find that significant progress isn’t happening by using one method.

6. “How many sessions are required for treatment of my condition? What constitutes change or ‘recovery’? Are there quick, short-term treatments for conditions like mine?”

Receiving sufficient treatment to recover from your mental health concern is crucial! Your therapist should have some sense of the treatment dosage (i.e., number of sessions required) to reduce your symptoms or to recover from your mental health issue. Typically, 50% of clients feel better after about 7-8 sessions, and 75% report marked improvement after 20 sessions. There is, however, a significant body of research that points to the expected duration of treatment for a wide range of psychological issues (i.e., number of sessions required for symptom reduction or recovery from your condition). Your treatment provider needs to know the research to provide some sense of what you can expect regarding your treatment duration. 

When it comes to creating meaningful and significant change, there are no quick, short-term treatments. If you solely want to acquire information or education on a condition or topic, one or two sessions may suffice. Diminishing symptoms and recovery from your condition will, however, require more sessions and commitment to change. Typically, short-term treatment requires between 8-20 sessions to ensure significant symptom reduction and recovery for most conditions. However, some conditions need upwards of 12-14 months of consistent treatment for recovery.

7. “Is your service covered by my workplace insurance? How do I verify if I can afford the number of required sessions either using my insurance coverage or paying ‘out of pocket’?”

Workplace insurance programs cover not all mental health care practitioners. Clients who don’t review their workplace insurance before receiving psychological services can find themselves very disappointed, and out of a lot of money, when they find out that they're insurance won't cover the duration of their sessions. Research how much coverage you have available and figure out how much ‘out of pocket’ money you’ll need (if necessary) to attend sessions consistently until significant change is realized. 

Registered psychologists tend to be covered by most workplace insurance programs. However, if you are seeing a psychotherapist or social worker, you’ll want to verify whether your plan includes their services. At CFIR,  a registered clinical psychologist supervises psychotherapists and social workers, and receipts are issued under the supervising psychologist as well. Some insurance companies will accept these circumstances, while others will not. It’s up to you to verify with your insurer whether your insurer will cover your sessions.

Since most individuals will require more sessions than their insurance covers, you need to evaluate whether you can afford to pay for sessions ‘out of pocket’ once your insurance has run out. Have this discussion with your therapist to ensure that lack of financial resources does not disrupt your treatment. Based on your insurance, and ability to ‘pay out of pocket,’ your therapist may determine given your presenting concerns, that other treatment options may be better for you (i.e., workshops or group therapy, or seeing a psychotherapist or joining our Reduced Cost Services program). Referral to our counsellors is seamless and ensures continuity of your treatment with minimal disruptions.

If you find yourself out of insurance dollars, and your ability to pay ‘out of pocket’ reduced, you may want to modify the number of your sessions per month or take a break from therapy until which point your workplace insurance coverage is available to access again.

8. “What is your fee? Do you offer a range of fee options (i.e., sliding scales) or services in different formats (i.e., individual, couple, family, group therapy, workshops) to ensure accessibility and affordability of psychological services? 

Your therapist’s fees should be known to you and agreed upon before therapy commences. Also, depending on your payment method, you might also want to ask about whether your therapist has a sliding scale (i.e., able to offer a lower fee to ensure accessibility and affordability).  Services in different formats (i.e., individual, couple, family, group therapy, workshops) may also be an option to ensure accessibility and affordability of psychological services. We'll be happy to answer your question regarding cost for a session through CFIR when booking a Free Consultation.

What is CBT and How Can It Help You?

Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that addresses psychological issues by focusing primarily on the cognitive and behavioural dimensions of your emotional and behavioural concerns (i.e., the way that your thoughts, beliefs or thinking influences your emotional and behavioural responses). CBT also focuses on problem solving, finding solutions, improving coping, helping clients to challenge distorted cognitions (e.g., thoughts, beliefs) and change problematic behaviours. Your emotional or behavioural responses are also changed through exposure to specific situations, cues, narratives or places that trigger distress and maladaptive responses. Homework is often assigned.

Different treatments focus on different aspects of your concerns, including behaviours, cognitions, emotions, perceptions, and relationships. The psychologists, psychotherapists and counsellors working through CFIR are trained and skilled in providing various types of psychological treatments. They are also dedicated to discovering what will work best for you. Contact us today to book your initial appointment or to arrange a free 30-minute consultation.

What to Consider When Choosing Psychotherapy Over Medication

It is estimated that 1 in 5 Canadians will experience mental health difficulties each year (https://cmha.ca/media/fast-facts-about-mental-illness/). These high rates suggest that not only is it important to recognize the symptoms of mental health difficulties, but it is equally important to be aware of treatment options. Treatment for mental health disorders may include self-help (e.g., books, apps, peer support), medication, individual, couple, or group psychotherapy, or a combination of medication and therapy.

When considering treatment options, recent research indicates that patients with depressive and anxiety disorders were more likely to refuse medication, and more likely to engage in psychotherapy.¹ The researchers thought that this is due to patients recognizing that their problem may not only be biological and that there are no quick fixes for mental health. This is really important data – it tells health care providers and patients that psychotherapy should be offered as front-line treatment.

Psychology Month, which takes place in February, is a month devoted to highlighting how psychology can help others live a healthy and happy life, improve workplace environments, and help governments to develop good policies (see http://www.cpa.ca/psychologymonth/). In celebration of this month, here are five things to know about seeking treatment through psychotherapy.

1.  Acknowledge when you need help. It can be really hard to say to ourselves, “okay, I need help.” Naturally, we will try everything we can before we seek help from others. I understand needing psychological help as the equivalent of needing to expand our toolbox. It’s like trying to dig out of a hole when all you have is a shovel. So, what do you keep doing with only a shovel? You keep digging, and digging, and digging, only to keep getting stuck. Give yourself permission that it is okay to need help – and that identifying this is, in fact, a true strength. Once you have begun to see this, don’t wait! Don’t wait until you are no longer able to go to work or see friends.

2.  Find a good match – and then be authentic. The old adage of “if at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again” is applicable to finding the right therapist. Psychologists and psychotherapists work from many different treatment models, including cognitive-behavioural therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, emotion-focused, psychodynamic, and integrative models of treatment. (For more information on what these models look like, check out https://www.cfir.ca/DifferentTreatmentsArticle.php). Therapists will also have their own style with clients. The fundamental piece of finding a good therapist is that you feel connected, understood, and validated by the therapist. We know that a large factor of change that happens in therapy comes from the relationship you have with your therapist.² If you do not feel a good relationship within the first few sessions, try addressing it with the therapist, or don’t be afraid to find someone else. Be sure to maintain an open and authentic stance with them – share your thoughts and feelings to help them get to know all of you so that together you can make meaningful change.

3.  Try out new skills and tools. The media often shows a typical therapist in a sweater vest, sitting in a chair with glasses and a notepad, while their patient lies on a couch and stares at the ceiling. Psychotherapy has greatly changed with the increasing use of tools over and above talk therapy, including learning to calm the nervous system with breathing and mindfulness techniques, challenging unhelpful thoughts or processing difficult emotions, and learning communication tools. Therapy also looks to explore and understand your current perceptions and emotions, and how these relate to your early experiences. This can help to understand key themes contributing to your difficulties today. We are complex beings – with a history of experiences with parents and caregivers, friendships and romantic relationships, and bosses and employers. We carry our early experiences with us, like packaged up suitcases. But sometimes we don’t look in the old luggage to understand it – so we stay stuck. Once you learn new tools and gain new insight, apply these to your everyday life to help make changes. ³ 

4.   It will get harder before it gets better. Clients often feel a sense of relief following the first or second session when they begin to tell their story, acknowledge that they need help, and feel understood by another person. However, therapy can become more challenging as one begins to make changes or is faced with identifying their difficulties or beliefs that are contributing to them getting stuck.

5.  Change takes time – so stick with it. Research shows that over fifty percent of clients see improvements in their difficulties with an average of 12 sessions.⁴ Change does not happen immediately, and it will depend on the severity and chronicity of symptoms. A client once disclosed frustration after several sessions, stating that she “should already be better,” and that she must be a failure if she has not already improved. Change in psychotherapy is not black or white – nor is it a pass or fail. Allow yourself to get stuck and experience the difficulties that are coming up from therapy, and recognize some of the small pieces that are changing in your life.

To find out more information about seeking services from a psychologist or psychotherapist, visit https://www.cfir.ca/WhatToExpect.php .

REFERENCES

1. Swift, J.K., Greenberg, R.P., Tompkins, K.A., & Parkin, S.R. (2017). Treatment refusal and premature termination in psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and their combination: A meta-analysis of head-to-head comparisons. Psychotherapy, 54, 47-57.

2. Wampold, B. E. (2015). How important are the common factors in psychotherapy? An update. World Psychiatry, 14(3), 270-277.

3. Ronan, K. R., & Kazantzis, N. (2006). The use of between-session (homework) activities in psychotherapy: Conclusions from the Journal of Psychotherapy. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 16(2), 254-259.

4. Hansen, N. B., Lambert, M. J. and Forman, E. M. (2002), The Psychotherapy Dose-Response Effect and Its Implications for Treatment Delivery Services. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 9: 329–343. doi:10.1093/clipsy.9.3.329

Therapy: Are You Covered?

Is your therapist covered by your workplace insurance?

Can you afford the number of required sessions to help you by either using your insurance coverage or paying 'out of pocket'?

Not all mental health care practitioners are covered by workplace insurance programs. Clients who don't review their workplace insurance prior to receiving psychological services can find themselves feeling very disappointed, and out of a lot of money when they find out that they are not covered for their sessions. It's important to find out how much coverage you have, and to figure out how much 'out of pocket' money you'll need to be able to attend sessions consistently and until a significant change has been realized. It's important to learn at the outset about how many sessions you'll be able to afford with your insurance coverage and ability to pay 'out of pocket'.

Registered psychologists tend to be covered by most workplace insurance programs. However, if you are seeing a psychotherapist or social worker, you'll want to verify whether their services are covered under your program. At Centre For Interpersonal Relationships (CFIR), psychotherapists and social workers are supervised by a registered clinical psychologist, and receipts are issued under the supervising psychologist. Some insurance companies will accept these circumstances, while others will not. It's up to you to verify with your insurer whether your insurer will cover your sessions.

Since most individuals will require more sessions than their insurance covers, it's important for you to evaluate whether you can afford to pay for sessions 'out of pocket' once your insurance has run out. It's important to have these discussions with your therapist to ensure that your treatment is not disrupted by lack of financial resources. Based on your insurance, and ability to 'pay out of pocket', your therapist may determine given your presenting concerns, that other treatment options may be better for you (i.e., workshops or group therapy, or seeing a psychotherapist or joining our Reduced Cost Services program). In the event that you find yourself out of insurance dollars, and your ability to pay 'out of pocket' reduced, you may want to alter the number of sessions you attend per month or take a break from therapy until which point your workplace insurance kicks in again.

CFIR offers you different options to ensure accessibility and affordability of services. If you have run out of insurance and are having difficulties paying for services 'out of pocket', our counsellors, who are supervised by our psychologists, can be seen for a fraction of the cost of seeing a psychologist. Referral to our counsellors is seamless and ensures continuity of your treatment with minimal disruptions.

The Impact of Traumatic Events in Our Life: Healing in the Aftermath

by: Darcy Minick, Masters Candidate and Dr. Dino Zuccarini, C.Psych.

Are you struggling with the after-effects of past traumatic experiences in your present day? Many of us will experience at least one traumatic incident in our lifetime --- an unpredictable, out of the ordinary experience or incident that yields overwhelming helplessness, fear, powerlessness or intense isolation from others. The emotional residue of these traumatic incidents can wreak havoc inside of us, and interfere with our capacity to be intimately engaged in our important relationships. Traumatic incidents can shatter our sense of self and identity and our sense of the world around us.

In this post, we will provide you with some basic facts about trauma, and how these difficult life experiences may be affecting your life in the present day.

The good news though is that trauma can be healed. As Peter Levin has put it: “Trauma is a fact of life. It does not have to be a life sentence ... And there are so many things that we can do in prevention and healing."

What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?

In the fields of medicine, psychiatry, clinical and counseling psychology, two different diagnostic categories have been used to understand trauma:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) develops after an overwhelming life experience, such as accidents, war, abductions, sexual assault and violence, or natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes. These types of traumatic incidents involve us experiencing either actual physical harm or the threat of physical harm to ourselves.

Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Complex PTSD) results from stressors that may have occurred repeatedly and chronically in our lives. Sexual or physical abuse, often from early in life, over the course of childhood and in the context of the family, domestic abuse or military deployments into dangerous locales can all be causes of Complex PTSD. 

As a result of these experiences, our bodies and minds employ their natural defense systems --- our fight, flight, freeze responses --- to offset the threat. It is important for us to be able to eventually relinquish this natural defense system and return to normal levels of emotional and physiological arousal in our bodies --- that allows us to feel safe in the world again. Our ability to do so, however, can be impaired as a result of momentary or chronic traumatic experiences. Traumatic experiences can create a basic rupture, or loss of connection --- to our self, our family, and the world around us. Instead, we can be left with a sense of danger, insecurity, and disconnection in our lives. Restoring a sense of safety and security, learning how to make sense of the traumatic experience that we’ve endured, and re-connecting to our self and others again in the aftermath of this incident is critical to the healing process. Without such healing, many physical and psychological symptoms can emerge in our lives.

Common Symptoms of Trauma

Physical reactions can include the following:

• Bodily aches and pains
• Sudden sweating and/or heart palpitations
• Changes in sleep patterns, appetite, interest in sex
• Easily startled by noises or unexpected touch
• Tensions that some people will soothe with the use of alcohol or drugs and/or overeating

Emotional reactions can include the following:

• Flashbacks --- feeling like the trauma is happening now
• Feelings of guilt and shame
• Fear and/or anxiety, or depression
• Attempts to avoid anything associated with trauma
• Hyper-alertness or hyper-vigilance
• Feelings of detachment, or dissociation
• Inability to trust self or other
• Upsetting memories of the trauma, or lost memories
• Suicidal thoughts

How Can an Unresolved Trauma be Healed?

"When treated thoroughly, healing can lead not only to symptom reduction, but long-term transformation.” Peter Levine.

People are usually surprised when they begin to understand that some of the psychological and physical symptoms they have experienced are caused by previous traumatic experiences. Many people will get through this period with the help of family and friends, and the support of a therapist.

Here are some tips on how to cope, or diminish emotional and physical distress associated with trauma-related symptoms:

1. Mobilize a support system --- reaching out and connecting with others
2. Commit to an exercise routine --- energetic exercise like jogging, aerobics, bicycling, walking --- can help modulate our natural defence system.
3. Explore exercises and strategies to promote relaxation and diminish the impact of traumatic stress, including - breathing, relaxation, or exercise like yoga, stretching, massage hot baths prayer and/or meditation, listening to relaxing guided imagery, listening to music and viewing art or progressive deep muscle relaxation.
4. Try to find humour and the brighter, lighter sides of life -- doing so can counter the negative effects of traumatic stress;
5. Maintain a balanced diet and sleep cycle as much as possible, which includes not over-using stimulants like caffeine, sugar, or nicotine --- increasing arousal can create negative effects for individuals whose natural defence systems are in overdrive as a result of traumatic stress.

Psychotherapy is an essential component of your healing process. Research affirms that therapy can help you to process the intense emotions associated with traumatic incidents and diminish trauma-related symptoms.

CFIR's Trauma Psychology & PTSD Service offers individuals and couples assessment and treatment of different types of traumatic stress. A comprehensive psychological assessment is conducted to understand the psychological impact of trauma on an individual’s self-development and personality, his or her present-day distressing cognitions, emotions and behaviours, and relationship functioning.

We employ a phase-specific treatment model that integrates trauma-focused, cognitive-behavioural, psychodynamic, ego-state, mindfulness-based, and experiential strategies to address the debilitating symptoms associated with traumatic stress. Our phase-specific and compassion-focused approach allows us to develop customized treatment options that meet the unique needs of every individual or couple.


Read more about our Trauma Psychology & PTSD Treatment Service.