How long is a session in therapy?
Therapy sessions are typically 45-60 minutes, while groups run longer per session. Clients typically meet on a weekly or bi-weekly basis depending on the client’s needs. The length of time while in therapy will depend on the individual client’s circumstances. The therapist and client will determine that together.
What are different types of therapy?
Individual
The client has one-on-one sessions with their therapist to address any concerns and work through and seek positive alternatives.
Group
With a therapist facilitator, the clients have the opportunity to work through and support each other with similar interests. Group counseling enables a client to learn from others’ experiences and allows the client to see that they’re not alone.
Couples/Family
Helps reduce tension/conflict as well as improve communication skills within the family unit.
How often will I attend therapy?
Weekly visits for the first 3 months are highly recommended and can be reassessed at that time. Clients with more complex or severe symptoms due to trauma benefit from more consistent weekly therapy appointments. It is important that children ages 10 and younger are seen weekly in order to make ongoing progress.
We would like to help you make progress toward your goals, and a reduced frequency from the start is an unfortunate way to reduce the likelihood of progress and success in counseling. Your therapist will discuss with you if a different frequency is recommended or if we can meet you where you are due to other barriers or circumstances.
What does the first session look like?
The initial session will be an initial assessment to discuss the client’s history and needs for treatment. During this first session, the client will have the opportunity to see how therapy will work, review office policies, privacy, and confidentiality, as well as determine whether they are comfortable with the therapist.
It’s vital to have a positive working relationship with your therapist, so it’s recommended that the client and therapist meet 2-3 times before deciding whether or not the relationship will continue. The therapist will provide the client with referrals of specialists or trusted colleagues if needed.
What can I expect in appointments?
In the first few sessions (1 to 4), you will tell your truth, determine the goodness of the fit between yourself and your therapist, discuss goals and treatment plans, and build rapport. Effective long-term progress occurs after these steps are established.
The Treatment Phase
After the first few sessions, active engagement of the treatment goals and plan begins. The treatment approach varies depending on the client’s presenting problem and the therapist’s training and clinical orientation.
In these sessions you will work toward gaining insights, learning skills, expressing emotions, and more, which will help you make progress and see progress for long-term change. The therapist can guide you, and you are responsible for engaging in the process. The progress is directly related to your level of commitment to doing the work outside of the counseling office.
What can I expect when I arrive?
Take a tour of the building in Daviess County.
What type of modalities, techniques or tools are used in therapy at New Beginnings?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Using eye movements that mimic REM sleep, the brain and body are able to connect on a deeper level, allowing for traumatic memories of events to be processed, thereby decreasing the intensity of feelings, and sensations created by the traumatic event, moving toward resolution.
What is EMDR?
How does EMDR work?
Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is an evidence-based listening therapy designed to reduce sound sensitivities and improve auditory processing, behavioral state regulation, and social engagement behaviors through filtered music. As a practical application of Polyvagal Theory, the SSP acts as a non-invasive, acoustic vagal nerve stimulator, helping to retune the nervous system to better support connection, collaboration and resilience. The SSP involves listening to specialty filtered music through headphones alongside a provider in person or remotely. SSP has demonstrated benefits for individuals with trauma, anxiety, sensory processing differences and more.
Polyvagal Theory
Polyvagal Theory is an intentional way of doing and being in our world. It is a new way of learning how to befriend your nervous system. Through practices of movement, breathwork, music, play, and harmonizing with nature, safety and connection are allowed to blossom. The body learns how to feel safe and connected. Resilience is built within the nervous system.
Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA)
The Eagala Model is the global standard for equine-assisted psychotherapy and personal development, which incorporates horses’ unique intuition to help clients heal, discover, learn, and grow from the horse-human relationship. When we use the power of horses and their energy field, we are able to see in real time what we are projecting out to the world. This gives us an opportunity to begin making changes to old patterns of thoughts and behaviors that no longer work for us.
Visit eagala.org.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy that helps people change their thoughts and behaviors to improve their feelings. It’s a structured, goal-oriented treatment that’s often used to treat mental health conditions.
How it works:
- CBT helps people identify and challenge negative or irrational thoughts
- It helps people learn how to respond to challenging situations more effectively
- It helps people develop coping strategies to deal with current problems
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) is a treatment that helps children and adolescents who have experienced trauma, as well as their parents or caregivers. It’s an evidence-based approach that uses cognitive behavioral techniques and exposure therapy to treat post-traumatic stress, depression, and behavioral issues.
How it works:
- Family-focused: Parents and children participate in individual sessions and conjoint sessions together.
- Gradual exposure: TF-CBT incorporates gradual exposure into each component.
- Identify negative thoughts: Children learn to identify negative thoughts about themselves and then apply those skills to thoughts about the traumatic event.
- Regulate trauma responses: Children and parents learn skills to help the child re-regulate their trauma responses.
- Avoid trauma reminders: Children and parents learn to avoid trauma reminders and memories.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
IFS is frequently used as an evidence-based psychotherapy. It helps people heal by accessing and healing their protective and wounded inner parts. IFS creates inner and outer connectedness by helping people first access their Self and, from that core, come to understand and heal their parts. It is also a way of understanding personal and intimate relationships and stepping into life with the 8 Cs: confidence, calm, compassion, courage, creativity, clarity, curiosity, and connectedness.
Ego States Therapy
Ego State Therapy is a powerful and brief therapy based on the premise that personality is composed of separate parts, rather than being a whole. These parts (which everyone has) are called ego states. The therapist learns to work directly with the state that can best benefit from change, rather than merely working with an intellectual, talkative state.
We are each made up of several different ego states; each has its own feeling of power or weakness, emotion, logic, skills, and other personal traits. When we say, “part of me wants to,” we are talking about an ego state. When we say, “I feel at peace with myself on this issue,” we are talking about our ego states agreeing, not having an internal struggle. Our various ego states help to make our lives rich, productive, and enjoyable. An ego state harboring pain can cause unrest and unwanted emotional reactions. When two ego states conflict, we can feel torn on an issue or a decision.
Somatic Techniques
Somatic therapy is rooted in the principle that trauma is not just stored in our memories, but also in our bodies. This approach to healing focuses on the physical sensations and bodily experiences associated with traumatic memories, aiming to release stored trauma or bound-up energy in the body and restore a sense of safety and wholeness. Some somatic practices may include:
- Mindfulness
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Breathwork
- Tapping
- Expressive art therapies
- EMDR
- Grounding
Neurofeedback
Neurofeedback is a non-invasive technique that uses brain wave measurements to help people improve their focus, mood, and sleep. It’s a type of biofeedback that uses a brain-computer interface (BCI) to provide real-time feedback on brain activity.
How it works:
- Sensors: Electrodes are attached to the scalp to measure brain waves.
- Feedback: The brain’s electrical activity is transmitted to a computer program that provides audio or visual feedback.
- Learning: The user learns to modulate their brain waves to produce more desirable patterns.