Category: Therapist Resources
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6 Ways Therapists Should View Their Patients For Better Outcomes
The patient is active, not passive In therapy, the patient is not a passive being that the clinician works on or something broken waiting to be fixed – like a car at the mechanic. They are autonomous individuals capable of their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Therefore, the therapist and patient must enter into a…
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Common DSM-5 Differential Diagnoses In Mental Health Assessments
The importance of diagnoses Proper assessments and diagnoses are important to understand a patient’s problems and determine the best course of treatment for the individual. However, in many cases the patient’s presenting symptoms do not neatly fall into the categories described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). This can make it…
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The Importance Of Discussing Patient Values In Therapy
Patient values in therapy Many people often want to reduce or get rid of certain ‘bad’ habits: playing video games, watching TV shows, smoking cannabis. Alternatively, they want to increase ‘good habits’: going to the gym, taking walks, meditation. However, despite these intentions, change is often difficult – even in therapy. The reason is because…
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Questions That Therapists Should Ask Patients In The First Session
Goals for the first session As a therapist, I usually reserve the first therapy session with a new patient to focus on a few important points of development. – To learn why the patient is coming in for treatment. – To develop treatment goals for the course of therapy. – To establish a positive working…
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How To Conduct Behavioural Experiments In Therapy: For Clinicians
Behavioural experiments in CBT Behavioural experiments are powerful drivers of change. They are a CBT strategy that we can use to formally test negative thoughts and predictions that patients hold that maintain their anxiety, depression, among other psychological problems. For example, a person with social anxiety might have the thoughts that “I shouldn’t talk to…
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How To Use SMART Goals In Therapy: For Clinicians
Using SMART Goals in therapy When you are working with patients in therapy, the first session or two are generally focused on learning more about the patient in terms of their challenges and establishing rapport. Once you’ve gotten a good handle on the patients presenting problem and history, the next step is to develop treatment…
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Three Skills That Therapists Can Use To Show They Are Listening
Listening skills in therapy Clinicians, such as counselors, psychologists, and clinical social workers, work in therapy settings with a number of patients. During this time, it is essential to showcase to the patient that they are well-understood and listened to. This is to ensure that the patient feels that the clinician truly cares about their…
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How To Use Socratic Questioning In Therapy
What is the Socratic Method? Socratic questioning is named after a famous Greek philosopher from Athens who had a very unique educational style. He believed that learning was most powerful and insightful when the student or person comes to a certain conclusion by themselves. Thus, Socrates developed a specific type of questioning style that would…
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How To Use Thought Records: For Clinicians
Thought Records in CBT Thought records, also known as ‘examining the evidence’, is a very commonly use clinical tool for tackling negative thoughts. Thought records are often used by clinicians and therapists who ascribed to a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) type of orientation. Patients often present with thinking errors (ways of thinking that are somewhat…
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