Individual Therapy
I offer weekly individual therapy on a secure telehealth platform. My therapeutic approach is collaborative, experiential, and integrative meaning we both will be actively participating in the session to find what works best for you. This may be different than what you’re expecting or have experienced in the past in therapy. There are many different types of therapy and just like each therapist is different, each type of therapy may feel and work differently. Below you’ll find some information regarding the interventions we may use in our work together.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a type of behavioral therapy. ACT focuses on identifying what’s important in your life, being aware of and open to your experiences, and remaining present while engaging meaningfully with your life.
Central to ACT is psychological flexibility. This means being aware of what is happening in the here and now and responding to the moment in a way that is flexible to what is needed. ACT processes are about shifting attention towards values, changing your relationship to your thoughts and feelings, and intentionally moving towards your goals. In other words, ACT is about doing what matters even when it’s uncomfortable.
My practice is also informed by other ACT-adjacent interventions including Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP), Clinical Relational Frame Theory (RFT), and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT).
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an approach that focuses on the relationship between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It has been proven through extensive research to be an effective treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Trauma, Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia, and more.
With CBT, you’ll be able to identify your patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors through in and out-of-session practices. You’ll learn how to augment these patterns and step out of well-worn paths of behavior into new ways of responding that better serve what you want out of life. CBT skills will teach you how to be your own therapist in changing unhelpful ways of responding to internal and external experiences.
My practice is also informed by other CBT-adjacent interventions including Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT).
Exposure Therapy
Exposure is a technique used with CBT to treat trauma, anxiety, panic, OCD, and specific phobias. It hinges on gradually and repeatedly facing situations that you may be avoiding. Exposure practice may sound scary but the goal is to help you work through fears and challenges to live a more free and meaningful life.
Exposure practice is built on repetition and gradually working towards greater difficulty and importance. Exposure practice takes place in a controlled environment with your therapist to build helpful and engaging habits to be applied in your daily life. You might find yourself working towards things you never thought possible and building confidence in your own abilities.
I utilize Prolonged Exposure (PE) for PTSD, Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD, and exposure-based therapies for anxiety, panic, and specific phobias. My approach moves at your pace with encouragement and guidance.
Mindfulness
Whether we call it meditation, mindfulness, or attention training, it’s about intentionally paying attention without judgment in the here and now. This practice has been around for millennia in many different forms and cultures. More recently, researchers have studied the clinical effectiveness of mindfulness via controlled studies. Mindfulness has been shown as an effective means of working with stress, anxiety, burnout, in managing health challenges, amongst other benefits.
Some might think mindfulness is ‘not for me’ based on certain beliefs or experiences but it’s very likely you’ve had moments of mindfulness already in your life and called it something else. Our work will be about increasing these moments through training and practice.
I also integrate Self Compassion into my practice which is an evidence-based mindfulness intervention.
Andrew Butler-Pothast, LCSW 