POLYVAGAL THEORY (PVT)
PVT is a helpful, non-pathologizing way to understand your own biology and responses to life’s demands. It provides a comprehensive overview of the autonomic nervous system and simple interventions that result in profound changes to our internal and external experiences. It emphasizes a bottom-up approach, meaning working with the body and lower brain structures, because of its effectiveness; however, top-down exercises are used as well. PVT involves somatic techniques and lays the groundwork for more in-depth trauma therapies.
 

 

EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION REPROCESSING (EMDR)

EMDR is an evidence-based, trauma-processing and memory reconsolidation approach to therapy that has been proven effective for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, panic attacks, grief, depression, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and addiction.

EMDR is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from emotional distress that is a result of life experiences that are held in the autonomic nervous system by helping clients activate their natural healing processes and removing “blocks” that have prevented healing. This is done through the use of detailed protocols and procedures that the clinician has learned through training. EMDR is an 8-phase treatment. EMDR has been proven to be 90% effective even in cases where previous mental health interventions were deemed ineffective and the client’s condition labelled “treatment resistant.” It works by activating the brain’s innate, information processing system and targeting unresolved distressing memories.

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INTERNAL FAMILY SYSTEMS (IFS)

IFS is a non-pathologizing approach to psychotherapy that emphasizes the natural multiplicity of the mind. That our internal world is made up of the “Self” and various “Parts”. IFS aims to help clients bolster the “Self”, which is the innate presence within each person that is the pure essence of who they are. Being in Self is characterized by the 8 C’s of self-energy: Curiosity, Calm, Clarity, Connectedness, Confidence, Courage, Creativity, and Compassion. 

IFS posits that we are all born with multiplicity, meaning there are various aspects or parts of us. By living in the world, experiencing relationships with different people, and by experiencing scary, harmful, or overwhelming events, parts develop their own beliefs, thoughts, and feelings about those experiences. All parts act from a place of positive intention. When a part feels threatened and doesn’t trust the Self, it acts out to try to protect the system. Because Parts are often stuck in time or polarized with one another, the behaviours they elicit are extreme or out of sync with reality. The goal of IFS therapy is to help the client access their Self and befriend their managers and firefighters. Then, in Self, the goal is for the client to access exiled parts and heal them through the unburdening process. 

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