Glossary of Terms

Focuses on social connection, encouragement, and meaning. It sees behavior as purposeful and shaped by early life experiences.

A behavior-based approach that  breaks skill-building into small steps and reinforces positive behaviors.

Explores how early relationships affect how we form bonds today. Often used in trauma, grief, and relationship work.

Affirms that all bodies deserve respect and care. This approach focuses on well-being rather than weight, and rejects weight stigma in therapy.

A therapy approach that views individuals as part of an emotional family system. It explores how patterns in your family - past and present - affect your relationships, stress, and sense of self. The goal is to increase awareness and reduce reactivity by understanding these dynamics.

Helps you identify unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and replace them with healthier patterns. Often practical and structured.

A relationship-based parenting approach that helps caregivers support a child’s need for both security and independence.

Aims to help people develop self-compassion and reduce shame or self-criticism. (Founded by Paul Gilbert)

Focuses on building communication and problem-solving skills to resolve conflicts in relationships or families.

Honors the role of culture, identity, and lived experience in mental health. Therapists using this approach recognize power, privilege, and oppression.

Teaches skills for managing big emotions, improving relationships, and staying grounded in crisis. (Created by Marsha Linehan)

Draws from several modalities to fit your specific needs rather than sticking to one fixed approach.

Uses eye movements or tapping to help reprocess distressing memories, especially after trauma. (Created by Francine Shapiro)

A form of CBT used to treat OCD and anxiety by gradually exposing people to fears and helping them resist compulsive behaviors.

Explores big questions about purpose, death, freedom, and meaning. Focuses on living authentically in the face of life’s uncertainties.

Supports couples or families in improving communication, resolving conflict, and understanding relationship dynamics.

Centers power, social justice, and the impact of systems on mental health. Encourages collaborative and equal relationships in therapy.

Emphasizes awareness of the present moment and how you relate to yourself and others. Often experiential and creative. (Founded by Fritz Perls)

A science-backed approach to relationship therapy that helps partners improve communication, manage conflict, and build deeper connections. Based on decades of research, it focuses on strengthening friendship, trust, and emotional intimacy.

Helps people process and adapt to loss - whether of a loved one, relationship, identity, or future that no longer exists.

Focuses on the inherent worth of each person and the belief that we all have the capacity to grow and heal. (Based off of the work of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow)

Explores inner ‘parts’  of the self -  like protectors or exiles -  and helps them feel seen, safe, and supported.

Blends techniques from different approaches to create a flexible, personalized therapy experience.

Teaches awareness of the present moment without judgment. Helps reduce anxiety, increase focus, and regulate emotions. Draws from Buddhist traditions and is widely used in modern therapy.

Helps people explore their ambivalence about change in a non-judgmental, collaborative way. (Developed by William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick)

Uses music -  listening, playing, or creating - as a therapeutic tool to support emotional expression, memory, or connection.

Helps people re-author the stories they hold about themselves and their lives.

Offers empathy, acceptance, and authenticity to help clients grow in their own direction.

‘The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change." – Carl Rogers

Uses toys, art, and creative expression to help children process feelings, build insight, and resolve conflicts.

Focuses on strengths, resilience, joy, and meaning -  not just symptom reduction. (Popularized by Martin Seligman)

Explores unconscious patterns, early experiences, and relationship dynamics to increase self-awareness and heal old wounds.

Therapy based  on an understanding of systemic racism, historical trauma, and the importance of affirming clients’ identities and lived experiences.

Focuses on choices, personal responsibility, and problem-solving. Encourages people to meet their needs in more effective ways. (Developed by William Glasser)

A form of CBT that helps people challenge irrational beliefs and replace them with more helpful, rational thoughts. (Founded by Albert Ellis)

Emphasizes the healing power of relationships -  including the one between therapist and client -  and how our patterns play out in connection with others.

Integrates CBT, psychodynamic, and attachment theories to help people identify and shift long-standing emotional patterns. (Developed by Jeffrey Young)

Looks at what’s already working and helps build on strengths to move toward solutions. (Founded by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg)

Focus on the body’s role in healing trauma. These approaches use physical sensations, sound, or movement to regulate the nervous system. (Safe & Sound Protocol was developed by Stephen Porges and Deb Dana, based on Polyvagal Theory)

Focuses on what’s strong, not just what’s wrong. Highlights your resilience, skills, and resources.

Looks at family systems and how roles, rules, and boundaries shape behavior. Aims to restructure family dynamics to improve functioning. (Developed by Salvador Minuchin)

A situation where a therapist’s personal, financial, or professional interests could interfere with their responsibility to prioritize the client’s best interest. Therapists are ethically required to avoid or manage these situations transparently and thoughtfully.

The process of clearly explaining what therapy involves -  including risks, benefits, limits to confidentiality, and client rights - so you can make an informed choice about participating.

What a therapist is legally and ethically trained to do. For example, a therapist may not give medical advice or provide services outside their area of expertise.

Your therapist is legally and ethically required to keep what you share private -  with a few exceptions, like safety concerns. These limits are always explained at the beginning of therapy.

By law, therapists must report certain concerns (like child abuse, elder abuse, or threats of serious harm) even if the client doesn’t give permission. These limits to confidentiality are part of informed consent.