What is biofeedback?

Our practitioners have well-rounded and diverse training, and each work with individuals from a wide variety of cultures, races, lifestyles, religions, sexual preferences who may also have physical challenges. Depending on the reason for your seeking therapy and what problems you are facing, we will recommend which of our practitioners will best meet your needs. Some examples of the specialty areas of our practitioners are, depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, adjustment issues, lifestyle, parenting struggles, substance use, communication challenges, relationship concerns, learning problems, vocational rehabilitation, infertility issues, sexual concerns, career decision-making, and anger management.

When you make an initial appointment, you are agreeing to an evaluation period that usually lasts one to two sessions. During this time, you and your practitioner will decide if there is a good patient-therapist match. If you both feel there is a good match, then a therapy contract will be proposed. The therapy contract is usually a spoken agreement that begins the therapeutic work between you and your therapist.

You and your therapist will determine how frequently your appointments will be. Typically, patients are seen once weekly, but this varies depending on the needs, commitment, and dedication of the patient. In some cases, patients are seen twice a week and other times, patients are seen every other week.

Although every therapist will have a different style, generally, the first few sessions will involve an examination of the presented issues and an evaluation of your needs. By the end of the evaluation period, your therapist will likely offer you some first impressions of what your work together will include, and also help you to identify your treatment goals.

Therapy is not easily described in general statements. It varies depending on the treatment modality of the therapist, and the particular issues that are brought forward by the patient. No therapist can guarantee that now is the right time for change, for self discovery, or for personal growth. However, your motivation, the active role you can take in your journey, a willingness on your part to be honest with your therapist and yourself, and finding a good fit between yourself and your therapist are some of the key ingredients to making your experience more productive. Therapy is, however, a process. It is not like a visit to your medical doctor. Instead, it will require a more active effort on your part. Quick fixes are typically not realistic, even despite your desires, and the desires of your therapist, to immediately discharge your distress.

Sometimes, you may feel considerable discomfort in therapy. Remembering and resolving unpleasant events or unresolved issues can bring about many strong feelings which are not always pleasant. However, just by walking in the door, you will likely begin to reduce your distress and have some hope instilled.

Psychotherapy can have benefits and risks. Since therapy often involves discussing unpleasant aspects of your life, you may experience uncomfortable feelings like sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, loneliness, and helplessness. On the other hand, psychotherapy has also been shown to have benefits for people who go through it. Therapy often leads to better relationships, solutions to specific problems, and significant reductions in feelings of distress. But there are no guarantees of success, or of what your particular experience will be.

Therapy involves a large commitment of time, money and energy, so you should make an informed decision about the therapist that you select. If, during the evaluation period or course of treatment, you feel some discomfort about the therapy or question the therapeutic relationship, you are encouraged to discuss this directly with your therapist. Sometimes, it is a natural part of therapy to be experiencing and working through that “bump in the road” together that will eventually produce the best healing outcome. It may also help you to identify if these feelings exist in other relationships that you have. If after this discussion you still find that this particular therapist is not the best one to provide services for you and to help you to meet your treatment goals, then we will offer you a referral to another therapist, either in our office and or in the larger mental health community.

Please call our office at (954) 431-0411 and let us know which one of our groups interests you. Some of our groups are age-specific, and may also be limited by other factors such as size and structure. Some groups are open-ended while others are time-limited. A prescreening interview is typically conducted to determine appropriateness of fit and to enhance the outcomes of group therapy.

Please visit our biofeedback page for a comprehensive answer to this question.