
Individual Therapy
While each client’s work will look different, in general, we will work collaboratively towards identifying and understanding the obstacles to achieving your goals, brainstorming ways to address these obstacles, and enacting practical solutions tailored to your needs. During our first meeting, we will begin the process of getting to know one another, assessing and clarifying the focus and goals of our work, and tailoring a plan of action.
I believe my roles in our therapeutic work are to:
- strive toward understanding you, your perspective, and situation;
- ask exploratory and challenging questions to help deepen self-awareness and insight;
- provide useful suggestions and information based on my educational and clinical expertise and your needs; and
- support and empower you though the entire process of exploration and change.
Our work may include scientific psychotherapy approaches such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and relational psychodynamic therapy.
Common individual therapy issues include:
- Anxiety, panic, and obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Depression and mood disorders
- Stress management
- Emotional regulation and anger management
- Relationship difficulties (spouse/partner, friends, co-workers, family, etc.)
- Life transitions (new parent, empty-nesters, caregiving for parents, retirement, career change, relocation, divorce, remarriage, etc.)
- Grief & Loss (death, divorce, job loss, change in physical ability or health status, etc.)
- Trauma recovery
- Breaking unwanted patterns of behavior, habits, or thoughts (impulsive behaviors, perfectionism, procrastination, emotional eating, etc.)
- Acculturation or bicultural stress (identity issues, family tension, clarifying personal values, experiencing discrimination or prejudice)
- Personal growth and awareness
Couples Therapy
Each couple begins therapy with shared and individual strengths, histories, relational or attachment styles, and goals. We will work to heal past wounds, heighten awareness of self and your partner, and gather tools to maintain a shared goal of connection and trust even in times of conflict or turmoil. Our work together will involve evidence-based approaches such as the Gottman Method, emotion-focused therapy (EFT), and mindfulness-based interventions.
I believe my roles in our therapeutic work are to:
- strive toward understanding you, your perspective, and situation;
- ask exploratory and challenging questions to help deepen self-awareness and insight;
- provide useful suggestions and information based on my educational and clinical expertise and your needs; and
- support and empower you though the entire process of exploration and change.
Common couples therapy goals include:
- Deepening emotional and physical intimacy
- Repairing and fortifying trust and commitment
- Negotiating and thriving around differences (co-parenting, communication, personality styles)
- Improving communication and conflict resolution skills
- Healing past relational injuries
Insomnia Treatment
CBT-I is a short-term, evidence-based psychotherapy treatment for insomnia. Treatment focuses on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that may affect how well you sleep. CBT-I requires an initial assessment and 4 individual sessions to be effective. In some cases, extra sessions may be needed, but you may also experience improvements in less than 4 sessions. Each session will last about 50-55 minutes long.
CBT-I is one of the most studied and effective therapies for Insomnia. Research shows CBT-I to be at least as effective as medications for insomnia in the short-term and is usually more effective than sleep medications in the long-term. For this reason, many medical professional organizations such as the American College of Physicians consider CBT-I as the primary treatment choice for Insomnia Disorder.
The goals of CBT-I are to help you fall asleep, stay asleep, and improve your daytime functioning and quality of life as a result of better sleep at night. Daytime improvements often include increased alertness and energy. The treatment goals are based on a breadth of scientific knowledge of the body’s natural sleep system.
You might benefit from CBT-I if you:
- Have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep for at least last 3 months
- Experience difficulties with concentration or attention or memory, fatigue, and irritability,
- Cancel activities either because of being too tired or out of fear that such activities will interfere with sleep
- Do not keep regular bed times and/or wake times
- Spend large amounts of time in bed, but not sleeping
- Spend time in bed or during the day worrying about an inability to sleep
- Fall asleep prior to bedtime, but feel wide awake or “wired” when getting into bed
You may continue ongoing psychotherapy for other issues such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc. while participating in CBT-I. In fact, some research shows other mental health issues may improve in the process of CBT-I treatment due to the significant healing impact of sleep on daily functioning. Discontinuation of sleep medications is not necessary to participate in CBT-I. However, if your goal is to reduce or discontinue sleep medications, your prescribing and therapy providers may work together with you to create an effective plan to reach this goal with success.
To learn more about CBT-I or schedule an initial assessment, contact Dr. Smitha Bhat
Workshops & Presentations
- Mindfulness Training (for beginners, people too “busy” for mindfulness, and general interest)
- Thriving with Anxiety or Depression
- Stress management, burnout and compassion fatigue prevention, and self-care
- Get a Good Night Sleep: Cognitive-Behavioral approach to restful sleep
- Building healthy relationships
Contact Dr. Smitha Bhat for more information about these or other possible informational presentations for your group.