AEDP stands for Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy. It is grounded in lived experience, emotional as well as bodily. It is not a fixed short-term therapy, because each person's needs, including how long they want to meet with a therapist, are individual.

The word accelerated points to the fact that this approach can often help people reach what needs attention relatively quickly. AEDP aims to support positive neuroplasticity in a number of ways.

The method draws from several disciplines, including attachment theory, affect theory, body-oriented therapies such as Somatic Experiencing (see below), and studies of transformation. Its focus is healing rather than psychopathology, and it seeks to help the client grow stronger in their broken places.

AEDP is based on the idea that human beings carry an innate capacity to heal, and a movement toward development and transformation. It can be especially helpful in working with attachment trauma, since a core element of the method is the active use of the therapeutic relationship itself.

From this stance, even deep introversion and isolation can be reached, and the inner sense of abandonment and aloneness can begin to heal.

You can read more about the method here

Somatic Experiencing is a trauma treatment that aims to restore the body's innate capacity for self-regulation.

This method focuses more on how the nervous system shows dysregulation here and now than on the story behind the trauma itself. The story matters too, and it can allow traumatic memories and trauma responses to surface during the session.

Peter Levine (2010), one of the pioneers in trauma studies and the founder of the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute, contributed key principles to this approach, which is used in trauma treatment around the world.

One of those principles is to work very gently and slowly, so that trauma energy held in the body is not released and activated too quickly. If it rises too fast or too intensely, the nervous system can once again become overwhelmed and even retraumatized. At first this gradual release of energy can be difficult to notice and understand, but over time awareness of the process develops and the capacity for self-regulation grows.

In early trauma, often called developmental trauma, the main focus is regulation and helping the person come to a place where activation or dissociation in the nervous system has lessened. The therapist offers co-regulation and helps identify and bring in resources that support a more regulated state. Often the therapist simply needs to stay present with what is there, and that is frequently a long, gradual process. Developmental trauma takes time to heal. (Elmberger, 2020; Levine, 2009 & 2010)

You can read more about this method here

Psychodynamic psychotherapy focuses on the psychological roots of emotional suffering. Its tools are primarily self-reflection, self-exploration, and the therapeutic relationship as a window into relational patterns that create difficulty in the client's life.

Reducing symptoms is not the primary aim, even though that often happens as well. Over time the client gains a deeper understanding of where their struggles come from, and with that, the tendency to repeat the same painful patterns again and again can begin to loosen. To feel the wounds that are there, to learn to stay with pain, and to root oneself in an acceptance of what has been, can create lasting change.

You can read more about this method here

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is based on principles from learning theory. The work focuses on understanding how thoughts, feelings and behaviours interact in ways that create psychological symptoms, and then actively helping the client change those behaviours so that new ways of living become possible and symptoms lessen or disappear. Along the way, the client gains insight into their patterns and, to some extent, how those patterns developed.

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Its founder, Paul Gilbert, was inspired to develop this method through his work with people living with complex psychological difficulties.

He noticed that many patients said that even when CBT helped them understand that their thoughts were illogical, they still did not feel any different. They continued to feel inadequate, even when they could reason their way through it.

The method has its roots in CBT, but it is described as multimodal and was developed to work with excessive self-criticism and shame. All of its interventions are designed to support greater self-compassion.

CFT is based on a neuropsychological model drawn from emotion research. It describes three major emotion-regulation systems: the drive/resource system, the safeness/belonging system, and the threat/protection system. In this work we look at how these three systems operate in our lives and aim to strengthen the capacity for self-soothing.

A core value in CFT is to relieve people of the idea that their difficulties are signs of defect or disorder, and instead understand them as natural, adaptive responses to painful circumstances. CFT has strong research support in the treatment of depression. (Bertlin & Bluhme, 2012)

You can read more about this method here

Like Compassion-Focused Therapy, Learning Love integrates Eastern and Western perspectives on psychology and existential inquiry.

With a gentle and careful approach, we explore how the wounded inner child came into being, and how it continues to shape our lives and relationships today. Nowhere does this become more visible than in our closest relationships, especially in intimate partnerships. Through this work we can:

Meditation, or mindfulness practice, is about witnessing thoughts, feelings, the breath, the movement of the body, the foot touching the floor, the hand rinsing water over a plate while you do the dishes ...

There is a great deal of research pointing to the benefits of a regular mindfulness or meditation practice. Over time, mindfulness and meditation can support both regulation and a deeper sense of quality of life.

There is no shortage of books and guided meditations. Here are a few suggestions: