ACRONYM & CREDENTIAL GUIDE

AOP Anti-oppressive practice
AR/AO Anti-racist / anti-oppressive practice
BA Bachelor of Arts
BIPOC Black, Indigenous, and people-of-colour
BFA Bachelor of Fine Arts
BMT Bachelor of Music Therapy
BSc Bachelor of Science 
BSW Bachelor of Social Work
CAWC Career and Work Counsellor
CBT Cognitive behavioural therapy
CCC Canadian Certified Counsellor
C.Psych Certified/registered psychologist
C-PTSD Complex post-traumatic stress disorder
CPT Cognitive processing therapy
CSCP Certified Spiritual Care Practitioner
CYC Child & Youth Counsellor
DBT Dialectical behaviour therapy
DDP Dyadic developmental psychotherapy
EFT Emotion-focussed therapy
EFFT Emotion-focussed family therapy
EMDR Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing
ExAT Expressive Arts Therapist
FIPA Fellow of the International Psychoanalytic Association
MA Master of Arts
MBA Master of Business Administration
MB-CBT Mindfulness-based cognitive behavioural therapy
MC Master of Counselling
MEd Master of Education
MDiv Master of Divinity
MMT Master of Music Therapy
MPS Master of Pastoral Studies
MSc Master of Science
MSW Master of Social Work
PACT Psychological Approach to Couples Therapy
PhD / PsyD / Ed D Doctorate Degree
R. Psych Registered Psychologist
R.D. Psych Registered Doctoral Psychologist
RN Registered Nurse
RP Registered Psychotherapist
RP (Qualifying) Registered Psychotherapist being supervised
RSW Registered Social Worker
SFBT Solution Focused Brief Therapy
SSW Social Service Worker
TIP Toronto Institute of Psychoanalysis
TIRP Toronto Institute for Relational Psychotherapy

Glossary of Therapies & Terms                       

Acceptance Commitment Therapy encourages people to embrace their thoughts and feelings rather than fighting or feeling guilty for them. ACT develops psychological flexibility and is a form of behavioural therapy that combines mindfulness skills with the practice of self-acceptance. When aiming to be more accepting of your thoughts and feelings, commitment plays a key role.

Attachment-based therapy is a process-oriented form of psychological counselling. The client-therapist relationship is based on developing or rebuilding trust and centers on expressing emotions. The process examines early attachment experiences with primary caregivers, usually with parents, and the client’s ability to form healthy emotional and physical relationships as an adult. Attachment-based therapy aims to build or rebuild a trusting, supportive relationship that will help prevent or treat anxiety or depression.

Attachment-based family therapy is a trauma-focused, emotion-focused psychotherapy model that addresses adolescent mental health issues by repairing attachment ruptures. Family relationships are strengthened by addressing intergenerational attachment patterns, increasing parental attunement and sensitivity to their child's struggles and supporting the young person to develop a coherent and integrated attachment and mental health narrative.

Brainspotting is a neuroscience-informed treatment that targets the brain’s natural healing mechanisms, using specific eye positions, focused mindfulness and a relationally attuned therapeutic relationship to address mental health issues and process traumatic material held in the nervous system

Compassion-focused therapy aims to help promote mental and emotional healing by encouraging people in treatment to be compassionate toward themselves and other people while challenging self-criticism.

Cognitive behavioural therapy focuses specifically on the problems and difficulties we are facing in the present, rather than the past. CBT focuses on the thoughts, beliefs and attitudes we hold (our cognitive processes) and how this interacts with our behaviour to create our emotional problems.

Cognitive processing therapy is a specific type of cognitive behavioral therapy that has been effective in reducing symptoms of PTSD that have developed after experiencing a variety of traumatic events including child abuse, combat, rape and natural disasters.

Dialectical behaviour therapy is a form cognitive behavioural therapy that emphasizes mindfulness, validation of all emotions and a philosophy of dialectics (e.g., seemingly opposite things can all be true). Like CBT, it is behavioural and emphasizes skills training. It was initially developed for individuals with “borderline personality disorder” who solve their distress with self-injury or suicidal behaviours. It’s now used with many other populations who navigate emotion dysregulation.

Dyadic developmental psychotherapy is a therapy, parenting approach and model for practice that uses what we know about attachment and developmental trauma to help children and families with their relationships.

Emotion-focused therapy is a short-term form of therapy that focuses on adult relationships and attachment/bonding. The therapist and clients look at patterns in the relationship and take steps to create a more secure bond and develop more trust to move the relationship in a healthier, more positive direction.

Emotion-focused family therapy is a newer approach for supporting families throughout the life cycle, to deal with challenging life transitions, or mental health challenges affecting family members. EFFT works to help your family experience greater understanding, emotional connection, empathy and overall wellbeing. EFFT utilizes emotion coaching, behaviour coaching, relationship repair and other techniques to positively manage emotions and stress, while increasing positive mood states and overall family cohesion.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is based on the idea that negative thoughts, feelings and behaviours are the result of unprocessed memories. The treatment involves standardized procedures that include focusing simultaneously on (a) spontaneous associations of traumatic images, thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations and (b) two-sided stimulation that is most commonly in the form of repeated eye movements.

Existential therapy is a unique form of psychotherapy that looks to explore difficulties from a philosophical perspective. Focusing on the human condition as a whole, existential therapy highlights our capacities and encourages us to take responsibility for our successes.

Expressive arts therapy may incorporate writing, drama, dance, movement, painting, and/or music. People utilizing expressive arts therapy are supported to explore their responses, reactions, and insights through pictures, sounds, explorations, and encounters with art processes. A person is not required to have artistic ability to use or benefit from this therapy.

Feminist therapy is rooted in the understanding that women (and other marginalized groups) may experience mental health issues as a result of psychological oppression. In therapy, clients that have been marginalized might address the limitations experienced due to the sociopolitical status often imposed upon them and explore solutions to treat mental health needs and work toward social change and individual resilience.

Generative Somatics Lineage is a politicized theory and methodology of embodied change and transformation for individuals and groups.

Gestalt therapy focuses on helping the individual become more self-aware. The therapist may use experiments such as creating patterns with objects and role-playing to help promote client’s awareness. As the individual talks through and explores their thoughts and feelings, they are also encouraged to notice their physical and emotional responses that may have provided barriers to communication with others.

Humanistic therapy is a mental health approach that emphasizes the importance of being your true self in order to lead the most fulfilling life. It's based on the principle that everyone has their own unique way of looking at the world.

Humanist-existential approaches share a belief that people have the capacity for self-awareness and choice. The therapist emphasizes growth and self-actualization rather than curing diseases or alleviating disorders.

Hypnotherapy (or hypnosis) uses guided relaxation, intense concentration, and focused attention to achieve a heightened state of awareness that is sometimes called a trance. The person's attention is so focused while in this state that anything going on around the person is temporarily blocked out or ignored. In this naturally occurring state, a person may focus their attention -- with the help of a trained therapist -- on specific thoughts or tasks.

Internal Family Systems Therapy assumes each individual possesses a variety of sub-personalities, or “parts,” and attempts to get to know each of these parts better to achieve healing. By learning how different parts function as a system and how the overall system reacts to other systems and other people, people in therapy can often become better able to identify the roots of conflict, manage any complications arising, and achieve greater well-being. 

Interpersonal psychotherapy understands symptoms (the client’s presenting problem) as a response to current difficulties in everyday relationships with other people. IPT focuses on four areas: 1) conflict in relationships that is a source of tension and distress 2) life changes, such as job loss or the birth of a child, that affect people's feelings about themselves and others 3) grief and loss 4) difficulties in starting or sustaining relationships.

Mindfulness-based therapy is a conscious awareness of our present moment. This includes openness and non-judgment about the experience. It is often coupled with other types of therapy, such as CBT, DBT, and ACT. Mindfulness therapy is not concerned with relaxation, though that might be a result of certain practices. The focus is on increasing our awareness of the thoughts, feelings, and actions that hinder our progress. When we are better able to do that, we can engage with those aspects of ourselves, learn to tweak our language, and choose how to respond.

Motivational interviewing is a directive, client-centred, counselling style designed for eliciting behaviour change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence.

Narrative therapy is a method of therapy that separates a person from their problem. It encourages people to rely on their own skills to minimize problems that exist in their lives. Throughout life, personal experiences become personal stories. People give these stories meaning, and the stories help shape a person’s identity. Narrative therapy uses the power of these stories to help people discover their life purpose.

Parts work therapy attends to the conflicts between parts that when left unresolved can sabotage your efforts toward healing. For example, within therapy there are times when you might be attempting to work through a difficult or traumatic memory. Even though you are ready to heal, there might be a part of you that interferes with the process in an attempt to protect you from vulnerable feelings that feel threatening to your sense of self.

Person-centred (or client-centred) psychotherapy uses a non-authoritative approach that allows clients to take more of a lead in discussions so that, in the process, they will discover their own solutions. The therapist acts as a compassionate facilitator, listening without judgment and acknowledging the client’s experience without moving the conversation in another direction. The therapist is there to encourage and support the client and to guide the therapeutic process without interrupting or interfering with the client’s process of self-discovery.

Psychodynamic and psychoanalytic therapy stresses the importance of the unconscious and past experience in shaping current behaviour. By encouraging individuals to explore unresolved issues and to talk about important people and relationships in their life they can increase their self-awareness and understanding of how the past is influencing present problems.

Relational psychotherapy is an approach that can help individuals recognize the role relationships play in the shaping of daily experiences, and attempts to help people understand patterns appearing in the thoughts and feelings they have toward themselves.

Restorative justice is an alternative mediation approach that allows victims, offenders and their respective family members and friends to come together to explore how everyone has been affected by an offense or conflict and, when possible, to decide how to repair the harm. Victims can say how the crime or conflict affected them and ask the offender questions.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a body-centered approach that aims to unresolved trauma and attachment issues. While traditional talk therapies utilize the words of a person as the entry point for treatment, this type of therapy depends on the bodily experiences of the individual as a gateway to awareness and improved mental health. 

Sex therapy is a type of talk therapy that’s designed to help individuals and couples address medical, psychological, personal, or interpersonal factors impacting sexual satisfaction. This includes working through sexual trauma. The goal of sex therapy is to help people move past physical and emotional challenges to have a satisfying relationship and pleasurable sex life. These challenges can also include difficulty with a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

Schema therapy focuses on identifying and changing specific unhealthy ways of thinking. The therapy includes some elements that are traditional parts of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) but also includes some elements of other types of psychotherapy. Schemas are broad and pervasive patterns of thinking and behavior. These are more than just beliefs; schemas are deeply held patterns that are closely related to our sense of self and view of the world. Schema theory proposes that schemas are triggered when events happening in our current life resemble those from our past that were related to the formation of the schema. If we have developed unhealthy schemas because of difficult experiences in our childhood, we will resort to unhealthy ways of thinking and behave in response to this new situation.

Solution-focused brief therapy places focus on a person's present and future circumstances and goals rather than past experiences. In this goal-oriented therapy, the symptoms or issues bringing a person to therapy are typically not targeted.

Somatic experiencing/therapy is a form of alternative therapy aimed at relieving the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental and physical trauma-related health problems by focusing on the client's perceived body sensations.

Systemic therapy is a generic term for family therapy and helps understand how a family has become stuck in a pattern of interaction. It focuses on the context and networks of significant relationships within which people live their lives.

The Safe and Sound Protocol is based on Polyvagal theory and delivered via music; this brief nervous system intervention uses the middle ear muscles/the vagus nerve to shift the client's nervous system out of sympathetic activation (fight/flight/freeze) and into more regulation. Once a more balanced physiological state is achieved, clients can better use and integrate other therapies.

Transactional-analysis is a form of modern psychology that examines a person's relationships and interactions. It can be used to address one's interactions and communications with the purpose of establishing and reinforcing the idea that each individual is valuable and has the capacity for positive change and personal growth. 

Trauma-informed approaches bring to light an awareness of the widespread impact of trauma on life experience and relationships. It recognizes trauma's role in the outlook, emotions and behavior of a person with a trauma history.

Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment is a trauma-focused, neuroscience-based approach that integrates structural dissociation theory, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, ego states techniques, mindfulness-based techniques and Internal Family Systems work

Vocational counselling helps people identify suitable career options based on their preferences and interests, aptitude for training, hobbies, and transferable skill