About Psychotherapy at Malec, Herring & Krause

Because you will be putting a good deal of time  and energy into therapy, you should choose a therapist carefully. We strongly believe you should feel comfortable with the therapist you choose, andbe  hopeful about the therapy. When you feel this way, therapy is more likely to be very helpful to you.

The theoretical approach of most of the therapists in our practice is based primarily on Cognitive Behavioral theory.

We often believe that our behaviors and feelings are caused by what happens in the real world. However, this is not quite true. When we have any kind of experience, it does not affect us directly. Rather, we first give it a meaning through our thoughts, beliefs, or assessments  about it. For example, if I hear a sound in the kitchen and believe it is made by my spouse, I am not bothered at all. But if I believe I am alone in the house, the same sound can bother me a great deal. Here we see that feelings and behaviors (my actions about the sound) flow from the active process of thinking about or adding meaning to the actual event (the sound).  How we think about situations in our life affect our mood, self esteem, behavior and relationships with others.  When people are depressed or anxious, they tend to engage in more distorted or irrational thoughts.

Our approach to helping people with their problems is an educational one. Anyone can learn to recognize irrational beliefs, dispute them, and replace them with more rational beliefs. We can, with practice, unlearn these beliefs and become happier persons who function better in the world. This is what is meant by an educational approach.

We want you to be able to use cognitive-behavior therapy without the therapist (in your own world, outside of the therapy office). We encourage you to learn more about what methods are used; how well it works, and what possible problems or side effects it may have. In addition to the work you do in the office with your therapist, we can lend you or recommend to you books and articles that will be helpful.

Your therapist will usually take notes during your meetings. You may find it useful to take your own notes, and also to take notes outside the office. You could also tape-record our meetings to review at your leisure at home.

By the end of your first or second session, your therapist will tell you how she sees the current problems/issues at that point and recommend a way to  proceed. We view therapy as a partnership between us. You define the problem areas to be worked on; we use some special knowledge to help you make the changes you want to make. Psychotherapy is not like visiting a medical doctor. It requires your very active involvement. It requires your best efforts to change thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. For example, we want you to talk about important experiences, what they mean to you, and what strong feelings are involved. This is one of the ways you are an active partner in therapy.

You and your therapist will plan your work together. In your treatment plan we will list the areas to work on, our goals, the methods we will use, the time and money commitments we will make, and some other things. We will agree on a plan that we will both work hard to follow. From time to time, we will look together at our progress and goals. If we think we need to, we can then change our treatment plan, its goals, and its methods.

An important part of your therapy will be practicing new skills that you will learn in our sessions. You will be asked to practice outside our meetings, and we will work together to set up homework assignments for you. You may be asked to do exercises, to keep records, and perhaps to do other tasks to deepen your learning. You will probably have to work on relationships in your life and make long-term efforts to get the best results. These are important parts of personal change. Change will sometimes be easy and quick, but more often it will be slow and frustrating, and you will need to keep trying. There are no instant, painless cures and no “magic pills.” However, you can learn new ways of looking at your problems that will be very helpful for changing your feelings and reactions.

Most of our clients see his or her therapist once a week for 3 to 4 months, althougth this is an estimate and your therapy may differ. After that, we meet less often for several more months. Therapy then usually comes to an end. The process of ending therapy, called “termination,” can be a very valuable part of our work. Stopping therapy should not be done casually, although either of us may decide to end it if we believe it is in your best interest. If you wish to stop therapy at any time, we will honor that decision.  We ask that you agree now to meet  for at least one session to review our work together. We will review the goals, the work we have done, any future work that needs to be done, and our choices. If you would like to take a “time out” from therapy to try it on your own, we should discuss this. We can often make such a “time out” be more helpful.

You will receive a brief set of questions about 6 months after your last session. These questions will ask you to look back at our work together, and sending them to you is part of our duty as a therapists. We ask that you agree, as part of entering therapy, to return this follow-up form and to be very honest about your feedback.

For more information please contact us at 724-772-4949 or email us at info@malecherringandkrause.com.