Affirming Psychology

Each of our therapists offers Individual Therapy. Please check out their individual bio pages to learn what they specifically treat. Below is a list of common issues address in Individual Therapy:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Trauma
• Grief/Loss
• Emotional Dysregulation and Borderline Personality Disorder
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Relationship issues/conflict
• Exploring Non-Monogamy
• Gender Exploration/Identity Development
• Affirming your Sexual Orientation
• Shame around Sex/General sexual issues (click here to learn more about Sex Therapy)
• Disordered Eating/Body Image
• Religious conflict/transition
• Coping with chronic pain and illnesses
• General stress
• Impulsivity

Evidence-based Treatment Modalities Offered:

• Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT)
  • ACT is a mindfulness-based therapy focused on practicing self-acceptance of thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and events. It is a behavioural therapy aimed to develop psychological flexibility to help clients emotionally regulate and reduce emotional suffering. ACT is an evidence-based treatment for issues such as depression, anxiety, psychosis, chronic pain, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
  • CBT is a structured, goal-oriented treatment aimed to help clients understand more of how their thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and behaviours are connected. Through that awareness, the therapist helps the client develop coping strategies to shift their emotional experience by shifting cognitions. It primarily is used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, substance use issues, and eating disorders.
• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy-Enhanced (CBT-E)
  • CBT-E is based in CBT and is focused on building awareness around the origins and reinforcing factors of their eating disorder, shift disordered eating thoughts and behaviours, and build a more balanced life.
• Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
  • CPT is based on CBT and developed specifically to treat trauma symptoms by challenging negative core beliefs clients possess as a result of their traumatic experiences. The therapist provides psychoeducation on the nature of trauma and reinforcing factors of trauma symptoms. The client is typically asked to write a detailed account of their worst traumatic experiences so that the therapist can help the client develop strategies to counter negative thinking (e.g., self-blaming thoughts). CPT is primarily an evidence-based treatment for treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. However, there is growing research demonstrating CPT can be effective for treating depression and anxiety.
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
  • DBT teaches clients strategies to tolerate emotional distress, enhance their relationship with others, mindfully navigate situations, and emotionally regulate. DBT is traditionally offered with a combination of group and individual therapy. However, at Affirming Psychology, we only offer individual therapy at this time. The approach has strong research evidence that it is effective at treating disorders such as Borderline Personality Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, substance use issues, and eating disorders.
• Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
  • EFT more commonly is used for couples/relationships, though can be used for families and individuals. Drawing on Attachment Theory, the therapist helps partners de-escalate, express underlying emotions and unmet attachment needs, repair wounds in their relationship, and enhance their connection with each other.
• Eye Movement Desentization Therapy (EMDR)
  • EMDR aims to help clients treat underlying trauma by helping the client focus, reprocess, and gain peace and clarity around past traumatic experiences. During the processing phase of EMDR, clients receive gentle sensory input to activate both hemispheres of the brain while the client re-experiences cognitions, emotions, physical sensations, and memories resulting from traumatic experiences. EMDR has demonstrated to be effective in treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, depression, relieve symptoms of chronic pain, substance abuse issues, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder amongst other issues.
• Intuitive Eating (IE)
  • IE offers a framework that is rooted in anti-diet, weight inclusive, and Health At Every Size values. The therapist using this approach helps clients honour and connect with their hunger cues, reject diet-culture, challenge rules and beliefs they may have around food and weight, and improve their connection with their body.
• Internal Family Systems (IFS)
  • IFS holds the assumption that individuals have sub-personalities referred to as “parts”. The goal of this approach is to help clients build more awareness of each of their parts and how they work together or are sometimes in conflict with one another. The therapist encourages the client to build compassion towards each part as this helps reduce emotional suffering and resolve internal conflict.
• Prolonged Exposure (PE)
  • PE is an evidence-based therapy that guides clients to approach and process traumatic memories rather than continue to avoid the experiences and symptoms related to their traumatic past. A PE therapist will teach coping strategies to help manage trauma-related symptoms and will then ask the client to talk through the details of their traumatic memories. Using imaginal exposure, the client is emotionally activated and repeatedly confronts the details, cognitions, physical sensations, and emotions related to their traumatic past until their trauma-related symptoms are decreased or eliminated.
• Sex Therapy (ST)
  • Sex Therapy is aimed to address issues impacting sexual satisfaction and functioning with individuals/couples/relationships. ST could address specific sexual dysfunctions, help you reframe how you view sexual challenges/differences, heal from sexual trauma, unlearn sexual shame, and build more connection with yourself and others. ST typically uses a combination of approaches such as CBT and EFT. To learn more, click here.