Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is the foundational element for long-lasting, holistic and sustainable change. We provide evidence-based interventions designed to provide relief from mental health illnesses and improve overall quality of life. We are committed to ensuring that our interventions are outcome driven and individually tailored to suit each patient.

Goals of Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy involves talking and sharing different aspects of your life with a trained practitioner. These conversations keep the mental health related concern at the centre of the intervention. In sessions, the discussion involves looking at childhood experiences, academic pursuits, peer and familial relationships as well as professional scenarios and future goals. Interactions centre on understanding the thoughts and feelings that are evoked within the patient and the ways of responding that are characteristic of them. Therapists focus on building an understanding of the patterns which direct a person’s behaviors and the ways in which they cope with situations. The aim in therapy is multi-fold and includes the following:

1. Reducing the impact of a mental health illness on the patient’s personal, social and professional functioning

2. Building a comprehensive understanding of the self

3. Creating adaptive patterns of thinking, behaving and coping

4. Working through emotional distress resulting from difficult situations

5. Coping with experiences resulting in trauma or abuse

6. Enhancing quality of support systems

7. Enabling improved quality of life for families and caregivers

8. improving communication and solving for problems that compromise the functioning of couples and families

Types of Psychotherapeutic Interventions

Our experts utilize a range of psychotherapeutic modalities which are designed to achieve the treatment goals that are mutually decided between the therapist and the patient. The predominant therapeutic modalities utilized by our experts at Adayu include (but not limited to) the following:

1. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an effective, evidence based treatment approach for a range of clinical problems.  The emphasis is on identifying and changing negative thought processes. By recognizing the ways in which thoughts and feelings influence behaviour, patients are helped to bring about changes. Removing avoidance behaviors, improving decision making and problem solving, and building coping skills are key elements of CBT

2. Psychodynamic Psychotherapy – Psychodynamic Psychotherapy is a treatment approach that focuses on patients childhood and past experiences to understand their current ways of thinking and functioning. The approach helps patients bring changes by implementing methods that involve exploring the unconscious mechanisms which determine behaviour. Understanding the self forms an important component of the treatment process.

3. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy – Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is a form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy which has been developed for working with individuals who experience intense changes in moods, feel empty or hopeless, are impulsive, have unstable relations or have thoughts of self-harm. It utilizes techniques that enable patients to bring change and build acceptance. Patients are helped to learn ways of accepting themselves, build skills for regulating emotions, improving relationships and learning to be in the present moment through mindfulness. 

4. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy – Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which patients learn to build acceptance of who they are and their experiences. It emphasizes embracing both positive and negative thoughts and feelings without reacting to them strongly. It discourages avoidance of unpleasant thoughts, feelings and situations and encourages patients to build on mindfulness skills. The aim is to help bring change and cultivate the ability to be flexible emotionally and psychologically.

5. Motivational Enhancement Therapy – Motivational Enhancement Therapy is a form of psychotherapy specifically designed to support patients with addictions to alcohol or substances. It focuses on helping patients build and maintain the motivation to change. The emphasis is on being empathetic and helping patients recognize the need and benefits of change, empowering them to take action.

6. Trauma Informed Therapy – Trauma Informed Therapy places strong emphasis on the recognition of trauma and its effects on a patient’s life. It focuses on ensuring that a patient going through the treatment process is not retraumatized and can build mechanisms that help them feel safe. The goal is to understand the patterns of coping in the context of the traumatic experiences and ensure recovery from them.

7. Marital and Family Therapy – Marital and Family Therapy comprises a group of therapeutic approaches that are directed towards helping patients and their families enhance the quality of their interpersonal relationships. These approaches focus on improving communication, reducing conflict, building boundaries and increase positive experiences. The individual is seen as part of the larger system and the focus is on ensuring that all parts of the system function cohesively, supporting each other.

8. Expressive Art Based Therapy – Expressive Art Based Therapy involves a group of practices that utilize the creative arts as a form of therapy. It is based on the principle that creative expression can help patients’ articulate distress, share inner experiences and work to build mechanisms of coping. It can involve the use of art, music, dance, drama and film or digital media.