While reading through the website, you noticed a lot of “professional speak” in regards to therapies. Most people have no idea what all of it means, so here are either descriptions or links that will help you understand more about them.
Psychotherapy is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change and overcome problems in desired ways. Psychotherapy aims to improve an individual’s well-being and mental health, to resolve or mitigate troublesome behaviors, beliefs, compulsions, thoughts, or emotions, and to improve relationships and social skills. Certain psychotherapies are considered evidence-based for treating some diagnosed mental disorders.
There are over a thousand different psychotherapies, some being minor variations, while others are based on very different conceptions of psychology, ethics (how to live) or techniques. Most involve one-to-one sessions, between client and therapist, but some are conducted with groups, including families. Psychotherapists may be mental health professionals such as psychiatrists or psychologists, or come from a variety of other backgrounds, and depending on the jurisdiction may be legally regulated, voluntarily regulated or unregulated (and the term itself may be protected or not).
Attachment Theory states that a strong emotional and physical attachment to at least one primary caregiver is critical to personal development. John Bowlby first coined the term as a result of his studies involving the developmental psychology of children from various backgrounds.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a short-term, goal-oriented psychotherapy treatment that takes a hands-on, practical approach to problem-solving. Its goal is to change patterns of thinking or behavior that are behind people’s difficulties, and so change the way they feel.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) or emotional quotient (EQ) is the capacity of individuals to recognize their own, and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different feelings and label them appropriately, to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, and to manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt environments or achieve one’s goal(s).
Mindfulness is the psychological process of bringing one’s attention to the internal and external experiences occurring in the present moment, which can be developed through the practice of meditation and other training.
Systems Thinking involves the use of various techniques to study systems of many kinds. In nature, examples of the objects of systems thinking include ecosystems – in which various elements (such as air, water, movement, plants, and animals) interact. In organizations, systems consist of people, structures, and processes that operate together to make an organization “healthy” or “unhealthy”.
The Internal Family Systems Model (IFS) is an integrative approach to individual psychotherapy developed by Richard C. Schwartz. It combines systems thinking with the view that mind is made up of relatively discrete subpersonalities each with its own viewpoint and qualities. IFS uses family systems theory to understand how these collections of subpersonalities are organized.
RESOURCES
MindUp
This research-based curriculum features lessons that use the latest information about the brain to dramatically improve behavior and learning by helping students focus their attention, improve their self-regulation skills, build resilience to stress, and develop a positive mind-set in both school and life.
Nurtured Heart
The Nurtured Heart Approach (NHA) is a social emotional strategy that instills greatness and transforms negative behaviors into positive behaviors, increases interrelatedness and connectivity among family members, couples, teachers and students and builds “Inner Wealth” more commonly known as character strengths and virtues.
Optimistic Child
Educators, therapists and parents can teach children to apply optimism skills that can curb depression, boost school performance, and improve physical health. These skills provide children with the resilience they need to approach the teenage years and adulthood with confidence. Over the last thirty years the self-esteem movement has infiltrated American homes and classrooms with the credo that supplying positive feedback, regardless of the quality of performance, will make children feel better about themselves.
Social Thinking
Social Thinking helps people develop their social competencies to better connect with others and live happier, more meaningful lives. Unique treatment frameworks and strategies help individuals as young as four and across the lifespan to develop their social thinking and social skills to meet their personal social goals. These goals often include sharing space effectively with others, learning to work as part of a team, and developing relationships of all kinds: with family, friends, classmates, co-workers, romantic partners, etc. The process utilizes peer-reviewed research and client family values to foster the development of:
- social self-awareness
- perspective taking/theory of mind
- self-regulation
- executive functioning
- social-emotional understanding
- social skills
- organizational systems
- reading comprehension
- written expression
The Compassionate Classroom (Compassionate Communication/NVC)
The program merges recent discoveries in brain research with the proven skills of Nonviolent Communication and come to a bold conclusion – when compassion thrives, so does learning. Powerful skills to create an emotionally safe learning environment where academic excellence thrives. Build trust, reduce conflict, improve cooperation, and maximize the potential of each child as by creating relationship-centered environment. This how-to guide is perfect for any educator, homeschool parent, administrator or mentor. Customizable exercises, activities, charts and cutouts make it easy for educators to create lesson plans for a day, a week or an entire school year.
The Zones of Regulation
The Zones is a systematic, cognitive behavior approach used to teach self-regulation by categorizing all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four concrete zones. The Zones curriculum provides strategies to teach students to become more aware of, and independent in controlling their emotions and impulses, managing their sensory needs, and improving their ability to problem solve conflicts. By addressing underlying deficits in emotional and sensory regulation, executive functions, and social cognition, the curriculum is designed to help move students toward independent regulation. The Zones of Regulation incorporates Social Thinking® (www.socialthinking.com) concepts and numerous visuals to teach students to identify their feelings/level of alertness, understand how their behavior impacts those around them, and learn what tools they can use to manage their feelings and states.