What Type of Therapy is Right for Me?

What type of therapist do I need?

At Lakeview Center for Psychotherapy our therapists are trained in several types of therapies and will integrate various approaches.  We can also collaborate to provide you with more support.  For example, you might like to work with a psychodynamic individual therapist, while also learning skills in a DBT group.

Research shows that a positive and safe relationship with your therapist is more important than any particular type of therapy. We encourage you to find a therapist who feels like a good fit for you. Learn more about why the therapy relationship is important, especially in multicultural therapy.

Check out Our Therapists for more information about each of our therapist’s expertise and style.

Psychodynamic Therapy and Psychoanalysis

If you want to understand yourself more clearly or if you notice that you keep falling into the same patterns with relationships and life-choices, psychodynamic therapy may be right for you.. This type of therapy is typically longer-term, and its effects last longer and go deeper. Psychodynamic therapy is helpful for people struggling with feelings of depression and anxiety, relationship issues, low self-esteem, fear of abandonment, and childhood trauma. Psychoanalysis is a more immersive version of this therapy where the client comes 3-5 times a week. Read more about Psychodynamic Therapy.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

This type of therapy helps people who tend to get overwhelmed by their emotions. It helps you to accept where you are, and also to change in order to reach your goals.  DBT teaches skills that will help you manage strong emotions so that you can cope better with life stressors.  It is helpful for overwhelming emotions, addiction, eating disorders and personality problems, among other issues.  We offer both individual and group DBT. Read more about DBT.

Mind-Body Therapies

These therapies help you get in touch with your feelings by tuning into the body. Working with the body to process stuck emotions can help to resolve long-term issues and trauma. Therapies such as EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and other body-based therapies are helpful for people with PTSD, anxiety, or for people who have trouble identifying what they feel.  Read more about Mind-Body Therapies.

Integrative Therapy

This type of therapy addresses problems from several angles: it targets the emotional, behavioral, and unconscious parts of the mind. We combine our relational psychodynamic perspective with experiential and behavioral techniques.

Often integrative therapy begins by helping you to get symptoms under control and progresses to examining the issues that underlie those symptoms. This type of therapy is often helpful for complex problems like eating disorders and addiction, as well as for anxiety, depression, and personality problems.  Read more about Integrative Therapy.

Couple Therapy

Couple therapy is often the best way the address difficulties in your primary relationship. Your couple therapist will support both of you to help you understand and communicate more effectively with one another.  Common couples’ issues are infidelity, communication problems, frequent arguments, and parenting issues.  Read more about Couple Therapy.

Group Therapy

Interpersonal process groups are a great way for you to gain insight into your relationship patterns. If you have difficulty communicating with or interacting with others, process groups can help you  understand what gets in your way and learn more satisfying ways to connect.  By working on your issues in the here-and-now with the support of other group members, you will learn how to strengthen your relationships without losing a sense of yourself.  Read more about Group Therapy.

What is transference?

All types of effective therapy address transference, or, if you prefer a term less associated with psychoanalysis, emotion schemas. Watch this video to learn more!