Therapy Toronto Psychotherapy Definitions

ABCT

ABCT stands for the Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies, a professional association.

Abreaction

Literally a moving away from or against, this term denotes a psychic rejection of a negative emotional event through a brief re-experiencing of the original in mutated form.

Abuse in Childhood

There are many forms of abuse in childhood. We describe them here. See also Sexual Abuse.

Accident / Personal Injury

Accidents, especially auto accidents, not only cause physical harm but often also psychological difficulties. Insurance benefits usually provide benefits for counselling.

Acting out

The concept of acting out represents one of the anomalous and paradoxical theories current in the 1970s.

Addictions

Addictions are patterns of behaviour, including alcohol, drug, eating disorders, sexual compulsions, and gambling addictions which are particularly difficult to resolve because of the depth and strength of their roots in the unconscious mind.

Adlerian Therapy

Adlerian Therapy is based on the premise that growth and change come from challenging mistaken goals and beliefs. During Adlerian therapy human behaviour is viewed as having a purpose and a goal and with the belief that individuals strive to be socially connected with others.

Adolescence

Adolescence, nowadays occurring approximately between the ages of 9 and 18 years, can be a time of great turmoil, as many changes are happening physically, emotionally, and mentally.

This is the time where we begin to establish who we are as individuals, which can be very confusing as well as enlightening.

Adoption

Adoption is an ancient, honourable, and universal means of creating families, providing for children without parents, and building community.

The adoption circle includes the adopted child, the biological family, and the adoptive family including parents, siblings and extended family. In all these aspects of the family circle, if issues or difficulties arise there are therapists with experience who may be able to provide help.

Adult Children of Divorce

Adult Children of Divorce are those who have experienced the fragmentation of their lives due to the divorce of their parents.

Affairs

Affairs occur in many relationships. There is a tremendous impact on the relationship and issues of trust and commitment are in the forefront.

Aging-related issues

The changes and transitions that make up the aging process can sometimes give rise to emotional upheaval and/or changes in relationships with family and friends. Ongoing issues that are not otherwise directly related to the aging process may also be affected by it to some extent. Gerontological Counselling addresses aging-related issues for the elderly; for those in middle age, see also Mid-Life Crisis.

Ainsworth, Mary

Mary Ainsworth was a Canadian psychoanalyst interested in John Bowlby's attachment theory.

Alexander Technique

Developed by the great Tasmanian horseman, athlete and actor Frank Mathias Alexander in order to free his own remaining physical/emotional inhibitions.

American Psychoanalytic Association, APsaA

Founded in 1911, the APsaA (formerly the APA) is an association of psychoanalysts in the United States and part of the International Psychoanalytic Association.

Analysis

This term is usually used of the work of psychoanalysts, those who have taken a specifically psychoanalytic training and employ that training as their dominant mode when working with clients.

ANDC

ANDC stands for the diploma of the Centre de Relation d'Aide de Montreal, a French-language school for the training of psychotherapists located in Montreal.

Anger Management

The management of anger proves to be difficult for some people, and when anger is unmanaged it can have serious negative effects on our life and the lives of people around us.

Angst

A German word used by Martin Heidegger to specify the particular modern mood of unsettled fear and doubt that is prevalent in current industrial and post-industrial societies.

Anguish

Jean-Paul Sartre used the term 'la nausée' to act as the equivalent for the untranslatable German Angst.

Anishnabe, Anishnabek

This means "our people" in the Algonquian language used of the many people inhabiting the North-East of Canada/USA before the arrival of Europeans in the early seventeenth century CE.

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is an emotional disorder characterized by severe weight loss. Individuals with anorexia nervosa have an intense fear of becoming obese, even as weight loss progresses, and they have a distorted view of their body size.

Anxiety

Anxiety is a very common problem of the human condition. There are many different kinds of anxiety.

AOCA

AOCA stands for Associate of the Ontario College of Arts, one of North America's most respected and oldest sources of training and higher study in the fine arts.

Art Therapy

Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that combines the creative process of art making with the theories of psychology.

ASK

ASK (Adoption Support Kinship) is a not-for-profit community-based organization in Toronto dedicated to providing support around adoption search and reunion.

Attachment

Our earliest attachments give us the foundation upon which all other attachments are built. We enter the world as helpless and dependent beings, depending solely on our caregivers to keep us safe and nurture us until we are able to look after ourselves. This period of dependence and vulnerability lasts for years. Parents, relatives, neighbours, teachers, friends, peers are among those who cast a great influence on who we are to become. Most important and influential are our earliest attachments from the earliest stages of our lives when we were utterly dependent and most open to shaping and influence.

Authenticity

Authenticity is a concept developed by Martin Heidegger to refer to the human capacity to maintain who we are despite the pressures around us to be less than ourselves.

Ayurvedic

Ayurvedic Psychotherapy blends the Eastern wisdom of Ayurveda with the healing art of psychodynamic therapies, where self-exploration and awareness in a therapeutic relationship work symbiotically with an Ayurvedic holistic healing framework.

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