www.TalkingDoc.net
Dr. Catherine Anne Walsh: Offering a safe, caring place to develop a new perspective on your life and your future.
What Happens First?
The first big step is picking up the telephone, and that takes courage.
Read more about what happens when you take that first step.
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Learn More:
Why See Me:
What does my practice offer you?
Coaching for the “Next Phase of Life:”
Thinking about retirement? Studies show attitude is every bit as important
as finances.
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A Range of Services
Adults | Couples | Adolescents | Children | Retirement
One thing psychologists are very well-trained to do is evaluate and assess.
I use objective, paper and pencil/computer-scored assessment measures that
help determine the
extent of the concerns you have, and to help develop our “plan
of attack.” Brief assessment of depressive and anxious symptoms
is usual, and there are more specific assessment tools I use depending
on you.
“Homework” is usually a part of treatment because research has taught us that doing therapeutic assignments outside of our meetings increases the rate of therapeutic gains. Typically, monitoring upsetting thoughts; keeping track of how you spend your time; becoming more mindful and planful of how you spend your time, etc. are some exercises we might agree to have you do. Notice I said we. Therapy is a collaborative process, and you – including children and adolescents – have to sign on, or we are not going to have success.
- Adults Individual Therapy
- Once we meet and discuss what concerns bring you to see me,
I will be able to recommend the treatment approach I think best suited
to your situation. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the treatment approach
I use to treat depression and depressive symptoms; general anxiety;
bulimia, to name a few. Exposure and responses prevention therapy might
be used for obsessive-compulsive disorder or some other phobic issues,
and stress-inoculation therapy is the usual treatment approach I use
for post-traumatic stress disorder.
When there is a mix of problems, I may use a blend of the above, and some other approaches; it will depend. We will tailor a program best suited for you specifically. - Adults: Couples/marital therapy
- My approach again is to get a good feel for the concerns you have in the first session or two, and this may include doing additional paper and pencil assessment focused on the relationship. I use a blend of research-based treatment approaches that incorporate the work of John Gottman and colleagues and other marital therapy approaches that have been demonstrated time and again to achieve optimal results for you and your partner.
- Adolescents: Individual and family therapy
- Most of my work with adolescents is individual, but given their rootedness and dependence still on their family, parents are involved to some extent in treatment – all dependent on the adolescent’s comfort level, and need. Because confidentiality and needs for privacy are of such importance developmentally to teens, I always make very clear what the parameters and limitations are here. By looking at my Treatment Agreement, pages 5 and 6, you will see the extent to which I address this important issue.
- Children: Individual, play and family therapy
- As with adolescents, children seldom ask to come in themselves,
and their parents are usually the ones making this step. I meet with
the parent(s) first to get family background, developmental background,
current stressors, etc. so the child/adolescent does not have to sit
there and listen to stories about toilet training and other potentially
embarrassing historical issues. The next meeting is with the child/adolescent
and parents to establish the reasons for the visit, and then the child/adolescent
and I spend the remainder of the second session together
talking. Once I have done this, I will usually communicate to the parents
and adolescent what I see the issues as being, and how I would recommend
proceeding to get things back on a positive course.
As
with adults, assessment usually involves most of the first two sessions,
but really goes on throughout therapy to determine “how are we
doing?” Play
therapy is used with young children because play is their natural
language. In some cases, parents will be trained in how to play with
their child to improve their relationship, and to communicate their
acceptance and understanding.
