Psychology treatments explained

By Georgia Ash, Mates4Mates Clinical Psychologist and Psychological Services Manager

Perhaps you’ve heard terms such as CBT, ACT, EMDR, DBT, CPT and wondered what they mean. If so, you’re not alone.

Seeing a psychologist doesn’t just mean talking about your feelings, it's about using a range of evidence-based treatments that improve long-term mental health and wellbeing.

Here’s a look into different forms of treatment used at Mates4Mates:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a short-term treatment that assists people to identify and challenge unhelpful thinking patterns, emotions and behaviours and adopt healthier thoughts and behaviours.

This approach can be applied to a wide range of mental health issues and people of most ages.

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

DBT specifically focuses on four key areas; mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. 

By focussing on these areas, individuals learn to effectively use strategies to assist them in dealing with relationships, stressful situations, impulsivity, anger and other distressing feelings and situations more effectively.

Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)

During EMDR, individuals recall traumatic experiences in brief doses while the therapist directs their eye movements.

EMDR is based on the idea that negative thoughts, feelings and emotions are the result of unprocessed memories from unpleasant experiences. 

Numerous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of EMDR in treating PTSD.

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT teaches individuals to stop avoiding, denying and struggling with their inner emotions and instead, accept that these deeper feelings are appropriate responses to certain situations that should not prevent them from moving forward in their lives.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

CPT typically involves 12 weekly sessions to identify and explore the ways that trauma may have altered a person’s thoughts and beliefs.

Strategies are taught to challenge and modify unhelpful thoughts and take-home worksheets and exercises form an integral part of therapy.

If you have a service-related injury or have experienced traumatic situations and need support, reach out to Mates4Mates to find out more about our psychology appointments on 1300 4 MATES.