Talk Therapy

If you’ve never seen a therapist – or have only met with junior therapists – Talk Therapy is probably what you expect of therapy.  You’ll talk about your challenges; your therapist will listen, give advice and invite you to think in different ways; you may experience emotional responses.  Although Talk Therapy will be somewhat different with each therapist, in short, you’ll be using the thinking brain and self-acceptance to reach your goals.  It’s the first – and for some clients – the only form of therapy they’ll ever experience.  If you’re using Talk Therapy with Russ, you’ll likely experience a combination of Psychoeducation, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and a healthy dose of empathic listening to create space for emotion. Talk Therapy is helpful part of any therapeutic experience.  It starts the process of recovery and lays the groundwork for deeper change.  Now it’s time for you to take the next step.  Just contact Russ or read the “Talk Therapy” link below.

EMDR

EMDR – an acronym for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy – arose in the late 1980’s as a treatment for PTSD. Since then it has been extended to treat many mental health challenges. Unlike Talk Therapy, EMDR is not a cognitive or psycho-emtional therapy.  It is more appropriately viewed as a physiologically based therapy.  Through the dual (right-left-right-left) stimulation of eye movement, sounds and sounds, clients create internal resources and digest disturbing past experiences so that they can deal better with current experiences.  In terms of the brain, EMDR activates the medial-frontal cortex – the front, center part of the brain – associated with mindfulness.  Once your primary needs are met through Talk Therapy – and depending on the challenges you face, your personality and you preferences, you may join a large number of Russ’ clients who employ EMDR.  If this interests you, click on the EMDR link below to read more or reach out to Russ using the contact information in this page’s footer.

Parts Therapy

“Parts Therapy,” more accurately called “Internal Family Systems Therapy” or IFS arose in the late 1990’s with its incredible success in healing serious and heretofore intractable conditions. A naturally intuitive approach – with a strong dose of self-compassion – IFS helps you understand yourself in a more complex and nuanced way.  Seeing yourself as being made of various “parts” –  angry parts, judgmental parts, overwhelmed parts, hurt parts, et cetera – our contradictory thoughts, emotions and actions begin to make sense.  From an inclusive understanding of ourselves, Russ helps you induce a state of self-compassion in which the parts of your personality can relax, heal, resolve conflicts and support the lives we wish to live. The primary focus of Russ’ first 5 years of  post-degree training, Internal Family Systems Therapy is a central component for many creative, right-brained clients who have been struggled making changes in their lives.  If you would like to learn more, just follow the IFS link below or contact Russ directly.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

Sensorimotor therapy is a revolutionary, cutting-edge and profoundly effective therapy for clients who can get stuck in their minds or have past, undigested experiences clouding their lives. With its foundation based in the 1990’s revolution in brain imaging and neurobiology, Sensorimotor incorporates attachment theory (how people bond to one another), the autonomic nervous system (how underlying moods distorts perceptions) and brain-body connections (how changes to our body effect our minds).  Sensorimotor Therapy combines  traditional talk therapy and somatic, body-oriented therapy.  Originally designed to effect treatment-resistant cases of PTSD, Russ’ clients use it to achieve profound changes in areas previously deemed intractable . For experienced psychotherapy clients or trauma-survivors Sensorimotor Therapy creates new levels of mental clarity and personal presence in their lives.  To learn more about this new form of therapy, give Russ a call or follow the link below.

Your Experienced Counselor for the Durango Area