What is Psychotherapy for?

Why Go to Therapy?

There are many reasons to go to therapy. You might have problems with anxiety, depression, anger management or have experienced a traumatic event. Some people just feel bad and are not sure what is wrong. They find that therapy helps them identify what they are feeling and why.

Our staff at Taproot Therapy are trained to treat a variety of issues and psychological diagnoses. If you have a specific issue you would like to work on we will pair you with someone who specializes in that area.

Anger Management, Sadness and Anxiety

Do you feel like your feelings will never end if you let yourself feel them? Do you feel like emotion is a slippery slope. Do you try and avoid your feelings so that you are not overwhelmed.

When we experience negative emotions we are feeling our fight or flight response firing up. Your flight or flight freeze response is alerting you that your relationship to your environment is unhealthy. We have to be able to hold space emotions, even painful emotions discover how to change and grow.

Traditional cognitive therapists will make recommendations about changing routine, behavior or thinking. Most patients come to therapy knowing what they should change, but just don’t know how to change the behavior their therapist tells them to stop.

Taproot Therapy Collective’s therapists are trained in newer models of therapy that teach patients to listen and respond to their deep emotional experience. Our patients learn that emotion is not a a scary place that leads to disaster. Instead Taproot Therapy Collective teaches patients to  experience the depths of their body brain.

Who Does Therapy Help?

How do I find a therapist like me? Many people are afraid that their therapist won’t understand their problem. Are you looking for a male therapist, a black therapist, a LGBTQ therapist or a therapist who shares your background?

Most people want to know that their therapist won’t discriminate against them and won’t judge them.  Above all patients wonder how to find a therapist who will understand them.

Taproot Therapy Collective has therapists that specialize in treating a variety of issues.  Compulsive lying, adultery, sexual abuse, trauma from systemic racism, repressed memories, or reducing anxiety without medication. Taproot Therapy Collective will help you find a therapist in Birmingham that treats the issues you are facing.

Bibliography:

Yalom, Irvin D. The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients. Harper Perennial, 2017.

Dryden, Windy, and Rhena Branch. Cognitive Therapy. SAGE Publications, 2008.

Siegel, Daniel J. The Mindful Therapist: A Clinician’s Guide to Mindsight and Neural Integration. W.W. Norton & Company, 2010.

Van der Kolk, Bessel A. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Penguin Books, 2014.

Greenberg, Leslie S. Emotion-Focused Therapy: Coaching Clients to Work Through Their Feelings. American Psychological Association, 2015.

Further Reading:

Bugental, James F.T. The Art of the Psychotherapist. W.W. Norton & Company, 1987.

Kottler, Jeffrey A. On Being a Therapist. Jossey-Bass, 2010.

Macran, Sue, and William B. Stiles. “The Significance of the Therapist’s Personal Therapy for Therapists and Clients.” Psychotherapy, vol. 36, no. 3, 1999, pp. 281–284.

Norcross, John C., and James D. Guy Jr. Leaving It at the Office: A Guide to Psychotherapist Self-Care. Guilford Press, 2007.

Cooper, Mick. Essential Research Findings in Counselling and Psychotherapy: The Facts are Friendly. SAGE Publications, 2008.

Shedler, Jonathan. “The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.” American Psychologist, vol. 65, no. 2, 2010, pp. 98-109.

Levine, Peter A. Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma. North Atlantic Books, 1997.

Briere, John, and Catherine Scott. Principles of Trauma Therapy: A Guide to Symptoms, Evaluation, and Treatment. SAGE Publications, 2014.

Porges, Stephen W. The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation. W.W. Norton & Company, 2011.