Therapies
Our therapists are trained in a variety of different approaches to address the unique needs of individual clients through an affirming and trauma-informed environment.
Below is a list of some of the types of therapy we offer at Brownback, Mason and Associates. Although located in Allentown, PA, our comprehensive list of therapeutic resources attract clients from Emmaus, Bethlehem, Easton and even outside of the Lehigh Valley.
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Approaches include:
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) – Evidence-based therapy approach that uses mindfulness and the acceptance of emotions. Goal setting is grounded by personal values and then effective actions are identified to achieve the goals. Symptom reduction occurs as a by product of the therapy, rather than as a goal.
Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) - Used particularly in treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). A therapy approach in which a client practices confronting thoughts, images, objects and situations that cause anxiety and provoke obsessions. This is the exposure component. Then in the response prevention phase, the client with the therapist’s guidance, makes a choice to not engage in the compulsive behavior when anxiety and obsessions are triggered. Over time, the client will learn to do his/her own ERP exercises and will retrain their brain to no longer see the trigger element as a threat.
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or tapping - Tool to release difficult emotions, based on the stimulation of accupressure points, while focusing on personal traumatic or fear inducing situations.
Solution Focused Therapy - Brief therapy approach, based on formulating, motivating toward, and achieving goals for desired behavioral change.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) -Therapy approach especially useful for those who experience emotions very intensely. DBT aims to strike a balance between acceptance of who you are and your challenges, with the benefits of change. (Dialectical means combining opposite ideas.)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) - Brief psychological treatment based on improving mood by changing thoughts and feelings. Includes 1) identifying distorted or self-defeating patterns, and learning to respond to them with more balanced, reality-based thinking (cognitive restructuring) and 2) facilitating the learning and implementation of effective behaviors to replace ineffective behaviors. CBT generally includes between session homework to rehearse the skills that the client will learn to use in solving their own problems in the future.
Psychodynamic Therapy - Therapy approach which uses self-reflection and self-examination of the client’s historical experience along with the present-day therapist-client relationship to understand problematic relationship patterns in a client’s life.
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Biofeedback Therapy (BFB) - Biofeedback is the process of gaining greater awareness of many physiological functions of one's own body by using electronic or other instruments, and with a goal of being able to manipulate the body's systems at will.
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Neurofeedback (NFB) - Neurofeedback is a kind of biofeedback, which teaches self-control of brain functions to subjects by measuring brain waves and providing a feedback signal. Neurofeedback usually provides the audio and or video feedback.
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Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback (HRV) – HRV is a kind of biofeedback that helps synchronize respiratory and heart rate to a measured individualized breathing frequency pattern, maximizing heart rate variability. Greater heart rate variability is an indicator of vulnerability to stress and disease as well as one's capacity to adapt and recover from stress.
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Alternate Approaches:
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At Brownback, Mason, and Associates we seek to offer alternative approaches to manage individual challenges with anxiety, OCD, depression, insomnia, and chronic pain. In addition to traditional therapies, our therapists are able to offer the treatment benefits provided by the following devices:
Apollo Neuro - The Apollo Neuro device was developed to signal safety to the brain and interrupt that “fight or flight” response that is triggered by stress. It is a wearable device that uses silent, soothing vibrations to interact with your nervous system to rebalance your body and mind. Clients report that it Improves focus and sleep and reduces anxiety and agitation.
Alpha Stim AID - Uses cranial electrotherapy stimulation to generate a unique waveform that helps the body’s cells return to their natural state of functioning in a safe and pain-free way. Cranial Electrical Therapy (CTE) has both residual and cumulative effects. This means that relief occurs not only while you are doing the treatment but also while you resume daily functioning. With daily use of the Alpha-Stim many individuals see relief from their symptoms of anxiety, depression, and/or insomnia with little to none of the side effects common with pharmaceutical treatments. This means you can continue to do the things that are important to you.
Alpha Stim Microcurrent Electrical Therapy (Alpha-Stim M) - A form of electromedical technology that uses a low level of current for pain management. Unlike a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator (TENS unit), MES effects are longer lasting and cumulative with treatments as short as 5 minutes. Like CTE, there are also little to no side effects.
BioAcoustical Utilization Device (BAUD) - Uses specially designed sound frequencies to stimulate brain plasticity by disrupting reconsolidation of problem circuits, primarily in the limbic system and the amygdala, helping the brain to shift neural function back to a normal level, based on its innate ability to self-regulate.
Touch Points - Uses gentle alternating vibrations through a pair of devices, one worn on each side of the body, to modify the body’s response to stress. Clients report reduction in anxiety and increased sleep health.
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