Therapy Modality/Orientation Glossary

aims to help parents and adolescents repair attachment ruptures in an effort to rebuild a secure attachment to one another. ABFT therapists help families reframe how they relate to one another, build stronger alliances (including with your therapist), repair ruptures, and promote autonomy in the adolescent to responsibly make their own choices while still seeking out support from their parents. ABFT has empirical evidence showing it is an effective treatment for adolescents experiencing depression and suicidal ideation.

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.

A therapeutic approach that helps clients replace distressing or traumatic images with more positive ones, reducing symptoms of traumatic stress. Using guided eye movements and integrating principles from Gestalt Therapy and Psychodynamic Therapy, ART facilitates rapid processing of distressing memories. It is used to treat conditions such as phobias, acute and prolonged stress, trauma, OCD, eating disorders, anxiety, and depression.

uses the creative process and psychotherapy to support people navigating common issues such as anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. AT allows the client to find their voice, express themselves, enhance cognitive and sensorimotor functions, and improve emotion regulation. 

focuses on helping clients access, process, and move past trauma, negative emotions, and pain. The therapist helps the client use specific eye positions to become more attuned and access painful emotions while tending to the therapeutic relationship.

is sometimes referred to as Expressive Arts Therapy. Using art forms such as storytelling, poetry, music, and illustration, the therapist helps individuals or groups to articulate, confront, and process emotions and sources of distress. CAT promotes self-expression and reflection, particularly for those who have difficulty interpreting or describing how they are feeling.

is an evidence-based treatment for issues such as depression, anxiety disorders, substance use issues, and eating disorders. CBT is a structured, goal-oriented therapy, and time-limited therapy aimed to help clients develop awareness and coping strategies to help shift thoughts, emotions, and behaviours.

is a form of CBT focused on building awareness, disrupting, and shifting disordered eating thoughts and behaviours. It is a structured, time-limited treatment that provides psycheducation on eating disorders and teaches clients specific behavioural and cognitive strategies to treat eating disorders. CBT-E is an evidence-based treatment for Anorexia Nervosa Disorder, Bulimia Nervosa Disorder, Binge-Eating Disorder and other eating disorders.

is sometimes referred to as person-centered therapy and is often integrated into other therapeutic modalities. CCT is a non-directive approach to talk therapy that places the client as the more active party in treatment while the therapist acts mainly as a non-judgemental source of support for the client. Rather than the therapist focusing on alleviating specific symptoms, the approach aims to help clients find their voice to make their own decisions by increasing clarity and improving their self-esteem. CCT has mixed evidence in research literature depending on the mental health issues being addressed in therapy.

helps promote emotional healing by encouraging clients to remain compassionate towards themselves and others. CFT teaches clients how to shift from a shameful, critical stance to one of self-acceptance by enhancing mind-body connection. There is some research evidence that it is a modality that reduces depressive, anxious, and psychotic symptoms.

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.

is a conversational, client-centered approach to psychotherapy that emphasizes mutual respect, shared understanding, and equal partnership between a non-judgemental therapist and client. Rooted in postmodern and social constructionist ideas, it views the client as the expert of their own life, with the therapist adopting a curious, “not-knowing” stance. Rather than pathologizing and directing the client, therapy unfolds through open dialogue, where meaning and solutions are co-created.

teaches clients strategies to emotionally regulate, tolerate extreme distress, enhance their relationship with others, and remain mindful. DBT is traditionally offered with a combination of group and individual therapy. It has strong research evidence for treating Borderline Personality Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, eating disorders, and substance use disorders.

aims to help clients accept, express, regulate, process, and shift emotions. Using this evidence-based approach, the therapist can teach individuals or couples to nonjudgementally connect with their emotions given that avoiding emotions can lead to more negative outcomes.

is an evidence-based treatment more commonly used for couples/relationships, though is also offered for individuals and families. EFT draws on attachment theory to help partners de-escalate, express underlying emotions, repair attachment ruptures, and strengthen their connection to one another.

uses the principles and practices of EFT to help families re-establish more securely-attached family patterns. This evidence-based approach aims to stabilize a family’s negative interaction pattern, restructure parent-child interactions, repair attachment wounds, unpack generational influences on the development and expression of emotions, and helps each family member become more attuned to one another. 

is an EFT approach with individuals centered on processing current and past relationships with the goal of repairing attachment ruptures and building skills to build more meaningful, lasting relationships. The therapist will help the client explore overarching emotions and patterns to uncover underlying attachment needs. EFIT has research evidence for treating depression and anxiety.

is a structured therapy that treats underlying trauma by helping the client to focus, reprocess, and move past traumatic experiences. The client receives gentle sensory input to activate both sides of their brain while they re-experience cognitions, emotions, physical sensations, and memories resulting from traumatic experiences. EMDR is an evidence-based treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, chronic pain, and substance issues.

stresses that all individuals have the capacity for self-awareness, each person’s identity is known only through relationships with others, and individuals must continually re-create themselves because life is always influx. The therapist takes the stance that anxiety, depression, and isolation are natural stages of human development. There is some evidence that ET is helpful for improving self-efficacy, overall well-being, and treating anxious and depressive symptoms.

is a way of integrating geek-culture artifacts into the therapeutic process as a means of building rapport with clients.This modality can help people utilize their love of gaming, Dungeons & Dragons, books or other fandoms to find points of resonance between their special interests and their mental health concerns. Geek therapy is fundamentally about using individual passions to build trust, community, connection, and mental well-being, in a comfortable and personally meaningful environment.

is a framework more often used in treating disordered eating that is rooted in anti-diet, weight inclusive, and Health At Every Size values. IE teaches clients how to honour their hunger cues, reject diet-culture, challenge rules around food and weight, and improve better connection with one’s body. IE was developed by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, and is now commonly used by eating disorder therapists. IE has growing research evidence that it is an effective approach to treating eating disorders.

therapy takes the assumption that all individuals have sub-personalities or “parts”. The therapist helps the client become more aware of the role each part of them plays while also encouraging compassion towards each part to reduce emotional suffering, release tension, and resolve internal conflict. Preliminary research studies demonstrate that IFS is an effective form of treatment for substance use issues, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and enhancing self-compassion.

​is an evidence-based approach that has the central idea that psychological symptoms can be understood as a response to current issues in everyday relationships with others. The clinician helps the client improve interpersonal functioning, thereby relieving symptoms, particularly those struggling with anxiety, depressive symptoms, or eating disorders.

encompasses a variety of treatment approaches, such as SET, IFS, SP, and EMDR, to help the client to become more attuned with their body and flexible within their nervous system. By helping the client create more trusting relationships, build more self-compassion, and work through unprocessed emotions, the therapist is able to help treat underlying trauma. 

is often coupled with approaches such as CBT, DBT, and ACT. MBT teaches clients concrete ways to sit in the present moment without judgment, which aids in reducing emotional suffering and enhancing awareness. Mindfulness as an approach has strong research evidence to help treat issues such as depression, anxiety, and sexual issues, and help improve one’s overall mental and physical health.

is an evidence-based approach that is collaborative, directive, and client-centered that elicits behavioural change. MI is a goal-oriented style of communication focused on strengthening the client’s personal motivation and commitment to change by drawing out the client to identify their own reasons for change. MI is more often an approach that is used in conjunction with behavioural approaches such as CBT, CBT-E, and DBT.

aims to help clients turn towards challenging emotions and negative thoughts with a spirit of openness and curiosity. MSCT uses a combination of self-compassion and mindfulness strategies to enhance the client’s relationship with their bodies, emotions, and others. Some research studies have been showing that MSCT significantly improves one’s ability to remain self-compassionate, reduces anxious and depressive symptoms, and improves one’s overall emotional well-being.

uses music intentionally within a therapeutic relationship to promote self-reflection, improve one’s own well-being and sense of confidence, and process emotions. MT is often practiced individually, though has been used in group settings as well. The client(s) have an active role in playing and sometimes writing music to aid them in accomplishing their therapeutic goals.

helps the client separate themselves from their presenting problem. This externalization of the problem allows the client to better understand how the stories they tell themselves of the problem shapes the client. The therapist will encourage the client to use their own skills to minimize the effect of problems in their lives and help the client identify their own values. Some research has found that NT decreases anxious and depressive symptoms, enhances decision-making and emotional skills in children, and is effective in treating issues around body image.

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.

is an evidence-based practice focusing on how the unconscious and past experiences shape our current behaviour and sense of self. Using the therapeutic relationship as the central intervention, the therapist will reflect back observed recurring patterns to the client to help build awareness and shift defense mechanisms.

is rooted in CBT and is an action-oriented approach that focuses on helping clients challenge and cope with irrational beliefs. REBT helps clients learn to better manage their emotions, behaviour, and thoughts by recognizing negative thinking patterns and responding more rationally.

A therapeutic approach that conceptualizes all behavior as choices made to fulfill basic psychological needs, including love and belonging, fun, freedom, power, and survival. RT/CT therapists help clients gain effective control over their behaviors and make more constructive choices to meet these needs. By fostering personal responsibility and self-efficacy, this approach can lead to a reduction in distressing symptoms and improved overall well-being.

factors in how social, cultural, and familial factors shape a person with the goal to develop new ideas and thinking patterns about relationships. RT aims to help a client build more autonomy, patience, trust in others while helping them learn to set more effective boundaries, compromise where needed, and overall build healthier, more balanced relationships.

works on the principle that trauma is trapped in the body, which can keep clients from fully processing and moving on from traumatic memories. The therapist will help increase a client’s awareness and attunement to their own body’s sensations in an effort to shift the trauma-related stress responses rather than focusing on thoughts and emotions.

is a short-term, goal-focused, evidence-based approach that focuses on a person’s present and more immediate future circumstances. The therapist will help the client solve problems more effectively and teach coping strategies.

is a body-centered trauma and attachment approach that views the body as an integral source of information and wisdom. Using mindfulness-based somatic techniques and the safety of the therapeutic relationship, the therapist helps the client build internal resources to find relief from trauma symptoms, better manage their nervous system, update beliefs about themselves and others stemming from traumatic and attachment wounding, and gently process trauma stored in the body by working with “slivers” of traumatic memory.

is rooted in Polyvagal theory and involves using specific music that stimulates the vagus nerve. This intervention is typically delivered over 5 hours of listening to music that adds a calming effect to help reduce stress and auditory sensitivity. SSP is more often used to help clients achieve a more balanced physiological state so that they can better integrate other therapies.

is an evidence-based practice aimed to address factors that are impacting sexual satisfaction and sexual functioning with individuals and/or couples/relationships. ST treats specific sexual dysfunctions such as erectile dysfunction, low sexual desire, difficulty reaching orgasm, or genital-pelvic pain. A therapist practicing ST may help you reframe how you view sexual challenges, heal from sexual trauma, and deconstruct shame around specific sexual interests. ST typically uses a combination of approaches such as CBT, MBT, and EFT.

is an evidence-based approach that originally geared towards helping children who were victims of sexual abuse, and has since widened to help individuals of any age who has experienced trauma. This approach helps clients challenge and modify unhelpful negative reactions, beliefs, or behaviours that were formed as a result of experiencing extensive trauma. The therapist will provide clients (and families in the case of working with children) psychoeducation on trauma reactions, help develop new coping strategies, guide clients through gradual exposure to traumatic memories with the goal or reconditioning their response to triggers, facilitate cognitive processing to recontextualize unhelpful feelings and thoughts, and may include rebuilding trusting adult relationships for the child with their caregivers.

integrates mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, SP, ego state techniques, ego state techniques, and IFS to help establish stability before transitioning into a more in-depth trauma therapy. Using a parts-of-self framework, the therapist provides a structure for clients to see their trauma-related symptoms (e.g. flashbacks, nightmares, dissociation) and self injury behaviours as adaptive reactions rather than with shame, which helps to further establish stability and internal secure attachment.

is a child and family evidence-based therapy focusing on enhancing self-esteem, trust in others, and attachment. The therapist provides structured and focused play to help create opportunities for the child and parent/caregiver(s) to have a changed view of the self as worthy and loveable.

is the application of yoga practices to help treat physical and mental health conditions, such as anxiety or depression. A Yoga therapist would build on the principles and structure of yoga to help the client develop strategies for self-inquiry, reduce stress, and enhance the mind-body connection.