We believe in collaborating with clients to find treatment goals that work for them, where they are even those who are mandated into treatment.

**SERVING: VA**

Owner & Founder, Clinic Director
Board-Certified,
Licensed Professional Counselor
Mohammad Baig, LPC, NCC
**Acceptance and Commitment Therapy**
**Psychodynamic Therapy**
**Cognitive Behavioral Therapy**
**Cognitive Processing Therapy**
**Dialectical Behavioral Therapy**
**Solution-Focused Brief Therapy**
**Exposure Response Prevention**
**Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy**

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an action-focused form of psychotherapy that builds on principles from traditional behavior therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. It helps clients move away from avoiding, denying, or battling with their inner emotions. Instead, clients learn to accept these deeper feelings as natural responses to certain situations, recognizing that they don't have to hinder their progress in life. With this new perspective, clients start to embrace their challenges and commit to making meaningful changes in their behavior, no matter what circumstances they face or how they feel about them.

psychodynamic Therapy

It is a form of talk therapy that explores the connection between a patient's past experiences – often from childhood – and their current mindset. Individuals who have the capacity to be self-reflective and are looking to obtain insight into themselves and their behavior are best suited to this type of therapy. Individuals who are not interested in delving into their life history are better candidates for therapies such as CBT.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, MBCT, is a modified form of cognitive therapy that incorporates mindfulness practices that include present moment awareness, meditation, and breathing exercises.

cognitive Behavioral therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a form of therapy that involves learning to identify negative thought patterns so you can work to change them. This treatment is based on the fundamental premise that by learning to cope with your negative thoughts and behaviors, you can relieve symptoms and live a healthier, more productive life day to day. If you are looking for a more action oriented, you can search for therapists specifically trained in CBT. CBT has been proven in study after study to be one form of therapy that results in substantial improvement in quality of life.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for grief works by helping you become aware of your negative thought patterns. These patterns can lead to behaviors that make it difficult to process grief. During CBT sessions, a therapist might ask you to discuss what you’re thinking about or feeling in terms of your grief. Identifying these negative thought patterns can help you understand how they’re affecting your behavior. CBT grief therapy tools that are used to promote healing often include:

Cognitive Reframing or Restructuring: Cognitive reframing or restructuring helps you become aware of negative thought patterns or distortions. You work through sessions to first identify negative thought patterns, so you can begin to take healthy steps to change them.
Targeting Behaviors: Targeting behaviors involves addressing unhelpful or harmful behaviors or habits and replacing them with helpful ones.
Developing a New Narrative: This technique helps you come up with a new narrative about your loss. It eases negative thoughts and feelings, rather than dwelling on them.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan. It is designed to help individuals who struggle with intense emotions and difficulty regulating their emotions and behaviors. DBT combines traditional cognitive-behavioral techniques with concepts of acceptance and mindfulness. The therapy focuses on teaching individuals skills to manage emotions, tolerate distress, improve interpersonal relationships, and become more mindful in their daily lives. It is particularly effective for those with borderline personality disorder (BPD), but it has also been adapted to treat various other mental health conditions, including mood disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders, and PTSD.

Cognitive processing therapy (CPT)

CPT is a specialized type of cognitive behavioral therapy that has been effective in decreasing symptoms of PTSD that have emerged after experiencing a variety of traumatic events including child abuse, combat, rape, and natural disasters. The focus of CPT is to help individuals confront and revise adverse beliefs regarding the trauma. The goal is then to decrease the negative impact of the trauma on current life experiences (American Psychological Association, 2017). CPT is an evidence-based treatment for PTSD (AHRQ, 2018; American Psychological Association, 2017; VA/DOD, 2017). When treating trauma, we work with three levels of information processing - which goes along with the three levels of the brain. We work with cognitions and belief systems formed after the trauma, which involves the cortex. We also have to work with emotions, like rage and terror, involving the limbic system. Then we also have to work with the body because that’s where the trauma impacts.

Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT)

SFBT places focus on a person's present and future circumstances and goals rather than past experiences. In this goal-oriented therapy, the symptoms or issues bringing a person to therapy are typically not targeted. Instead, a therapist encourages those in treatment to develop a vision of the future and offers support as they determine the skills, resources, and abilities needed to achieve that vision successfully.

exposure Response Prevention (ERP)

Obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD, is a serious condition that can disrupt someone’s daily life. It is marked by obsessions, or unwanted intrusive thoughts, and physical or mental actions taken to relieve anxiety associated with the obsessions. Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy is one of the most effective forms of treatment for OCD. ERP therapy is a behavioral therapy that gradually exposes people to situations designed to provoke a person’s obsessions in a safe environment A hallmark of ERP is that is doesn’t completely remove distressing situations and thoughts. ERP provides a client with coping skills for when a triggering situation presents itself, allowing them to then use the skills to prevent their compulsion from taking over.

Psychotropic medication vs. psychotherapy?

Research has shown that medication coupled with therapy has had an enduring affect in treating most psychological disorders. However, in cases with severe depression, therapy has shown to only be effective for low to moderate depression, but not severe depression. Some psychological disorders such as ADD/ADHD, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder must be treated with medication in addition to therapy. We will help you in deciding which route to take with appropriate referrals.