Therapy Modalities at The Psychology Lab

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, commonly known as CBT, is a practical and widely used form of psychotherapy that focuses on the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The way we interpret situations can influence how we feel, and how we feel can influence the choices we make. Over time, unhelpful patterns of thinking and behavior can reinforce one another and make difficult experiences feel even harder to manage.

CBT helps clients identify patterns that may be contributing to emotional distress. These patterns might include expecting the worst, being excessively self-critical, assuming you know what others are thinking, or believing that one difficult experience means things will never improve. The goal is not simply to “think positively.” Instead, therapy helps you examine thoughts more accurately and develop a more balanced, realistic perspective.

The behavioral side of CBT is equally important. People often develop coping patterns that provide temporary relief but can unintentionally maintain a problem over time. Avoiding a feared situation, withdrawing from others, or repeatedly seeking reassurance may feel helpful in the moment while making anxiety or distress more difficult to overcome in the long run. CBT can help clients recognize these patterns and practice healthier responses.

Sessions are collaborative and goal-oriented. Your therapist works with you to better understand the challenges you are experiencing, identify what may be maintaining those difficulties, and develop strategies that fit your life. Depending on your needs, this may involve learning problem-solving skills, practicing new ways of responding to stressful situations, improving emotional awareness, or gradually building confidence in areas that feel difficult.

At The Psychology Lab, CBT may be used as a primary approach or integrated with other modalities based on your individual needs.

Some experiences are easy to describe but difficult to fully process. You may understand intellectually why you feel a certain way while still finding yourself emotionally or physically reacting as though the experience is happening in the present. Brainspotting is an approach designed to help clients access and process experiences that may be held at deeper emotional and bodily levels.

Brainspotting is based on the idea that where we look can affect how we feel. During a session, the therapist may help you identify a particular eye position, sometimes called a “brainspot,” that appears connected to a specific emotional or physical experience. Maintaining focused attention on that position can create an opportunity to notice, explore, and process what emerges.

Unlike approaches that depend entirely on talking through an experience, Brainspotting can allow the therapeutic process to unfold with less emphasis on finding the perfect words. Your therapist remains present and attentive while helping you stay connected to your internal experience.

At The Psychology Lab, Brainspotting is one of the approaches incorporated by clinicians as part of their individualized, trauma-informed work.

Relationships can be one of the greatest sources of comfort and connection in our lives, but they can also become a source of frustration, loneliness, and pain when communication breaks down. Couples therapy provides a structured, supportive environment where both partners can better understand what is happening in the relationship and learn new ways to navigate challenges together.

The Gottman Approach to couples therapy is informed by decades of research on relationships and incorporates interventions based on the Sound Relationship House Theory. The process begins with gaining a clearer understanding of the relationship as a whole, including its strengths, recurring challenges, communication patterns, and areas where each partner may feel unheard, disconnected, or hurt.

The goal is not to determine who is right or to turn the therapist into a referee. Couples therapy is designed to help both people develop a stronger understanding of one another and create healthier patterns of interaction. Depending on the couple's needs, treatment may focus on improving communication, managing conflict, rebuilding trust, increasing emotional intimacy, and strengthening respect and affection.

At The Psychology Lab, the Gottman Approach is among the research-informed modalities used to help couples reduce destructive communication patterns, increase empathy and understanding, and strengthen connection.

Equine-assisted therapy brings horses into the therapeutic process, creating an experience that is different from traditional office-based talk therapy. Under the guidance of qualified professionals, clients may participate in activities involving horses while exploring emotional, behavioral, and relational patterns in a safe and supportive environment.

Interactions may include grooming, leading, feeding, or participating in other structured activities. The experience is not about becoming an expert rider or having previous experience with horses. Instead, the therapeutic focus is on what happens during the interaction - what you notice, how you respond, what emotions arise, and what the experience may reveal about your patterns and relationships.

The Psychology Lab offers an equine program that can support people experiencing trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, emotional dysregulation, addiction and recovery challenges, feelings of disconnection, and other concerns. The program also identifies support for veterans, first responders, people with disabilities or special needs, and individuals and families navigating grief. We additionally offer mobile equine-assisted therapy through partnerships with existing programs.

Learn more about Equine Assisted Therapy →

Addiction can affect far more than the person using a substance or engaging in a compulsive behavior. It can impact relationships, families, work, finances, emotional health, physical well-being, and a person's sense of identity.

At The Psychology Lab, we approach addiction with the understanding that recovery is rarely as simple as telling someone to stop. Addiction can involve powerful patterns connected to reward, motivation, memory, emotional distress, behavior, and life circumstances. Meaningful treatment requires looking beyond the addiction itself to better understand the factors that may be contributing to it.

Some people struggling with addiction are also dealing with trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, relationship difficulties, or a deep sense of disconnection. Therapy can help clients recognize triggers, identify patterns, develop healthier coping strategies, and rebuild important areas of life.

The Psychology Lab offers support for people struggling with addiction and recognizes the important connection between substance use, mental health, trauma, and other life experiences. Our Recovery Lab program also focuses on supporting military individuals, veterans, and their families.

Have you ever wondered why you can know you are safe while your body still feels anxious, tense, shut down, or ready to react? Polyvagal-informed therapy explores the relationship between the nervous system, emotional experience, connection, and our automatic responses to stress and perceived danger.

This approach is informed by Polyvagal Theory and focuses on how the autonomic nervous system responds to cues of safety and threat. When we experience safety and connection, we may feel more open and engaged. Under stress, the nervous system may shift into states of mobilization or disconnection and shutdown.

Polyvagal-informed therapy can help clients develop greater awareness of these patterns and create greater self-compassion while recognizing early signs of dysregulation. At The Psychology Lab, Polyvagal Theory is among the approaches integrated by clinicians working with emotional regulation, trauma, connection, and resilience.

Emotional Freedom Techniques, often called EFT tapping, is an approach that combines focused attention on a specific emotional concern with a structured sequence of tapping on designated points on the body. During the process, the client brings attention to an issue while working through a series of statements and tapping points.

The first step is often identifying one specific concern to focus on. Clients may also be asked to rate the intensity of their emotional distress. The tapping sequence involves gently tapping on designated areas of the body while maintaining attention on the issue.

At The Psychology Lab, Emotional Freedom Techniques is one of the modalities offered as part of its range of therapeutic approaches. For some clients, EFT may provide another way to slow down, focus attention, and explore emotional distress within a structured therapeutic setting.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, commonly known as EMDR, is a structured psychotherapy approach used to help people process traumatic and other distressing experiences. Sometimes an experience from the past continues to affect the present long after the event itself has ended.

EMDR is based on the understanding that distressing experiences can sometimes become insufficiently processed and continue to be activated by present-day situations. During EMDR, the therapist follows a structured process that begins with understanding your history, current concerns, and readiness for treatment. Preparation is an important part of the process.

A central component of EMDR involves bilateral stimulation, which may include guided eye movements, sounds, or tactile sensations. One important difference between EMDR and some traditional forms of trauma therapy is that extensive verbal description of every detail of the experience is not necessarily required.

The Psychology Lab offers EMDR as part of its trauma-informed care for concerns including trauma and PTSD, anxiety, depression, grief and loss, addiction and substance use, phobias, relationship difficulties, and other distressing experiences.