Psychotherapy has existed for over a century now, and during that time many treatment approaches have been developed based on different ideas about the underlying source of human unhappiness. We believe that unhappiness can have different causes, and so we have integrated elements of well-known psychotherapies into a flexible approach that feels to the client like a normal conversation.
Unhappiness, in our view, can stem from blocked emotions, traumatic past experiences, negatively distorted thoughts, or difficult life circumstances. (Of course it may also involve a chemical imbalance, in which case we refer clients to a psychiatrist for co-treatment.)
With blocked emotions and past trauma we employ psychodynamic strategies, focusing on allowing the client full expression of feelings. We do this by listening, reflecting, supporting, and interpreting as the client gradually achieves insight, a fuller range of emotions, and mastery of traumatic memories. With negatively distorted thoughts we employ cognitive-behavioral interventions, challenging the cognitive distortions and clarifying to the client that these distorted thoughts are untrue and the misery that stems from them is unnecessary. With bad life circumstances we adopt a counseling approach, clearly identifying the life problems faced by the client, brainstorming and advising on ways to solve them, and also working with the client on any skill deficits that are part of the problems.
At ITI-NJ we also realize that these different causes of unhappiness are usually present to some degree in everyone, and that they are often interrelated. Blocked emotions or trauma can cause negatively distorted thoughts, which can cause poor life decisions, which can cause difficult life circumstances. We seek to make each client aware of how all these factors relate, and on the need to work on the entire pattern as part of building his or her pathway to happiness.
We have found that the best way to integrate these different techniques is to use them within the context of a naturalistic conversation. We try to be friendly, open, helpful, and relaxed, while at the same time adhering to high standards of professionalism and competence. In the early days of therapy a psychoanalytic model was favored that prescribed very rigid rules for the conduct of therapy, with the therapist being remote, detached, and most of the time, silent. We feel that this may have been appropriate for the cultural milieu of a century ago, but is inappropriate today.
We answer questions, laugh at jokes, and tell you what we really think. Therapy sessions, whether on-site or via a teletherapy, can be comforting or exhilarating. They can be very hard work, and sometimes they can even be funny. They should not feel like a weekly root canal, and with us they usually don’t.
