Lisa Clendening, BEd, MSW, RSW
Registered Social Worker
Psychotherapist
Lasting Wellness Counselling Services
Counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Through counselling, my goal is to support you to develop a vision of the life you want and then walk with you each step of the way as you put your goals into action. By using the evidence based and leading edge therapies and tools described below you can manifest the life you desire.
In addition to an initial assessment session and a detailed intake form, you will also complete a number of standardized scales so that we can both have an accurate assessment of how you are doing at the begining of treatment and how you are responding to therapy throughout our work together.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has been found to support clients to choose more helpful thoughts and behaviours therefore creating a strong foundation for positive change.
Counselling is either in person or online to maximize your convenience and privacy. Online counselling can be done a secure telehealth video counselling platform, or phone.
EMDR
EMDR
EMDR is a set of standardized protocols that incorporates elements from many different treatment approaches. To date, EMDR therapy has helped millions of people of all ages relieve many types of psychological stress.
When a person is very upset, their brain cannot process information as it does ordinarily. Moments of trauma may become "frozen in time," and remembering traumatic moments may feel as bad as going through it the first time because the images, sounds, smells, and feelings haven’t changed. Such memories have a lasting negative effect that interferes with the way a person sees the world and the way they relate to other people.
EMDR seems to have a direct effect on the way that the brain processes information. Normal information processing is resumed, so following a successful EMDR session, a person no longer relives the images, sounds, and feelings when the event is brought to mind. You still remember what happened, but it is less upsetting.
Many types of therapy have similar goals. However, EMDR appears to be similar to what occurs naturally during dreaming or REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Therefore, EMDR can be thought of as a physiologically based therapy that helps a person see disturbing material in a new and less distressing way.
Research has shown that EMDR can be an efficient and rapid treatment. Approximately 20 controlled studies have investigated the effects of EMDR. These studies have consistently found that EMDR effectively decreases/eliminates the symptoms of post traumatic stress for the majority of clients. Clients often report improvement in other associated symptoms such as anxiety. The current treatment guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies designate EMDR as an effective treatment for post traumatic stress.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Informed Therapy
IFS was first developed by Richard Schwartz, PhD. Many individuals who have depression and anxiety and/or have experienced trauma find IFS helpful. In this work, you get to know how the different parts of yourself respond to triggering events and can also be in conflict with each other. Much of the time, these protective parts perform their roles to try to shield you from feeling your emotional, younger, vulnerable parts.
With IFS, you learn how to access your authentic core Self, to bring compassion and curiosity to these personality parts, therefore bringing about integration and healing of both the vulnerable and protective parts.
Body Based (Somatic) Therapies
Body Based (Somatic) Therapies
Breathing practices can be extremely effective at bringing someone out of the stress response into the rest and digest state. When combined with simple yoga and qigong movement exercises they can be even more effective.
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) tapping and self-acupressure can be added to key points on the face, upper body, arms,and hands to release emotions such as depression, anxiety, anger, and grief. Havening techniques which involve soothing self-touch on the palms, arms, and face have similiar benefits.
Yoga, qigong, and EFT practices are based on thousands of years of Eastern tradition, and recently Western science has done numerous studies at Universities such as Harvard showing the effectiveness of these modalities for improving the stress response even after a single session. These practices can be learned by anyone, and when done over time, are an empowering way to take charge of and improve your emotional and mental well being.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Meditation and Mindfulness
Meditation can involve a number of different practices from breathwork or a mantra to focusing on different aspects of your physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual being. Research has shown that regular meditation practices, of all kinds, may boost measures of health, happiness, social functioning, self-control, brain function, and productivity.
Clinical research has shown that the benefits of a consistent mindfulness practice include reduced worrying, stress reduction, increase in working memory, improved focus, less emotional reactivity, more cognitive flexibility, increased relationship satisfaction, enhanced intuition, and increased immune functioning.
Self-Compassion
Self-Compassion
Based on the work of Kristen Neff, PhD., and others, more than a thousand research studies show the benefits of being a supportive friend to yourself, especially when you are feeling most vulnerable.
With practice, you can learn to befriend the inner critic and have it become less extreme, while learning to listen more to the parts of yourself who are inner allies.
Schedule a free Wellness Consultation
to answer any questions you may have about counselling with me
Schedule a free Wellness Consultation
to answer any questions you may have about counselling with me