Types of Therapy Offered in St. Paul-Minneapolis

The role of a therapist is always to actively make the necessary adjustments to ensure clients receive the resources and support they need to achieve their therapy goals. To that end, I’ve become well versed in a variety of evidence-based therapy techniques that I can apply dynamically when and if my clients can benefit from them. I’m Kathy Johnson, a licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC) serving in-person therapy clients at my White Bear Lake practice, Tarriance, and offering online sessions for all of Minnesota. You can learn more about the therapy approaches I  use most often on this page or by getting in touch to schedule your consultation phone call today. 

EMDR / Trauma Focused

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of therapy to help clients learn from negative past experiences and desensitize the troubling experience which will result in lessening the negative impact of current triggers to empower individuals to live healthier and more productive lives. Through EMDR, clients are able to reprocess previous negative events and integrate those events into life in an adaptive way. It is often a more effective approach than traditional talk therapy for people with deep-rooted negative beliefs, and EMDR is an effective form of therapy for people with a variety of concerns, including unprocessed trauma, anxiety, and phobias. EMDR therapy involves working through the following eight specific phases:

• Phase 1:  history taking – identifying the past traumas that are still troubling today.  

• Phase 2:  Preparation – learning skills for stabilizing emotions and managing triggers.  

• Phase 3:   Assessment – identifying the negative beliefs that have become part of the client’s narrative and identifying a preferred belief.  

• Phase 4: Desensitization & Reprocessing – using some form of bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tactile stimulation, or audio for example) while the client holds the event in their mind, allowing the brain to complete the healing and integration process.  

• Phase 5:  Installation – in this phase, bilateral stimulation is used to help the client assimilate the preferred belief.  

• Phase 6:  Body scan – this phase simply helps the client identify if the physical body is feeling relaxed or of some aspects of the trauma remain.  

• Phase 7: Closure – at the end of every EMDR reprocessing session, the clinician helps the client achieve a relaxed state and feel ready to get back to the day and live their life.  

• Phase 8:  Reevaluation – at the beginning of a new session, the clinician checks with the client to assess the impact of the previous EMDR session.  
  

Internal Family Systems

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a therapeutic model that acknowledges people are made up of many “parts” or aspects of themselves that serve a number of functional roles in life. As a result of traumatic or emotionally complicated events, these parts may take on extreme roles in order to provide protection. While these protective parts have likely served the person well at some point in life, they often result in strong emotions, thoughts, and behaviors that crowd out the ability to be truly self-led and in charge of internal and external responses. 

An IFS approach is often used to help people understand, appreciate, and bring healing to wounded and burdened parts of self. This process involves taking a deep dive into developing self-awareness in order to align the parts that make up your whole, authentic self and allow your core self to lead all of the parts to engage safely and satisfyingly with the greater world. IFS is more than a therapy approach, it’s actually a paradigm that gives us an example of how accepting and understanding the multifaceted nature of our being allows us to become more authentic in every aspect of our lives, which can allow for increased resilience, healing, and satisfaction in every day. 

Emotion focused Therapy

Developing the ability to identify, label, and learn from our emotions is at the heart of Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT). Rather than trying to suppress or eliminate difficult emotions, we work to value all feelings and help clients build awareness of, label, and discover the purpose of emotions. This allows us to understand their presence in our physical bodies and learn to gain valuable information from emotions. EFT welcomes all emotions, recognizing them as neither good nor bad. Instead, all emotions are viewed as neutral, normal, and worthy of deeper examination. In the work of EFT, you will strive to differentiate between adaptive and maladaptive emotions. Adaptive feelings are leading us to a deeper understanding of what we need to feel fulfilled and satisfied, and it’s important to allow these emotions to help us navigate our world. Maladaptive emotions overwhelm us, limit our experiences, or keep us feeling stuck, but they are also trying to tell us something about our needs. EFT teaches us to accept and process these maladaptive feelings and begin to transform them into adaptive responses. 

Emotion Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT)

EFCT focuses on the attachment bond between couples. This type of therapy helps people discover the underlying emotions of each partner and the behavioral responses which then evoke underlying emotions and responses in their partner. EFCT sees the cycle rather than the person as the problem and works to help the couple increase their sense of connectedness. While I do not offer couples or marital counseling at this time I have training in the EFCT model and experience working with couples using EFCT. During individual counseling I am able to utilize a relational lens when clients are experiencing relationship struggles, which can help my clients sort out their part in relational issues.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT focuses on how thoughts, emotions, and behaviors interact. I integrate CBT principles into therapy as appropriate to help people identify and change their their underlying distorted thinking patterns, which will positively impact emotions and behaviors. Specifically, CBT is focused on change. When emotions, thoughts, or behaviors are interfering with your ability to live a full and satisfying life, CBT can help you redirect or process through these challenging thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to create positive change. 

Sand Tray Therapy 

Sand tray therapy is often beneficial for adults who are struggling to come to terms with their difficult experiences. Using the sand and available models and figures to create scenes based on a theme or a therapy goal can help individuals to express feelings and thoughts that they can’t find the language to explore or that they struggle to say aloud. The client can create and act out any scene or event that comes to mind in a safe environment. While the sand tray environment is representative of how the person feels internally, it is viewed externally and feels further away. Then, the client begins to move the figures and create different scenarios and dig deeper into the thoughts and feelings represented in their sand tray world. As the client develops greater insights through their work in the sand tray environment, they have a better understanding of their inner world as well as their experience in the outer world. Over time, sand tray therapy can help people feel more empowered to make changes in their own lives. 

Get Started 

Whether you’re interested in mental health counseling, life coaching, or cross-cultural consulting, you can receive the support and guidance you need at Tarriance. I’m here to support people who want to feel better, do better, and live better – whatever that looks like for you. When you’re ready to begin or you have questions that need answers, I’m here. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me, Kathleen “Kathy” Johnson, a counselor serving St. Paul-Minneapolis residents. 

Contact me for a free 15-minute phone consultation to see if counseling would be a good fit.