Approaches
Approach with Clients
Rebecca does not discriminate based on race, gender, religion and/or sexuality. Rebecca has extensive experience working with Asian Americans, the Latin American community and LGBTQIA+.
Clients Typically Include:
Adults in Chronic Pain
Young Adults transitioning into adulthood
New moms
Caregivers
Entrepreneurs
Nurses, healthcare professionals
Activists
Autoimmune Warriors
Couples
Artists, actors, writers, musicians, video editors
Therapeutic Approaches
Rebecca uses various approaches based on the willingness and readiness of the client to delve into core emotional difficulties.
Mind-Based Approaches
Many clients find it easier to access mind-based approaches in the beginning of treatment. Some of these therapies Rebecca uses to empower clients include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure response and prevention (ERP), strength based therapy, executive function coaching ("ADHD hacks"/workarounds), dialectical- behavioral therapy (DBT) and acceptance & commitment therapy (ACT).
Body-Based Approaches
Rebecca utilizes specific body-based interventions to help clients ground themselves and learn safety in their body. Some of these therapies include sensorimotor psychotherapy, somatic therapy, and mindfulness based stress-reduction (MBSR).
Integration of
Mind & Body
For lasting results, Rebecca highly recommends integrating the mind and body through two approaches, somatic internal family systems therapy (IFS) and intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP).
To be a human is to experience pain, which is inevitable. Suffering is optional. The root of suffering is excessive defense, anxiety, and/or a combination of the two.
Due to the intensive nature of ISTDP, Rebecca uses a relational approach, which first introduces somatic IFS to allow clients to ease into the work and develop compassion for various parts/defenses that have had to develop to protect them from the past.
Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (IS-TDP)
"Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening than to be divested of a crutch" ~ James Baldwin ~
Rebecca credit this evidence-based therapy as being the top of the line therapy to truly relieve someone of both psychological and physical pain. This specific therapy combines somatic experiencing, psychodynamic, experiential, Gestalt, attachment based, mindfulness, and cognitive-behavioral therapies to relieve someone of internal conflicts causing distress and anxiety in the body.
At the core of this therapy is honoring mixed feelings towards present and past attachments to reduce physical and emotional pain.
In the Harvard Review of Psychiatry (2012), a meta-analysis on 21 studies using Intensive Short-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) indicated this specific treatment as significantly more successful than alternate treatments used for anxiety, chronic pain, depression, and other mood disorders (Abbass, Town, & Driessen, 2012).
For the most recent research indicating the cost-effectiveness and utility of using this therapy in comparison to other therapies see Allan Abbass' website:
https://reachingthroughresistance.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Update-5-Refractory-cases.pdf
