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The Counseling Department provides services in a variety of therapeutic modalities:
Individual Therapy
This format involves sessions in which an individual client and therapist meet privately. This format is appropriate when the client (with the concurrence of the therapist) wishes to address internal conflicts and/or deeply ingrained personal habits that are causing repetitions of self-defeating behavior or when a client's emotional patterns are repeatedly sabotaging personal relationships. It may also be appropriate when the client is seeking relief from a specific symptom or condition such as depression or a phobia or panic disorder, or the problem may be an embarrassing one such that the client wishes the privacy of individual therapy. Individual therapy may be used also to support clients in managing difficult transitions, such as divorce, the loss of a family member, unemployment, or retirement.
Choice of this, or any, therapeutic modality is made collaboratively with the client, taking into account the relative advantages and disadvantages of the modality chosen. Some of the disadvantages of individual therapy are the enhanced likelihood of client-therapist dependence developing and the absence of family members or relationship partners that might be helpful to the assessment and change process.
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Couples Therapy
This format involves sessions in which a client couple--involved in a troubled relationship--meet privately with a therapist. This format is appropriate when the collaboratively defined problem is in the relationship, that is, between two people. It is more likely to succeed when there is a commitment by both in the couple to make things work, when, that is, there is a mutual acceptance of the responsibility for the relationship.
Some challenges to couples therapy are that the resistance of one partner can block the more motivated partner from getting needed help, that the fear of revealing embarrassing things can thwart open communication, blocking the therapy, and that the format may be used by one member of the couple to unleash pent up hostilities upon the other.
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Family Therapy
This format involves sessions in which a client family meets privately with a therapist. The client family generally is comprised of members of a nuclear family, but can involve extended family as well, such as families of origin members. This format is appropriate when the relevant problem involves patterns within a family system to which everyone more or less is contributing in some way. For example, when there are major problems in the way family members perceive and communicate with each other or, for example, when marital conflicts are acted out by a child. Problems arising from normal family transitions, such as preludes to the launching of near adult children, are appropriately dealt with in the family modality.
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Group Therapy
This format involves sessions in which a group of clients and a therapist meet privately to address problematic issues. Groups can be primarily supportive, educational, or deeply therapeutic in nature. They also can be fixed in their membership for the duration of the group or open with clients joining or leaving as their needs and interests dictate. Groups are usually organized around a particular theme, such as depression or divorce or self-esteem.
One of the great advantages of the group therapy modality is the positive models it can provide about the various coping styles and strengths of its members. There is enormous support in meeting with people who share in the experience of seeking help for similar problems and in seeing people who are in varying stages of problem resolution.
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Play Therapy
This format is a specialized, usually individual, modality used with children. Because children, especially preadolescent children, may find it difficult to verbally express their feelings or talk about how they have been affected by an experience, a play therapist, using toys and play materials, can help children act out and work through problem feelings and concerns.
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