Below you will find a list of some of the different services we are able to offer you.
Our services at Inner Roots Psychotherapy are available with or without a physician's referral.
Our services at Inner Roots Psychotherapy are available with or without a physician's referral.
cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is an evidence-based therapy that highlights the connection between our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. CBT has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment for depression, anxiety disorders, addiction, eating disorders, chronic pain, anger management, and more. This approach focuses on understanding the underlying patterns of behaviours, unhelpful thoughts, and improving coping strategies to manage and resolve presenting symptoms.
Emotionally Focused IndIvidual therapy (efit)
Emotionally Focused Therapy is an evidenced-based, humanistic therapeutic approach used in the treatment of a wide range of anxiety and mood disorders (including trauma, as well as perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, such as postpartum depression). There will be a focus on processing emotions and interaction patterns through an attachment lens.
cognitive processing therapy (cpt)
Cognitive Processing Therapy is an evidenced-based therapy found to be effective for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In a nutshell, the approach teaches how to become your own therapist by providing tools to examine your own thoughts, emotions, and underlying beliefs in new ways. The goal is to feel the natural emotions from the trauma and change thoughts and perceptions that can keep you stuck with symptoms.
assertiveness training
Have you ever felt guilty for meeting your own wants, needs, wishes, desires? Do you find it easier to care for others than it is to be there for yourself? Do you find you have ‘lost yourself’ while shaping your life around ensuring the wellbeing of other people? It might be time for assertiveness training. This type of therapy can be wonderfully empowering. This can be for both men, and women. Assertiveness will allow you to re-connect with yourself and begin the process of fostering a healthier relationship with yourself, and others.
anxiety & stress
Maybe you are experiencing social anxiety that is limiting your educational pursuits, social life, or career; or experiencing a sudden and intense sense of panic with strong physical symptoms leading to avoidance. There might be specific situations that lead you feeling anxious. Maybe you are pregnant or postpartum and are experiencing anxiety related to yourself as a parent or fears related to your baby. Perhaps you find yourself worrying and expecting something terrible to happen to yourself or your loved ones, to the point that it is getting in the way of you living and enjoying your life. Many people are experiencing both the physical and emotional symptoms of anxiety and heightened distress related to covid-19. There are many forms of anxious distress that go well beyond these examples. Anxiety can even double down on us, leaving us worried about our anxiety, and trying to find ways to prevent feeling that way. If this resonates with you, you are not alone. Anxiety is common, and treatable.
depression
Do you find yourself feeling distant from the joy of things around you, emotionally cut-off, sadness or feeling ‘down’? More irritable or emotionally reactive? Is it hard to motivate yourself, even for things you normally enjoy? Are you sleeping or eating more or less than your norm? Is this impacting your relationships with others, or your relationship with yourself? Are you feeling helpless or hopeless? Feeling trapped or unsure of how to get yourself ‘out of this one’?
The severity of depressive symptoms varies from person to person. It can increase due to factors such as stress, workplace issues, medical conditions, chronic pain, interpersonal (relationship) issues, and other important factors. It might be something new that has caught you by surprise, or something that has come and gone throughout your life, or for many years.
Depression is treatable. Psychotherapy can help. It can be difficult to begin treatment when you are feeling depressed. However, once that first session is scheduled, sessions can provide an important appointment to look forward to each week. We can get to the ‘root of the problem’ together.
The severity of depressive symptoms varies from person to person. It can increase due to factors such as stress, workplace issues, medical conditions, chronic pain, interpersonal (relationship) issues, and other important factors. It might be something new that has caught you by surprise, or something that has come and gone throughout your life, or for many years.
Depression is treatable. Psychotherapy can help. It can be difficult to begin treatment when you are feeling depressed. However, once that first session is scheduled, sessions can provide an important appointment to look forward to each week. We can get to the ‘root of the problem’ together.
grief, loss & bereavement
Grief is an umbrella term inclusive of any type of loss, and bereavement is a type of grief specific to the death of a loved one.
The process of navigating grief and loss is as unique as an individual person and the relationship or connection to the loss. Grief is painful, with a wide range of emotions underneath.
You might be experiencing sadness, fear, yearning, resentment, anger, shock, numbness, jealousy, sorrow, longing, regret…and/or happiness, relief, uncertainty, disbelief; shame, or guilt (self-blame).
You might be experiencing many of these at once or in waves.
You might experience your grief in physical ways; fatigue, a hollowness or tightness in your chest or stomach, heart palpitations, nausea and digestive issues, sweating (not due to heat), headaches, difficulty falling or staying asleep, nightmares or vivid dreams.
There are various types of loss. You might have experienced the estrangement from or death of a loved one(s) (inclusive of miscarriage), beloved pet, or a loss of identity post-accident, job loss, divorce, or move. There are many other types of loss. We can experience shadow loss, which is the loss of something we have never had. For example, when facing infertility, or rejection.
For many, family support brings with it a decrease in the intensity of grief and can help in finding a sense of re-adjustment post-loss. Although painful, grief most often occurs in a natural and healthy process. It often includes a process of re-defining oneself. However, sometimes the advice we are given for how to manage emotions, or how to handle grief, simply falls short. We worry about ‘wearing out our supports’, and begin to hide or mask our grief, not wanting to ‘burden’ our loved ones. It can be difficult to keep up with everyday responsibilities, and to be feeling helpless, hollow, or overwhelmed.
Waiting for time to pass as a way of recovering from grief is a strategy that does not work for everyone. When it does not you can feel left without coping strategies. It can be helpful to explore your feelings related to your loss(es). It can be a relief to take a pause from the pressure of moving on, or to have guidance in living life post-loss and truly recovering. Connection with a therapist can help. Therapy can provide a space to talk about your loss(es) or loved one as much as you need.
The process of navigating grief and loss is as unique as an individual person and the relationship or connection to the loss. Grief is painful, with a wide range of emotions underneath.
You might be experiencing sadness, fear, yearning, resentment, anger, shock, numbness, jealousy, sorrow, longing, regret…and/or happiness, relief, uncertainty, disbelief; shame, or guilt (self-blame).
You might be experiencing many of these at once or in waves.
You might experience your grief in physical ways; fatigue, a hollowness or tightness in your chest or stomach, heart palpitations, nausea and digestive issues, sweating (not due to heat), headaches, difficulty falling or staying asleep, nightmares or vivid dreams.
There are various types of loss. You might have experienced the estrangement from or death of a loved one(s) (inclusive of miscarriage), beloved pet, or a loss of identity post-accident, job loss, divorce, or move. There are many other types of loss. We can experience shadow loss, which is the loss of something we have never had. For example, when facing infertility, or rejection.
For many, family support brings with it a decrease in the intensity of grief and can help in finding a sense of re-adjustment post-loss. Although painful, grief most often occurs in a natural and healthy process. It often includes a process of re-defining oneself. However, sometimes the advice we are given for how to manage emotions, or how to handle grief, simply falls short. We worry about ‘wearing out our supports’, and begin to hide or mask our grief, not wanting to ‘burden’ our loved ones. It can be difficult to keep up with everyday responsibilities, and to be feeling helpless, hollow, or overwhelmed.
Waiting for time to pass as a way of recovering from grief is a strategy that does not work for everyone. When it does not you can feel left without coping strategies. It can be helpful to explore your feelings related to your loss(es). It can be a relief to take a pause from the pressure of moving on, or to have guidance in living life post-loss and truly recovering. Connection with a therapist can help. Therapy can provide a space to talk about your loss(es) or loved one as much as you need.
trauma & posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd)
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is treatable. I say this first to address misinformation about PTSD.
Most often when we experience trauma, we can later process the event(s) naturally, and without treatment. We talk about it with friends and family members, take some time to reflect on it ourselves, and find it getting easier within a couple of months. However, sometimes the healing process stalls, and we get ‘stuck’; the trauma-symptoms continue and begin to interfere with everyday life.
Are you experiencing nightmares (related or unrelated to a traumatic event), flashbacks, memories that ‘intrude’ into your thoughts that you don’t want, You might be blaming yourself, thinking about mistakes or wish to have prevented an event from happening. You might experience distress when reminded of the trauma and find yourself avoiding how you feel when reminded of what happened. Sometimes avoidance looks like aggression, substance or alcohol use, avoidance of certain places or situations, withdrawal from family and friends. You might be experiencing physiological arousal symptoms, such as a ‘short fuse’, anger, difficulty relaxing, trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, trouble focusing, feeling ‘jumpy’, or feeling separate from your body or separate from your surroundings. You might also be feeling depressed. All of these symptoms might be having a negative impact on your ability to function at work or be having a negative impact on your home life.
A common goal of PTSD treatment is to gain distance from the event(s); to heal in body and mind. This is different than avoidance or suppressing feelings. Distance is gained through processing the traumatic event(s). It can sound like “what I experienced was traumatic, that is true, and I also feel like there is distance between me and what happened. It is part of my history, part of my story. It felt overwhelming and awful at the time, and I have a feeling of understanding and peace about it now. I can think about it without experiencing intense emotions or physical symptoms.”
If you have been experiencing trauma symptoms for 6 months or longer, feeling overwhelmed, or if you are experiencing symptoms of depression, psychotherapy is recommended and can help.
Most often when we experience trauma, we can later process the event(s) naturally, and without treatment. We talk about it with friends and family members, take some time to reflect on it ourselves, and find it getting easier within a couple of months. However, sometimes the healing process stalls, and we get ‘stuck’; the trauma-symptoms continue and begin to interfere with everyday life.
Are you experiencing nightmares (related or unrelated to a traumatic event), flashbacks, memories that ‘intrude’ into your thoughts that you don’t want, You might be blaming yourself, thinking about mistakes or wish to have prevented an event from happening. You might experience distress when reminded of the trauma and find yourself avoiding how you feel when reminded of what happened. Sometimes avoidance looks like aggression, substance or alcohol use, avoidance of certain places or situations, withdrawal from family and friends. You might be experiencing physiological arousal symptoms, such as a ‘short fuse’, anger, difficulty relaxing, trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, trouble focusing, feeling ‘jumpy’, or feeling separate from your body or separate from your surroundings. You might also be feeling depressed. All of these symptoms might be having a negative impact on your ability to function at work or be having a negative impact on your home life.
A common goal of PTSD treatment is to gain distance from the event(s); to heal in body and mind. This is different than avoidance or suppressing feelings. Distance is gained through processing the traumatic event(s). It can sound like “what I experienced was traumatic, that is true, and I also feel like there is distance between me and what happened. It is part of my history, part of my story. It felt overwhelming and awful at the time, and I have a feeling of understanding and peace about it now. I can think about it without experiencing intense emotions or physical symptoms.”
If you have been experiencing trauma symptoms for 6 months or longer, feeling overwhelmed, or if you are experiencing symptoms of depression, psychotherapy is recommended and can help.
