Finding Your Path

Exploring Different Therapeutic Approaches with Calm Harbour Counselling 

At Calm Harbour Counselling, we recognize that everyone's journey is unique. Our therapists bring a wealth of experience across a range of therapeutic approaches, allowing us to carefully tailor our support to align with your individual needs and values.

Whether you're familiar with therapy or exploring it for the first time, we're here to guide you through the different options and help select the approach that best fits your situation. Our expertise spans from traditional methods like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to more contemporary, evidence-based techniques.

While we're trained and able to use the more traditional therapies like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), we often turn to more modern evidence based approaches to support you. 

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) blends cognitive-behavioral techniques with mindfulness practices from Buddhist traditions. It focuses on balancing acceptance of yourself with the changes you want to make. DBT addresses:

• Mindfulness: Enhancing awareness of the present moment.
• Distress Tolerance: Managing pain in tough situations without avoidance.
• Emotion Regulation: Learning to control and change intense emotions.
• Interpersonal Effectiveness: Improving relationships and assertiveness.

This therapy is often conducted in a group setting, but at Calm Harbour, we adapt DBT tools for individual needs, especially for those dealing with intense emotions or challenging relationships.

Narrative Therapy helps you explore the stories you tell about your life. The way you piece together the narratives of what's happened to you, what is happening, or what will happen to you shape your identity, perceptions, and relationships. Our goal is to help you:

• Separate your identity from your problems and recognize that you are not defined by your challenges.
• Rewrite your life's narrative to emphasize your strengths and aspirations.
• See the possibilities and hopes for the future and feel empowered to make them a reality. 

This approach can be particularly beneficial if you feel stuck or dominated by a negative storyline in your life. We can help you to reshape your narrative, opening up new possibilities and pathways for action that you might not have considered before.  

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can help you accept things that are out of your control and commit to actions that enrich your life by becoming more aware of your thoughts and feelings without getting overwhelmed by them. 

• Mindfulness: Becoming more conscious of your thoughts and feelings without being overwhelmed.
• Values-driven actions: Learning to make choices that align with your deeper values, not just reacting to the immediate pressures of life.

ACT is especially useful if you're feeling stuck in patterns and find yourself acting in ways you don't feel good about because it encourages you to act on your values rather than your impulses, fears, or societal expectations. It’s about weathering and even embracing life’s challenges, not eliminating them, to create a fulfilling life. If you're ready to break a cycle, learn more about why you're doing what you're doing, and commit to real change for yourself, then you might want to consider ACT. 

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (A.R.T.) is different from the rest, and not to be confused with what you find in museums! A.R.T. uses guided eye movements, much like those activated during REM sleep, to help you change the way you remember upsetting experiences or anticipate uncomfortable ones in the future - without needing to discuss the details. This method can:

• Rapidly reduce emotional pain and reset the troubling images and feelings associated with them. 
• Help you feel more at peace with past experiences, and minimize the impact of past traumas on your current well-being.
• Support you to feel more empowered with potentially difficult or upsetting experiences in the future. 

Our therapists almost never use A.R.T. exclusively, but as a tool to enhance the other approaches to therapy to accelerate your path to resolution, just like the name promises. If the idea of traditional talk therapy feels overwhelming, this could be your path to true healing and peace. 

Finding Your Path at Calm Harbour

Choosing the right therapy can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to know which therapy is right for you or make this decision alone. We invite you to schedule a phone consultation today. Let us understand your needs and guide you towards a therapy that helps you move forward on your path to healing.