Types of Therapy and Programs

Individual sessions will be tailored to support your needs and will use a combination of therapeutic interventions to ensure that your needs are supported. You can expect to engage in some rapport building to ensure you feel like this is the right fit for you. It is important to remember that the counselling journey is your journey, so if it is not the right fit, alternative options can be discussed. The number of sessions will depend on goals, needs and what best suits you. Similarly with the frequency. 

If you are seeking couples therapy or family therapy where you wish to engage in counselling sessions with another person than sessions will be typically 80 minutes each. If there is times where individual sessions are part of this program than this will be discussed with your counsellor. This is not just limited to couples. A parent and child may be seeking counselling support together. Maximum of two people per session. Family Therapy can work with a child and parent one and then separately with parent too if required. Structure for this can be discussed with your counsellor. Typically expect to work through internal family systems, attachment theories and behavioural strategies. 

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is used for many mental health conditions and is a widely recognised therapeutic intervention. CBT typically focuses on cognitive distortions and applying the concept of change towards our thoughts, emotions and behaviours. It aims to develop specific coping strategies that can be applied to certain situations to bring about steps towards change. Uncovering negative automatic thoughts and working on positive applications to thought processes. It aims to create an understanding and awareness of how our thoughts can influence our emotional regulation and our behaviours. CBT identifies problems and works on actions to address these concerns through goal driven talk therapy.  

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a short-term, future-focused intervention that aims to help clients engage in forward thinking behaviours. SFBT uses the concept of how things change rather than building a detailed analysis of what caused an issue to develop. It takes a focus on envisioning how a situation might be better and importantly, incorporating what someone is already doing to make those things happen. It aims to honor strengths and acknowledge and recognise already helpful behaviours. While there is not a specific number of sessions allocated to SFBT, usually it is around 6 sessions, which may vary in the length between each session, aiming to provide a brief, focused therapeutic intervention. 

Cue-Centered Therapy (CCT) is used to specifically support those who are, or have been experiencing posttraumatic stress symptoms. CCT aims to focus on the impact of accumulating traumas and other stressors throughout the lifespan, rather than focusing on traumatic events in isolation. It utilises a hybrid approach including CBT, psychodynamic, interpersonal, expressive and family therapy techniques. The intervention was developed by Dr Victor Carrion and Stanford University (USA) and is framed around the neurobiology of trauma, creating awareness around traumatic cues, natural reactions to stress and how classical conditioning plays a role in our responses. CCT focuses on building new responses, utilising strengths and adaptive coping mechanisms. CCT aims to promote self-empowerment through increased knowledge and insight. Supportive caregivers can play an important role in CCT for children and in order for your child to get the best out of a CCT intervention there may be some sessions where a caregiver is required to attend. CCT is usually conducted over 15 sessions. 

Mali is a Registered Cool Kids Anxiety Program Facilitator which is a program targeting anxiety in children aged 7-17 years of age. The program was developed by Macquarie University and is based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) with a focus on teaching practical skills. The program is a 10 session program ideally run over the space of 10 weeks. The program also involves and expects caregiver support at home to help your child work through home-based tasks targeting anxiety. If you would like your child to participate in a 10 session (ideally over 10 weeks) program it will involve commitment from the home environment also to ensure your child is gaining the full benefit of therapy. The 10 sessions will be run at the same price as the standard sessions (see fees) however it will also incur an added $50 administration fee for workbooks. Please send through an email inquiry to mali@thought-fullcounselling.com if you would like your child to participate in this program.