Services
The counselling services that Tracy provides include individual counselling to adults and adolescents. The kinds of modalities she uses in her work include EMDR Therapy, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Narrative Therapy, creative approaches, DBT, CBT, Ego State Therapy, and Energy Psychology, among others.
EMDR Therapy
The letters “EMDR” stand for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.
EMDR therapy is an evidence-based, structured therapeutic method that was created by Francine Shapiro in the late 1980’s. EMDR therapy is guided by a theoretical framework called the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model. This model states that we have an innate ability to heal, and that EMDR therapy taps into this ability. Traumatic memories seem to be processed differently than other memories in our brains. They can become stuck, and accompanied by distressing memories, thoughts and feelings. By first activating the memory network where the trauma is stored and then, by adding bilateral stimulation (which simply means getting both the right and left side of your brain to work together), which can be visual, auditory, or tactile, EMDR therapy taps into the brain’s plasticity and creates new neural networks, helping these memories to become unstuck. This also means that there is relief and resolution from the distress that was previously there. Empirical studies have shown that EMDR works extremely well for many clients. Research has demonstrated that it is effective in treating trauma, as well as many other issues including anxiety, depression, substance use and eating disorders, among others. Tracy is a Certified EMDR therapist, and has been incorporating EMDR into her work since 2003. She has been witness to the incredible ways that EMDR therapy can help people to re-connect to their strengths and resources, and transform difficult experiences. Depending on the individual with whom she is collaborating, she often combines EMDR therapy with other approaches, such as art, narrative strategies and sensorimotor work.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy was developed in the 1980’s by Pat Ogden, Ph.D.
It is a type of therapy that not only looks at the ways in which emotions and thoughts are affected by experiences, but also examines the impacts to the body. A primary focus of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is to look at the ways in which the body plays a role in maintaining certain beliefs, feelings and experiences, as well. Attachment theory, neuroscience, body-based therapies, cognitive methods and emotional approaches all inform Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, as does the Hakomi Method, which is a somatic therapy developed by Ron Kurtz in the 1970’s. In practice, Sensorimotor counselling uses various interventions, including talking, mindfulness and physical actions, in order to bring to awareness and directly address the neurobiological effects of trauma and attachment. Tracy completed Level 1 of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Training for the Treatment of Trauma, in January 2010. She completed Level 2: Attachment, Development and Trauma, in March 2013.
Narrative Therapy
One of the major principles of Narrative Therapy, developed by Michael White and David Epston in the 1980’s, is that people make meaning through stories.
Narrative Therapy highlights the ways in which people’s narratives reflect wider cultural, dominant stories, as well as the ways in which these dominant discourses mold and shape people’s stories. Narrative Therapy incorporates a social, contextual lens that consistently links the personal with the political. Narrative therapists work collaboratively with clients, co-creating space that externalizes problems from the person. Employing a narrative emphasis in counselling also means that there is a focus on people’s alternative stories that give voice to their preferred values, strengths and resources. Art can be a creative and powerful way to externalize and thicken these alternative stories even further.
Creative Approaches
Using creative strategies can support people to explore their inner selves more fully, and can open up new possibilities for self-care and problem solving, too.
The emphasis is on the process, not the final product. Modalities can include painting, creating comfort boxes, music, writing poetry, or journaling, among others.
DBT
Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) treatment was developed by psychologist Marsha Linehan in the late 1980's.
It is a cognitive behavioural approach that emphasizes 4 sets of skills: mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness and emotional regulation. The skills are taught in sessions to help the person learn, apply and master them in her/his life. This empirically validated treatment has been shown to help clients reduce suicidal and self-harm behaviour, reduce frequency of hospitalizations, remain engaged in therapy and decrease substance use. DBT encourages discussion and reasoning by dialogue as a method of intellectual questioning. The term “dialectical” means a synthesis or integration of opposites. DBT teaches clients strategies of acceptance and uses validation to heal the distance between these opposites; for example, love and hate, black and white and yin and yang. Dialectics represent the mind’s way of understanding concepts by understanding and appreciating their polar opposites.
CBT
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a form of talk therapy, which helps individuals develop skills and methods to change unhelpful patterns of thinking or behaviour.
Our thoughts affect how we feel, how we behave and deal with challenging problems. With CBT, a person learns to identify, evaluate and question various ways of thinking and beliefs, related to the emotional and behavioural reactions that create problems for them. By recording the thoughts and beliefs that are upsetting and creating difficulties, CBT can help you become aware of negative, inaccurate or distorted thinking. CBT can support you to change the way you think about things. You can apply these new strategies and ways of thinking and feeling to specific situations. When you do, you may experience lasting changes in your mood, your outlook and productivity.
Ego State Therapy
Ego State Therapy is a psychodynamic approach that was originated by Dr. Jack Watkins and psychotherapist Helen Watkins.
They found that giving a voice to disowned or dissociated aspects of self enabled the resolution of long-standing internal conflicts. Ego State Therapy is about appreciating all parts of ourselves, known or unknown, who contribute to survival. Trauma is a common factor that often forces these parts into extreme and sometimes destructive roles. One of the goals of Ego State Therapy is to heal the polarities within oneself so that the parts are working together as a team. An important contributor to this field of work is Richard Schwartz, Ph.D. who developed his own therapeutic approach called The Internal Family Systems Model (IFS) over the past 20 + years. It combines systems thinking with the view that the mind is made up of parts of self, each with its own viewpoint and qualities. Both of these approaches involve helping the client to understand that their external world is really just a reflection of their inner world. If one wants her/his life to be different, then she/he has to look within to find answers and make changes.
Energy Psychology
Energy Psychology is a mind-body approach to understanding and improving human functioning, and refers to a group of techniques that have been clinically shown to help with a wide range of psychological problems.
These tools and techniques can be useful in psychotherapy to release emotional and psychological trauma. Stressful events in our lives, trauma, negative thinking and limiting beliefs, and even chemical imbalances can affect how we feel on a day-to-day basis. The impacts are experienced in electrical impulses in your brain and body that result in feelings like anxiety, extreme sadness, fear and anger, to name a few. By working with the whole mind-body system, Energy Psychology facilitates rapid optimal change and positive psychotherapeutic outcomes, and is aligned with the latest findings from neuroscience and traumatology. Tapping, touching and holding, visualization, mindfulness accompanied by specific verbal statements are some of the tools used. Energy Psychology can also be used with phobias, bad habits, stressful tension, self-sabotage, doubt, procrastination and numerous trauma impacts.