Treatment Approaches.

—No two clients are the same!
That’s why the clinicians at Well Mind & Body Psychology are all trained in various evidence-based treatment approaches, and are committed to getting to know you so as to tailor the approach they use to best suit your needs and treatment goals.

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Email: admin@wellmindbody.com.au
Tel: 0422 598 949

Modalities Practiced

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a structured psychological therapy aimed at identifying and changing one's unhelpful thoughts and beliefs so as to improve our feelings and choices in behaviours/actions. It also utilises behavioural experiments to test the reality of our thoughts and beliefs, structured problem solving techniques, thought monitoring forms, and chain analysis strategies to assist in recognising unhelpful patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

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Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

DBT is structured skills-based therapy aimed at improving coping skills, emotion regulation skills, and interpersonal communication skills. The 4 core components or Modules of DBT skills programmes are Distress Tolerance, Affect Regulation, Mindfulness Skills, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. As it was originally designed DBT is experienced in a group therapy setting, however, the skills can also be learned in an individual format (if group sessions are not accessible or recommended), and each module can stand alone depending on what is individually required.

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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT is a mindfulness based treatment approach that explores how our emotions, thoughts, and beliefs can take us away from leading a satisfying life based on our individual values. Through the practice of mindfulness meditation we can learn to stay present in our here and now, and to accept our feelings, situations and ultimately ourselves, and learn strategies such as defusion to then approach our thoughts and feelings in a way that allows us to choose actions consistent with our values.

See also our blog post for more information: Acceptance & Commitment Therapy Explained

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Schema Therapy

Schema Therapy was developed by Jeffrey Young and combines elements of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), Gestalt Therapy, and object relations theory. A schema is our internal blueprint for how we understand the world around us, other people, and ourselves, and is therefore typically formed in our early childhood years. Schema Therapy helps people to identify the schemas that are potentially leading to unhelpful patterns in their lives, or as Jeffrey Young calls them, Life Traps. Once these are identified we can then explore how these patterns are related to our childhood/adult needs, the ways we have learnt to adapt to our experiences, and that the emotional states we find ourselves experiencing.

Schema Therapy has been shown to help someone experiencing personality difficulties, such as Borderline Personality Disorder, Eating Disorders, and also chronic Depression.

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Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is considered one of the first line treatments for individuals experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, over and above other therapeutic modalities and also medication. During EMDR the client is guided to bring the memory as well as their thoughts, beliefs and the accompanying emotions and bodily sensations about it into conscious awareness. Typically this is quickly followed by the client engaging in the eye movements usually by following the therapists’ fingers as they move from left to right, or can also involve other bilateral movements such as tapping/ buzzers/ butterfly taps. 

EMDR can also be helpful when someone finds it difficult to talk about their trauma experiences, and can also be helpful with anxiety, drug and alcohol experiences, and complex trauma.

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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - Enhanced (CBT-E)

CBT-E was developed as a trans-diagnostic (meaning across the various diagnoses) approach adapting the evidence-based CBT treatment specific to eating disorders. Hence it is an approach that targets specific aspects of anorexia nervosa/ atypical anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and OSFED.

CBT-E therapy typically follows of 4 stages in treatment which first raises awareness and understanding of your eating disorder, then prepares you for treatment, following which you will explore strategies to address the factors which maintain your eating disorder, and finally develops a plan for ensuring future ongoing success in recovery and preventing relapse . Depending on the information that is gathered during your initial assessment regarding your physical and mental/emotional wellbeing, it may be recommended that you complete around 20 or 40 treatment sessions each (each appointment lasting about 50 minutes), on a weekly basis to twice weekly basis. During your initial appointments if CBT-E is considered the best therapeutic approach then your therapist will make recommendations regarding sessions based on your individual needs.

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Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

CPT is a structured, evidence-based therapy originally developed to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). At its core, CPT helps people to examine and gently challenge the beliefs they have developed about themselves, others, and the world as a result of their trauma. These are known as "stuck points," and through a combination of written trauma accounts and structured worksheets, CPT supports clients to process what happened and to build a more balanced and compassionate understanding of their experience.

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Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)

ERP is the gold-standard psychological treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). OCD is maintained by a cycle in which distressing thoughts or images trigger anxiety, and compulsions are carried out to relieve that distress. While compulsions provide short-term relief, they maintain the cycle in the long-term.

ERP works by gradually and collaboratively exposing clients to the thoughts, situations, or images that trigger their distress, while supporting them to resist the urge to engage in compulsions. Over time, this helps the brain learn that the feared outcome is unlikely, and that the distress will pass even without the compulsion. ERP is highly effective and can be tailored to a wide range of OCD presentations.

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Non-Diet Approach

A non-diet approach to nutrition supports both mind-body by moving away from rigid food rules and a focus on weight. In eating disorders in particular, patterns of restriction, control, and anxiety around food are often linked to the way we think about ourselves and feel about food. Treatment focuses on restoring regular and adequate nutrition while addressing these patterns to support meaningful and lasting change. At our practice, this approach is strengthened through integrated collaboration between psychologists and our in-house dietitian, providing coordinated care that supports a more flexible and sustainable relationship with food.