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Integrative therapy means that we, as practitioners, use lots of different therapeutic techniques in a session. Combining therapeutic approaches, allows us to treat the whole person and not just individual symptoms. The combination approach, allows us to have a wider range of tools to draw on, so that we can offer more methods to try and create balance and improved wellbeing for a client.
While we will draw on a wide range of models and techniques, it won’t be very explicit. If you were in session with me, I wouldn't be saying "today we are going to try psychodynamic therapy" because that often stands in the way of therapy. Questions like "well, what is psychodynamic therapy?" will come up, which may stand in the way of trying out the tools. Of course, you are always welcome to ask what your therapist is implementing and why!
Instead, if you were in session with me, I may explain certain theories or key words. That might mean identifying "it sounds like your anxiety is causing you to have panic attacks. We can notice panic attacks for example when breathing feels difficult or out of control and panicked thoughts are racing through our head". This allows us to come up with strategies and models to address this.
What integrative therapy looks like
Since integrative therapy is about seeing you as a whole and addressing your mental, emotional and physical needs, there will be lots of questions. These questions will be in relation to how you are ‘framing’ (which essentially means seeing) things around you.
Some examples may be: How do you feel about me asking about something in a specific way? How do you feel about me asking you to imagine something? How do you feel about me asking you to try something different?
Integrative therapy is a highly individualized treatment and will not look the same for all clients. The main purpose of questions asked in therapy is to help you understand how you make sense of things (ex. Identifying triggers, explaining behaviors that seem irrational or foreign). Once we are able to see and understand the behavior (where it comes from, any patterns that have developed), we are also able to explore ways to manage this behavior and potentially add different coping mechanisms that you find more helpful.
This makes integrative therapy a very collaborative process. Your comfort and safety are key to this. As a therapist, I will guide you in your explorations and together, we can make sense of them. This is with the overall goal of helping you manage or cope with whatever your current situation may be.
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