Navigating Rough Waters:
Helpful Resources /Articles
Terms/Definitions
Attachment Psychology
Explores the formation and impact of emotional bonds, particularly between infants and their caregivers. It suggests that early relationships, particularly with primary caregivers, influence an individual’s emotional development, social skills, and how they relate to others throughout their lives. When we form our primary attachment, we also make a mental representation of what a relationship is (internal working model), which we then use for all other relationships in the future i.e., friendships, working, and romantic relationships. In other words, there will be continuity between early attachment experiences and later relationships. In summary, attachment psychology provides a framework for understanding how early emotional bonds influence an individual’s development and their capacity for healthy relationships throughout their life Modern attachment theory is based on three principles: 1.Bonding is an intrinsic human need. 2.Regulation of emotion and fear to enhance vitality. 3.Promoting adaptiveness and growth. Attachment styles in adults: Attachment theory was extended to adult romantic relationships in the late 1980s by Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver. Four styles of attachment have been identified in adults: secure, anxious-preoccupied, dismissive-avoidant and fearful-avoidant. These roughly correspond to infant classifications: secure, insecure-ambivalent, insecure-avoidant and disorganized/disoriented.
Depth Psychology
It is defined as the psychological theory that explores the relationship between the conscious and the unconscious, as well as the patterns and dynamics of motivation and the mind. Depth psychology states that the psyche process is partly conscious, partly unconscious, and partly semi-conscious. In practice, depth psychology seeks to explore underlying motives as an approach to various mental disorders. Depth psychologists believe that the uncovering of deeper, often unconscious, motives is intrinsically healing in and of itself. It seeks knowledge of the deep layers underlying behavioral and cognitive processes.
Gestalt Psychotherapies
Based on Humanistic Psychology. This approach emphasizes the importance of experiencing the present moment and taking responsibility for one’s own feelings and actions. It puts a focus on the here and now, especially as an opportunity to look past any preconceived notions and focus on how the present is affected by the past. In Gestalt therapy, non-verbal cues are an important indicator of how the client may actually be feeling, despite the feelings expressed. Gestalt psychology helped introduce the idea that human perception is not just about seeing what is actually present in the world around us. It is also heavily influenced by our motivations and expectations. It is based on the idea that overall perception depends on the interaction between many factors. Among these factors are our past experiences, current environment, thoughts, feelings, and needs. Gestalt therapy involves key concepts such as awareness, unfinished business, and personal responsibility. The objective of Gestalt therapy is to enable the client to become more fully and creatively alive and to become free from the blocks and unfinished business that may diminish satisfaction, fulfillment, and growth, and to experiment with new ways of being
Attachment-based Therapy
Is a psychoanalytic psychotherapy that is informed by attachment theory, how dysfunctional attachments or attachment trauma in childhood get represented in the human inner world, and subsequently re-enacted in adult life as attachment issues- difficulty making and keeping healthy relationships as adults. Individuals with attachment problems may show signs of distress during difficult situations, have trouble caring for others and letting themselves be cared for, are easily angered, and have difficulty focusing. Attachment-based psychotherapy is the framework of treating these individuals, who often present to therapy with complaints of depression, anxiety, and childhood trauma, and can help modify dysfunctional emotions (jealousy, rage, rejection, fear of commitment, avoidance) in order to give the patient a healthy understanding of the traumatic experiences they have gone through, and learn how to adapt and adjust their current patterns in order to have more successful and healthier interpersonal relationships across all areas of their lives.
Existential Therapy
This approach helps individuals explore the meaning of their lives and confront existential concerns such as death and freedom. Existential psychotherapies, an application of humanistic psychology, applies existential philosophy, which emphasizes the idea that humans have the freedom to make sense of their lives. They are free to define themselves and do whatever it is they want to do. This is a type of humanistic therapy that forces the client to explore the meaning of their life, as well as its purpose. There is a conflict between having freedoms and having limitations. Examples of limitations include genetics, culture, and many other factors. Existential therapy involves trying to resolve this conflict.
Humanistic Psychology
A school of thought in psychology that emphasizes the importance of individual experiences, subjective feelings, and the potential for growth and self-actualization (developing a stronger and healthier sense of self. It emphasizes personal growth, self-awareness, and the client’s capacity for healing. It focuses on your unique traits and features instead of trying to identify what’s common between you and others to label these common traits as a condition. This approach focuses on how you see yourself and your world, and how these perceptions impact your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The main goal of humanistic therapy is to help you reach your full potential by becoming more self-aware and accepting.Humanism concept: Ideal and real selves. The ideal self and real self involve understanding the issues that arise from having an idea of what you wish you were as a person, and having that not match with who you actually are as a person (incongruence). The ideal self is what a person believes should be done, as well as what their core values are. The real self is what is actually played out in life. Through humanistic therapy, an understanding of the present allows clients to add positive experiences to their real self-concept. The goal is to have the two concepts of self become congruent.
Humanistic Therapy
Integrative Therapy
Therapy that merges mindfulness and behavioral therapy, with positive social support. It is insight-based, meaning that the therapist attempts to provide the client with insights about their inner conflicts, with the aim of helping the client develop a stronger and healthier sense of self, also called self-actualization, and attempts to teach clients they have potential for self-fulfillment. By encouraging self-awareness and reflexivity, therapy helps the client change their state of mind and behavior from one set of reactions, to a healthier one with more productive and thoughtful actions.
Integrative therapy is a flexible and personalized approach to therapy that combines techniques and ideas from various therapeutic schools of thought to address a client’s unique needs. It’s often seen as a more holistic approach, considering the individual’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being in a unified way. Ideally, therapist and client will work together to understand the sources of the latter’s anxiety, unhappiness, physical discomfort, or unhealthy behavior patterns. Key aspects of integrative therapy: Holistic Perspective: It aims to address the whole person, not just specific symptoms; Personalized Approach: Therapists tailor their techniques to the individual’s specific needs and preferences; Flexibility: It’s not tied to a single therapeutic model but draws from various approaches as needed; Therapeutic Relationship: It emphasizes the importance of the relationship between the therapist and client as a crucial element of change; Focus on Integration: It aims to integrate different aspects of a person’s experience, including physiological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral systems, to create a cohesive sense of self. Integrative therapy is an individualized, holistic approach to therapy that combines ideas and techniques from different therapeutic schools of thought depending on the unique needs of a given client. As such, it is sometimes seen more as a movement within the practice of psychotherapy than a form of therapy in and of itself. In practice, by merging elements of different psychological theories or modifying standard treatments, integrative therapists can often offer a more flexible and inclusive approach to treatment than those who practice singular forms of psychotherapy. An integrative therapist may introduce strategies and techniques from cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, EMDR, motivational interviewing, mindfulness, art or music therapy, psychodynamic therapy, humanistic therapy, psychodrama, meditation, breathwork, yoga, family systems therapy, gestalt therapy, or trauma-informed therapy. How they go about it is likely to differ from practice to practice: A provider may initially follow one primary approach but introduce elements of other techniques as the therapeutic relationship progresses or when predetermined targets or goals have been met. For example, on realizing that a client struggles with social anxiety, a therapist who takes a humanistic approach to a client’s long-term goals and concerns may share techniques from CBT that specifically target the individual’s situational anxiety.
Psychodynamic Psychology
in its broadest sense, is an approach to psychology that emphasizes systematic study of the psychological forces underlying human behavior, feelings, and emotions and how they might relate to early experience. It is especially interested in the dynamic relations between conscious motivation and unconscious motivation. Psychodynamic therapies depend upon a psychoanalytic understanding of inner conflict, wherein unconscious thoughts, desires, and memories influence behavior and psychological problems are caused by unconscious or repressed conflicts
Trauma-Informed Therapy
Because of the complex interconnectedness of trauma, human development, resiliency and the integration of the self, there is no specific post-trauma treatment approach that works for every person. As a result, treatment requires an integrative approach using a variety of skills and techniques to best fit the presentation of the problem, which must include a focus on maximizing safety, trauma processing, and reintegration. The post-traumatic self may not be the same person as before, typically includes personality changes due to the effects of trauma which can be the source of intense shame, and typically includes grieving the loss of the person they were before the trauma
Psychodynamic Therapy
Explores the unconscious mind and past experiences to understand current feelings and behaviors. It’s a longer-term therapy that can be beneficial for a variety of mental health issues. (such as chronic depression, anxiety disorders, somatic disorder, PTSD, substance abuse disorders, eating disorders)
Trauma-Focused Therapy
Trauma-focused psychotherapy is defined as any therapy that uses cognitive, emotional, or behavioral techniques to facilitate the processing of a traumatic experience, with the trauma focus being a central component of the therapeutic process.[7] Trauma-informed therapy encompasses a range of therapeutic modalities aimed at addressing the complex needs of individuals affected by trauma. These therapies are applied in behavioral health contexts to create a safe and supportive environment that fosters healing and resilience while integrating trauma awareness into every facet of care. Emphasizes shifting the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”. This approach emphasizes understanding a person’s history, including past and present experiences, to deliver effective treatment. Trauma-informed therapy focuses on recognizing trauma symptoms and understanding their root causes.
Helpful Resources/Support
Crisis Text Line: www.crisistextline.org Text “Hello” to 741741
Friendship Line: www.ioaging.org (415) 750-4111 (24-hour toll free hotline for both crisis and a warm line (non-urgent emotional support calls) for adults 60+ and adults with disabilities. Available to those who may be lonely , isolated, grieving, depressed, anxious, and/or thinking about death/suicide
Friends for Survival: (916) 392-0664 www.friendsforsurvival.org (Provides variety of peer support services that comfort those in grief who have been affected by a death caused by suicide)
Compassionate Friends (630) 990-0010 www.compassionatefriends.org (provides highly personal comfort and support to every family experiencing the death of a son or daughter, brother or sister, or a grandchild.)
National Domestic Violence Hotline (800) 799-7233 (Everyone deserves healthy relationships. This service offers 24/7 access to resources and support which are free and confidential.
National Hopeline Network (800) 442-4673 (Crisis prevention services are always available. This a non-profit suicide helpline provides access to trained volunteers who can offer support.
OK2Talk (800) 273-8255 (This is a resource aimed to help teens and young adults who are struggling with mental health issues to share what’s on their minds.)
The Trevor Project (866) 488-7386 (The Trevor Project specializes in helping LGBTIQA+ youth in crisis with a safe and judgement-free place to talk to trained counselors.
Serve & Protect (615) 373-8000 www.serveprotect.org (24/7 confidential crisis line for public safety and first responders and their families)
Law Enforcement Chaplaincy Sacramento (916) 857-1801 www.sacchaplains.com (24/7 confidential helpline & Chaplains, who volunteer their time, are Trauma Responders to First Responders, their families, and to the communities they serve)
Military One Source (800)342-9647 www.militaryonesource.mil/
Veterans Crisis Line: (800) 273-8255 www.veteranscrisisline.net (This service is available to all veterans, regardless of whether they are registered with the VA, and will connect you with a trained responder. This includes the National Center for PTSD, which can help with everything from combat to car accidents, sexual assaults, and more.
Safe Call Now (206) 459-3020 www.safecallnowusa.org/ (24/7 crisis referral service for all public safety and emergency services personnel and their families.)
First Responder Support Network (FRSN) (A lead provider of support in helping first responders and their significant others cope with the debilitating effects of critical incident stress.)
COPLINE (800) 267-5463 (24/7 law enforcement officer hotline run by retired law
enforcement officers)
FIRESTRONG (844) 525-3473 (24/7 firefighter and family crisis and support line)
NVFC National Volunteer Fire Council Share the Load Program (888) 275-6832 (24/7 crisis line for FIRE/EMS)
****DISCLAIMER: These are a collection of publicly available resources, I am in no way affiliated with any of these organizations, and although I screen them for appropriateness for inclusion on my list, I cannot vouch for the quality or content of their programs/services******