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Group Therapy

We are currently filling spots for our upcoming Group Therapy sessions starting in September.

  • CBT Group for OCD for Adults
  • CBT Group for OCD for Teens
  • Group for Families Living with OCD
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About Forward Thinking Psychological Services®

Dr. Marlene Taube-Schiff and her team of licensed healthcare professionals can help you develop the skills you need to become your own therapist and embark on the path of recovery and wellness.

Our team works with adolescents, adults, couples, and families throughout Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. We offer flexible, accessible, and convenient therapy with individualized treatment plans that meet your specific goals.

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It is never too late to become what you might have been.

George Elliot

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Services

The Forward Thinking Psychological Services® team focus on the treatment of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. We are highly proficient in the provision of a variety of psychological services. Our emphasis is on evidence-based treatment for anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, health anxiety, panic disorder and phobias. 

In addition, our team provides treatment for a variety of other issues including depression, trauma, life transitions and relational issues.

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Approaches

We at Forward Thinking Psychological Services®, use several therapy approaches to treat a variety of issues that you might be experiencing. These approaches include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT); Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP);  Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT); Inference-Based CBT for OCD; Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Skills; Mindfulness-Based Therapy; and Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT).  We also use Motivational Interviewing (MI) to enhance client motivation and engagement.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Psychologists consider cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) an effective technique for treating many mental issues, including OCD, anxiety and depression. CBT shows evidence-based behavioral alteration through subtle changes in thought perception and emotional awareness. CBT is effective in allowing people to decrease avoidance, engage in meaningful behaviours and modify unhelpful thoughts. 

The three principles driving CBT therapy include:

  • Targeting unhelpful thinking patterns ( automatic thoughts arising from faulty cognition)
  • Challenging underlying negative beliefs
  • Decreasing avoidance through exposure therapy and behavioral activation (engaging in activities that are currently avoided due to anxiety, low mood or other distressing emotions)

The key aspects targeted in CBT for anxiety comprise: behaviors, feelings, and thoughts. The experience of intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviours can lead to the need for OCD therapy to allow for improved mental health. Treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder involves delivery of CBT techniques.

CBT for teens has been shown to be highly effective; similar to CBT for adults. We use the same evidence-based treatment approach to allow for treatment progress to be made. At times, our language might be modified to enhance understanding. And parents may be involved as well – to help with coaching and skill set development. All of these strategies will improve overall mental health within the family.

Therapists believe thoughts affect how we feel about things. These feelings shape our behaviors, making all three components influence each other. Learning how these things interact can be very helpful in beginning to take a different perspective towards our thoughts. And, then, ultimately shift our emotions and behaviours.

CBT is an effective approach in OCD therapy as it helps the patient counter their rituals while supporting the person to lean into anxiety. Learning to engage in meaningful activities is also important. This leads to skills and coping strategies, which helps in treating various mental health issues (anxiety, depression, OCD). Now, OCD treatment near me is no longer hard to find! FTPS offers this throughout Ontario and BC.

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based therapy approach that can effectively treat various psychological issues (OCD, anxiety, behavioral disorders, depression, and substance abuse).

CBT is among the most popular psychological services prevalent in treating various mental health issues like:

  • Anorexia/bulimia
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Panic disorder
  • Phobias
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder
  • Psychosis
  • Schizophrenia
  • Insomnia
  • Substance abuse

CBT offers clarity through a balanced approach to individuals having unhelpful automatic thoughts. It also helps when people engage in compulsions or rituals. It helps them recognize the unhelpful patterns which trigger these compulsions.

CBT therapy with FTPS therapists helps individuals to engage in avoided behaviour through exposure therapy, behavioural activation and in-session role-playing to help learn how to cope with personal triggers when outside of therapy. These interventions can be successfully conducted through a virtual therapy platform.

Some psychologists and therapists use CBT as a part of psychotherapy for depression. Helping people be aware of how much improvement is possible through treatment generates vital self-confidence necessary to continue to approach situations that are distressing, anxiety-provoking or that one has low motivation to engage in.

The ability to build confidence and tolerate distress to help individuals overcome avoidance is among the top benefits of cognitive behavior therapy. Teaching coping techniques with uncomfortable thought processes using strategies like the continuum technique, the responsibility pie, and thought records are other strategies that make CBT therapy compatible with treatment for health anxiety.

Hard to find counselling for depression? You can find psychologists near me online to provide psychotherapy for depression. Reach out to FTPS to find out more!

There are many different mental health clinicians at FTPS. It is a multidisciplinary team that includes psychologists, occupational therapists, social workers, registered psychotherapists, couples therapist, parent coaches and masters level and doctoral level therapists.

A psychologist is a registered professional providing psychological services.

All FTPS therapists provide therapeutic services with an emphasis on OCD therapy as well as cognitive behaviour therapy, acceptance commitment therapy,  exposure therapy and other approaches for treating mental health issues.

A therapist provides individuals who have psychological problems with a better understanding of their situation, helps to enhance their cognitive skills, and helps them to hopefully cope successfully with their condition.

FTPS provides various psychological services:

  • Personalized individual psychotherapy
  • Group therapy
  • Adolescent mental health services
  • Couples/family therapy
  • Parent coaching therapy
  • Psychodiagnostic assessments

A therapist works with individuals to help them better understand their presenting issues. This allows for collaborative treatment planning and agenda setting at every session. They help people learn about their mental health issues, guiding them to learn helpful coping strategies and skills.

At FTPS, therapists employ various approaches to offer clients important tools and skills. These include:

  • Being a non-judgemental listener and allowing for client and therapist to fully understand the nature of the presenting issues
  • Providing skills for self-reflection and emotional awareness
  • Coping strategies for achieving increased present moment awareness
  • Understanding one’s values and how to move towards them, despite experiencing difficult thoughts and emotions
  • Gaining a balanced perspective on automatic thoughts and belief systems
  • Leaning into anxiety and facing what one fears
  • Challenging unhelpful thinking styles
  • Understanding the nature of worry and obsessional doubt
  • Increasing one’s quality of life as they learn to be their own therapist

Wanting to find psychologists near me? Look no further than FTPS! We have a collaborative mental health team of psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists and other therapists as well!

A therapist helps you understand your mental health issues when you have psychological issues. If you are new to looking for a potential therapist or psychologist, try Forward Thinking Psychological Services (FTPS). Our team of mental health clinicians provides dedicated psychological services for various behavioral issues, like treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder, psychotherapy for panic disorder, counseling for depression, cognitive behavioural therapy for perfectionism or CBT for anxiety.

FTPS offers various therapy approaches, such as the ACT, CBT, DBT, and ERP. Our therapists believe every individual has unique difficulties, meaning a personalized approach is necessary to treat each individual’s mental health condition. We believe that evidence-based treatment makes all the difference.

Our therapists provide sessions that are accessible and will suit your schedule. We provide a great deal of our services on a virtual therapy platform. From individual psychotherapy to group counseling sessions, couples therapy to intensive mental health support, FTPS provides psychological services for many mental health conditions.

Considering clients’ needs matters most to us at FTPS. Our therapists offer virtual therapy sessions for those living in British Columbia and Ontario. At FTPS, we consider compatibility with the highest regard, providing clients with a best-fit therapist for their mental health sessions. In some cases, we conduct psychodiagnostic assessments to provide certainty regarding their presenting issues. Hoping to find a psychologist near me? Look no further than FTPS! We have a collaborative mental health team of psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists and other therapists as well!

Therapy sessions involve individuals sharing their mental health concerns and receiving guidance with how they can best deal with their condition. At FTPS, therapy services are provided by a multidisciplinary team, including psychologists, occupational therapists, social workers, psychotherapists and therapists.

Psychological services allow individuals to explore their thoughts, behaviours and emotions. At FTPS, this is done in a collaborative manner and in line with evidence-based treatments.

At FTPS, therapists make individuals feel comfortable. Our therapists believe in the importance of empathy and an honest approach, which helps individuals explore their concerns in a safe space. Whether seeking treatment for health anxiety or starting group CBT therapy, individuals will benefit from therapy and psychological services.

Here are some examples of what we treat at FTPS::

  • Counseling for depression (major depressive episodes or persistent depressive disorder)
  • Treatment for health anxiety (individuals experiencing anxiety with respect to their physical health and potential concerns about illnesses)
  • Treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (working with individuals to face their fears and resist the urge to engage in compulsions in response to obsessions and intrusive thoughts; better understand obsessional doubt and trust your senses in the here and now)

Now, CBT near me is no longer hard to find! FTPS offers this throughout Ontario and BC.

Cognitive behaviour therapy is considered a gold standard treatment. It has decades of research supporting it. Within this approach, individuals will learn to challenge their thoughts which will, in turn, impact their feelings and behaviours.

Treatment for generalized anxiety is often treated with CBT therapy. This treatment involves the following approaches:

  • Targeting unhelpful thinking patterns (automatic thoughts arising from unhelpful thinking styles)
  • Challenging underlying negative beliefs
  • Decreasing avoidance through exposure therapy

Experiential work in therapy allows individuals to learn that they are able to experience distressing events and be okay. Through exposure work and though challenging work, individuals can make great progress during treatment for generalized anxiety.

ACT therapy for anxiety has also been shown to be an effective treatment. ACT includes experiential aspects. When engaging in ACT therapy for anxiety, individuals will learn the importance of present moment awareness. This allows people to be aware of what might be happening in the here and now – whether what is happening is “good” or “bad”. In becoming more mindful and aware, we can begin to make choices as to what we would like to do. In acceptance and commitment therapy, we speak about AWAY moves and TOWARDS moves. These moves represent the idea of doing things that are either aligned with our values (TOWARDS) or that push us away from things that matter to us (AWAY moves).

During ACT therapy for anxiety, we learn that we might have to take negative thoughts and emotions along with us but that we can still engage in things that matter to us. Sometimes what we are experiencing or thinking about is not up for challenging or changing. However, that does not mean we have to follow those thoughts and feelings and engage with them. We can learn, through various strategies and skills, that we can still live a meaningful life. Whether we are experiencing distressing emotions or not.

Through acceptance and commitment therapy, we can develop psychological flexibility. In order to do so, individuals can learn about present moment awareness (mindfulness based therapy skills), acceptance, values and committed action.

We can learn that some things are out of our control. In these cases, we can learn to take a different approach. ACT therapy for anxiety helps people to learn these other approaches and take a different stance to their experience of anxiety. In doing so, we can learn to have a different relationship to our anxiety.

Are you looking for ACT therapy for anxiety? Look no further than FTPS. We offer this treatment through virtual therapy services in Ontario and BC. We hope you will reach out to us to learn more.

DBT therapy can be conducted successfully online! Like other types of therapy, DBT therapy online should be conducted in a quiet and private space for both you and your therapist. It should also be conducted on a secure platform.

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy has been found to be helpful for many mental health concerns. The meaning of the word dialectical is actually “the existence of opposites”. As this applies to this evidence-based approach, individuals learn how they can embrace opposite strategies at times. For example, people work on the idea of acceptance as well as making change. So, an individual might work on accepting that what they are experiencing is valid while also moving towards making changes to manage difficult emotions and behaviours.

At FTPS, when engaging in an informed DBT therapy online approach, people will learn a lot of DBT skills. These will include: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness skills. Many of our therapists at FTPS have the training to offer evidence-based DBT online skills.

DBT skills can help individuals to regulate emotions, enhance their interpersonal relationships, tolerate overwhelming feelings and become more present-moment aware. These skills can be the primary mode of treatment and can also be integrated within other therapeutic approaches.

Are you looking to start DBT therapy online? If so, you have come to the right place! Please reach out to us at FTPS. We provide virtual therapy in Ontario and BC.

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