Some of the types of therapy available, defined and explained.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT):
CBT is probably the best known form of therapy at present. It is often best applied to Depression, Anxiety and Trauma and is based on the assumption that thoughts, feelings and behaviour are linked. Therapy usually comprises identifying unhelpful thoughts and challenging these through discussion and experiments to test and ultimately change the associated emotions and behaviour.
Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR):
EMDR has recently become recognised for its effectiveness dealing with trauma and like CBT is recommended as a second line treatment in the NICE Guidelines. This therapy uses various techniques to help stimulate both sides of the brain when thinking about the problem. It is thought this helps to activate natural systems within the brain to speed up the way people deal with distressing memories.
Thought Field Therapy (TFT):
Thought Field Therapy was discovered by Dr Roger Callahan a Clinical Psychologist who was one of the pioneers of Cognitive approaches to psychological intervention. In a startling event he cured a women’s phobia of water by tapping an accupressure point on the stomach meridian under the eye. From this amazing discovery he was able to diagnose a series of specific points which could be activated to disrupt a thought field which disrupts a normal energy flow in the body.
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT):
EFT is derived from Thought Field Therapy and forms part of a new growing field of therapy called Energy Psychology. This is a combination of western scientific knowledge with Eastern traditional medicine which identifies energy pathways or ‘meridians’ in the body. Client’s are usually instructed to think of their problem while tapping on a sequence of points around the body. This seems to reduce the body reaction and emotional response to thoughts thereby reducing the distress experienced.