Which
Therapy Is Right
For You?
1.
Dialectical Behavior
Therapy (DBT)
Target Symptoms/Diagnoses:
Borderline personality disorder
Suicidal behavior
Self-harm
Substance use
PTSD
Depression
Eating disorders
Key Components:
Four core skills: mindfulness, distress tolerance,
interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation
Individual therapy
In-the-moment coaching
Case management
Consultation team
Goals:
Help patients develop behavioral control
Achieve full emotional experiencing
Build self-respect
Find meaning in life
2.
Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy (CBT)
Target Symptoms/Diagnoses:
Anxiety
Depression
OCD
Specific phobias
Substance use disorders
Bipolar disorder
Eating disorders
PTSD
Key Components:
Identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts,
attitudes, and beliefs
Monitoring and recording thoughts
Developing strategies to question negative thinking
Goals:
Develop skills for becoming and staying healthy
Change behaviors by changing thought patterns
3.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy
(IPT)
Target Symptoms/Diagnoses:
Major depression
Anxiety
Bulimia nervosa
Chronic fatigue
Mood disorders
Key Components:
Focus on four areas: relationship conflicts, life changes,
grief/loss, difficulties starting/sustaining relationships
Interpersonal inventory
Developing solutions for interpersonal problems
Goals:
Relieve symptoms by improving interpersonal
functioning
Enhance social support
4.
Acceptance & Commitment
Therapy (ACT)
Target Symptoms/Diagnoses:
Addiction
Anxiety disorders
Depression
Eating disorders
OCD
PTSD
Stress
Chronic illness
Key Components:
Six core processes: acceptance, cognitive defusion,
being present, self-as-context, values, committed
action
Goals:
Help people move beyond negative thoughts by
accepting them as appropriate responses
Commit to behavior changes that align with personal
values
5.
Eye Movement Desensitization
& Reprocessing (EMDR)
Target Symptoms/Diagnoses:
PTSD
Trauma disorders
Anxiety
Depression
Dissociative disorders
Personality disorders
Key Components:
Eight phases: history gathering, preparation,
assessment, desensitization, installation, body scan,
closure, reevaluation
Uses bilateral stimulation (eye movements, sounds, or
touch)
Goals:
Help patients process traumatic memories
Eliminate psychological distress
Develop more adaptive coping mechanisms
6.
Exposure and Response
Prevention (ERP)
Target Symptoms/Diagnoses:
OCD
Anxiety disorders
Key Components:
Gradual exposure to feared situations/thoughts
Prevention of compulsive responses
Progressive hierarchy from low to high anxiety
exposures
Goals:
Help patients stop the cycle of obsessions and
compulsions
Learn to tolerate discomfort without performing rituals
7.
Motivational Interviewing
(MI)
Target Symptoms/Diagnoses:
Addiction
Substance use disorder
Health behaviors
Medication adherence
Weight loss
Key Components:
Four principles: express empathy, support self-efficacy,
roll with resistance, develop discrepancy
Uses open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections,
summaries
Goals:
Help people resolve ambivalent feelings
Find internal motivation to change behaviors
8.
Trauma-Focused Cogntive
Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
Target Symptoms/Diagnoses:
Children/adolescents with PTSD
Trauma
Sexual/physical abuse
Grief
Key Components:
Psychoeducation
Coping skills
Gradual exposure
Cognitive processing
Caregiver involvement
Typically 8-25 sessions
Goals:
Help trauma victims develop safety/security
Repair social skills
Support caregivers in aiding recovery
9.
Psychodynamic
Psychotherapy
Target Symptoms/Diagnoses:
Depression
Social anxiety
Eating disorders
Relationship difficulties
Borderline personality disorder
Key Components:
Free association
Examining unconscious processes
Analyzing past experiences' impact on present
behavior
Focus on relationships with external world
Goals:
Help patients recognize and overcome
negative/contradictory feelings
Address repressed emotions
Improve interpersonal relationships
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Eric Arzubi, MD
@DrZoobs
