Psychological Services at Aim Up Psychology

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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a popular type of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which emphasises the importance of acceptance in dealing with painful thoughts, emotions and experiences. 

It focusses on aspects of our lives which we can control and influence in order to move towards our desired life, and is useful in exploring and connecting us to our deepest values and identifying steps to achieve living these values every day. It has demonstrated efficacy as a treatment for a range of problems, including issues involving anxiety, depression and grief and loss. The goals of ACT are to develop skills to help lessen the control or influence of painful emotions, thoughts and experiences over you, in order to start living the life that you would like to be living.

For further information about ACT, visit https://www.actmindfully.com.au/about-act/  

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Re-processing Therapy (EMDR), is a type of therapy which is most commonly used in the treatment of symptoms caused by traumatic experiences. Compared with other types of trauma-focussed treatments, EMDR does not require high levels of detail and re-experiencing of traumatic events by an individual, nor detailed re-telling of these experiences and is typically shorter. 

EMDR treatment first involves exploring an individual's presenting concerns and associated experiences, followed by using various techniques to reduce the intensity of a challenging memory or experience. This is then followed by developing a more adaptive perspective towards the self in relation to this memory.

For more information about EMDR, please visit https://emdraa.org/emdr-faq/

Family Therapy  (sometimes known as Systemic Family Therapy or Systemic Therapy) is a type of group psychotherapy which has demonstrated efficacy in helping couples and families to improve their communication and interactions with one another. Often used when there are patterns of interactions in the family which one or more members would like to change, Family Therapy draws on the experiences and perspectives of both the individual members of the family, and the collective family unit itself, in order to generate new information and understanding about the current patterns of interaction, which results in changes in these patterns. 

For more information about Systemic Family Therapy, please visit https://www.aaft.asn.au/about/family-therapy/

First developed by John and Julie Gottman, Gottman Method Couples Therapy is an evidence based therapy which is used to support couples with a wide variety of relationship problems. The goals of Gottman Couples Therapy are many, beginning with exploring the existing problems and strengths in the relationship, then developing skills to more effectively deal with conflict and communicate more effectively. Next, couples will deepen their understanding of each other's dreams and desires for each other and the future, in order to build the life they would like together. Gottman Couples Therapy has been used to support couple's through many challenges that relationships face, including parenthood, grief and loss, chronic disease and disability, infidelity and more. 

For more information about Gottman Couples Therapy, please visit https://www.gottman.com/about/the-gottman-method/

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is a skills-focussed therapy, which is most commonly used to support individuals with problems related to; regulating intense and or painful emotions, relationship challenges and self-harming and suicidal behaviour. A fundamental assumption of DBT is that for many of us, we have not learned the skills necessary to deal effectively with painful thoughts, emotions or experiences and that many psychological problems can be resolved by learning and applying more effective skills.

DBT skills groups involve skills-focussed group sessions which last 120 minutes and are provided weekly for 10-12 weeks. These typically involve 6-10 participants and focus on the core skills of DBT. Places are limited and DBT skills groups are run at various times throughout the year. To express interest in participation in a DBT skills group, please submit an enquiry below and you will be contacted to be added to our waitlist. 

For further information about DBT, please visit https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/therapy-types/dialectical-behavior-therapy

At Aim Up Psychology, we provide psychological assessment and reporting for every client, in order to help inform our understanding of your concerns and the most effective treatment approach for you. 

We utilise a psychometric platform called NovoPsych, which allows us to administer a range of psychological instruments and process the results quickly, so that we can provide feedback about these results immediately. We also use the results of these instruments to monitor changes in  your progress and ensure that we are on track together. This usually involves completing some short self-report instruments, which can sometimes be completed at home before your appointments. In some cases, it may be helpful to complete some longer tasks which more specifically measure things such as memory, cognitive functioning or personality. 

Where more comprehensive instruments are administered, we will provide feedback and a detailed report. Aim Up Psychology currently provides services supporting the assessment and diagnosis of neurodivergence such as: 

• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• Learning Disorders, (e.g. Dyslexia)
• Intellectual Disability 
• Giftedness

In addition to testing for:

• Personality disorders (e.g. Borderline Personality Disorder)
• Occupational interest and suitability

Head to the Contact Us section and get in touch, our team will be happy to answer your enquiry.