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Collaboration |
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Deciding whether
or not this is the right time to address your concerns,
setting the goal for therapy, planning our sessions, learning
the skills to make changes, designing homework and maintaining
gains are tasks that my clients and I complete together.
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Goals |
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The goals of
therapy are to reduce the intensity of emotional distress,
reduce the frequency and duration of problematic behaviors,
and increase effectiveness in relationships, work and the
enjoyment of life. |
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Planning |
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A plan is
constructed for each emotion or behavior that is targeted for
change. This plan includes the specific self-regulating
skills to be learned and applied. The plan
also tells us when we have completed our work. |
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Instruction |
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The skills to be
learned are in three areas. First, to change emotions,
one must be able to identify the thinking that creates the
emotion, evaluate the effectiveness of these thoughts and
emotions, and create changes in our emotions by creating
change in our thinking. Second, our
behaviors (with others, at work, when alone) have specific
triggers and are maintained by specific consequences.
Identifying these triggers and consequences allows us to learn
new ways of behaving and putting these to good use.
Third, our emotions are to a large degree physical reactions.
These reactions can be conditioned and lead to avoidance of
situations, objects or events. In such cases,
instruction in techniques of exposure to conditioned cues is
necessary to reduce conditioned emotional reactions. |
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Homework
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Much of what is
done during the therapy session is planning for the time
in-between sessions. Homework activities are assigned to
develop the skills needed to change emotions and behaviors and
to regularly use these skills. |
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Maintenance |
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Once desired
changes are made, they must be maintained. The final
step in therapy is the creating of a plan to continue
practicing and using the skills learned. Brush-up
sessions can be scheduled as needed. |
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