Therapeutic Techniques

Specialized Therapies and Certifications

All of our Wellspring therapists are licensed or registered to be licensed in accordance with Florida requirements. They have various masters level counseling degrees and also represent diversity in age, gender, ethnicity, languages, life experience, and specialized training (listed below). In general, our therapists are eclectic in their use of therapy tools, following the goals and personality styles or preferences of their clients and utilizing a variety of types of therapy within and throughout sessions in order to have the most effective therapy possible. Feel free to ask our office personnel and/or your therapist if you are interested in any of the specific treatments below. 

For Improving Life Habits

CBT

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a short-term psychotherapy in which the counselor engages the client in structured sessions that focuses on the here and now as they work though dysfunctional thinking patterns and behaviors. Clients are challenged to look at these thinking patterns and behaviors, break them down and look for more helpful solutions.

Motivational Interviewing

In Motivational Interviewing sessions the counselor uses the client’s own motivation to help facilitate change behavior. Motivational Interviewing is client centered and goal-oriented. Through responses and questions the counselor is able to help the client explore and resolve their ambivalence on the topic/behavior being addressed.

Biofeedback

Wellspring uses HeartMath’s emWave2, patented heart-rhythm device to provide immediate visual and audio feedback on the impact stress has on the body. The emWave2 provides heart rhythm feedback and training in real time to help you shift to a positive emotional state in a moment. By training yourself to transform your response to stress and quickly rebalance your mind, body and emotions, you can improve your health and sense of wellbeing, and increase resilience to future stressors.

For Addictions

Certified Addictions Professional

Certified Addiction Professionals are individuals who have completed in depth training in how to help those struggling with a variety of addictions to break the addiction cycle and replace maladaptive behaviors with positive coping skills.

For Trauma

Trauma comes in many different shapes and forms over life. Traumatic experiences can include but are not limited to abuse, rape, assault, accidents or injuries, death, bullying, or being a crime victim. Trauma looks different for each person and each person’s reaction to a traumatic event can vary. Some people walk away from an event experiencing very little trauma while others cannot move past the event without professional help. Our trauma therapists help those who are struggling to process and move forward after a traumatic event and in which the trauma interferes with day to day life and relationships. Counselors provide services to help the individual process and move forward after the event. Services can also include marriage and family work as needed.

Trauma Certifications

Clinicians who carry a Certified Trauma Responder (CTR) title are specifically trained to provide trauma intervention immediately after a traumatic event. They provide critical incident stress response, debriefing, crisis and disaster management, peer counseling, disaster and trauma response, group crisis intervention and first response interventions.

Clinicians who carry the Certified Trauma Specialist (CTS) title provide long-term individual, group and family counseling as well as support for survivors of trauma.

EMDR 

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a trauma specific therapy tool which combines elements from psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, interpersonal, experiential and body-centered therapy to form an information processing therapy that is most well known for it’s ability to process unresolved trauma. Trauma or distressing experiences are stored in a different way than non-distressing memories due to the person’s heightened senses at the time of the experience. In EMDR the client goes through eight phases in which they will recall memories and through the use of bilateral sensory input will process the memories in more adaptive ways. Specifically, EMDR explored the experiences in the past that have created the current distress, then addresses the triggers in current situations which leads to maladaptive behaviors and ends with exploring positive experiences that will help the client move forward in life.

Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, TF-CBT

In Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), the counselor works with the child or adolescent who is experiencing trouble moving forward and engaging in life after a traumatic event through a mixture of individual and parent sessions. TF-CBT is component based and uses a variety of techniques throughout the sessions to help the client process and move forward with healthy coping skills. Techniques include trauma sensitive interventions, cognitive behavioral, family and humanistic techniques. Treatment usually last for 12-16 sessions.

Prolonged Exposure Therapy

This therapy mixes behavior therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy to work through traumatic events through re-experiencing the trauma in which the client is able to remember the event, engage it instead of avoiding it and work through the trauma using healthy coping skills.

For Families

Gottman Marital Therapy

The Gottman Method is a highly structured and goal-oriented form of couples therapy that is designed to help couples maintain healthy, lasting relationships. By combining therapeutic evidence-based interventions with couples’ exercises, this type of therapy helps couples identify and address the natural defenses that hinder effective communication and bonding. 

Relationship Logic (equine assisted relational work)

Relationship Logic is a form of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP), developed by Natural Lifemanship, that is built on the relationship between the client and their horse. Most of the work is done on the ground (un-mounted).  The model applies healthy horse psychology that uses principles that seamlessly transfer to human psychology. The changes people must make within themselves to be able to apply these principles also transfer to many life situations.

For Children

Play Therapy

Play therapy is used with children generally between the ages of 3 and 11 (but can be used with teenagers and adults when appropriate) where play is used to process thoughts, experiences and problematic behavior. Through play, children are able to express and work through a range of concerns. Play therapy can be used to prevent possible concerns, work through current challenges or help develop more positive social skills as well as emotional processing. Since children’s primary form of processing is through play this makes play therapy so effective as an intervention.

Infant Mental Health Certification

Infant mental health promotes the mental, emotional, and social development during infancy. Specialists in infant mental health work to support the emotional health and development of infants, toddlers, and families in a range of settings. The program supports the parent-child relationships via assessment, intervention, mentoring and consultation in infant mental health.

Unique Modalities

Experiential and Creative Arts Therapeutic Art

Experiential and Creative Arts Therapy is the use of art, in its multitude of forms of expression, to explore what is present for ones self. Art sessions are a good way of being lead through a process of expression, further exploration and creating meaning with facilitation that can give insight and personal understanding that can make a new type of 'knowing.' The modalities of art could include clay work, sand play, drawings, paintings, dance, movement, dialogue, conversation, poetry or 'acting.' 

Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, EAP

EAP is a generic term that involves using horses or other equine to facilitate sessions for clients with a variety of mental health concerns. Wellspring uses EAP for relationship work, trauma resolution, and personal enhancement goals.

Pastoral Counseling

Pastoral counselors are trained not only as mental health professionals but also have in depth theological training. Pastoral counseling uses a mixture of spiritual and psychological resources to encourage growth and healing.