Coming of Age Psychotherapy
Sarah Kencel, LCSW
Certified DBT & CBT and guidance to help teens and young adults chart their path and launch into adulthood.
Licensed in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.
PSYCHOTHERAPIES OF EXPERTISE
CBT
Cognitive Behavior Therapy is a highly effective treatment method for slowing down the thought process and changing the way you think, ultimately changing the way you feel and behave. This approach addresses both current thinking and uncovers why these thought patterns have emerged through an understanding of one’s developmental history. CBT also tackles rumination (that endless cycle of overthinking) and helps shift perspective and catch assumptions. Cognitive Behavior Therapy addresses and treats mood disorders, including anxiety disorders, like social anxiety, phobias, OCD, panic disorder, and also depression.
DBT
Dialectical Behavior Therapy treatment works to regulate emotions and replace the unskillful, impulsive behaviors influenced by these emotions with more effective responses. DBT also teaches that flexible thinking towards yourself and others ultimately improves relationships and helps you reach your goals easier. DBT incorporates teachings for emotion regulation, social skills, tolerating distress, and mindfulness. Much of the work is done with a smart board to help scaffold the interactive nature of DBT.
It may be recommended to engage in a DBT Skills group in addition to receiving individual treatment.
SPACE + Parent Consultation
For parents and caregivers to work directly with the clinician. SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) is a unique intervention aimed at changing a child’s behavior and reducing their anxiety indirectly through the reduction of parental accommodations.
Parent consultation is valuable for those needing a little expert guidance on how to navigate contingency setting, behavioral shaping and discipline, and other specific challenges.
The parent is the identified client in both treatments. The child is seen by another provider.
AREAS OF FOCUS
Preparation for high school/college/young adulthood
Unexpected events
Coping with uncertainty
Boarding school/college support
Social dynamics & navigating friendships
Parent & sibling relationships
Academic pressures & challenges
Navigating romantic interests & relationships
Changes in the family unit by separation, divorce or death
Internship & work stressors
Social & academic anxiety
Depression
OCD
Self-injurious behaviors & suicidal ideation
Development of character & values
BEHAVIOR THERAPY TREATMENT OUTCOMES
Research proves the efficacy of Behavior Therapy interventions:
Clients who participated in a general CBT, time-sensitive treatment showed significant improvement of depressive symptoms.*
People with social anxiety symptoms improved with CBT techniques administered to target social phobia. This was compared to the positive improvement of individuals who received exposure therapy plus relaxation techniques.*
Meta-analysis determined CBT and DBT to be successful treatments for individuals with personality disorders. They establish different thinking patterns from maladaptive beliefs, improve contextual/environmental factors that reinforce problematic behavior or undermine effective behavior, and treat skill deficits.*
DBT has been shown to result in a reduction of suicide attempts, self-injurious acts, and mental health-related hospitalizations.*
Research proves CBT is an effective treatment short-term and long-term treatment for mixed anxiety disorders in youth.*
SPACE, a parent-based treatment, is as effective as directly implemented CBT in children with anxiety disorders.*