Learning center

A clinician's overview of every major therapy.

Modality overviews, clinical reference, and in-session scripts — written for therapists in training.

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Clinical reference
In session
CBT6 min · 5 techniques

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interlocking — change one and the others move.

Best for: Depression · Anxiety disorders · Panic

Aaron T. Beck (1960s)Read
CPT5 min · 5 techniques

Cognitive Processing Therapy

A 12-session protocol for PTSD that targets stuck points — the beliefs trauma left behind.

Best for: PTSD (combat, assault, MVA, childhood) · Moral injury · Complex traumatic grief

Patricia Resick (1988, for sexual assault survivors)Read
ACT6 min · 5 techniques

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Stop fighting your inner experience; start moving toward what matters.

Best for: Chronic pain · Depression · Anxiety

Steven C. Hayes, Kirk Strosahl, Kelly Wilson (1980s–90s)Read
DBT6 min · 5 techniques

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Acceptance and change, held together — a skills-based therapy for emotion dysregulation.

Best for: Borderline personality disorder · Chronic suicidality/self-harm · Eating disorders

Marsha Linehan (1990s, for chronically suicidal women with BPD)Read
ERP5 min · 5 techniques

Exposure and Response Prevention (for OCD)

Approach what you fear; resist the ritual; let the brain relearn safety.

Best for: OCD · Health anxiety · Specific phobias

Victor Meyer (1966)Read
IFS6 min · 5 techniques

Internal Family Systems

The mind is made of parts; underneath them all is Self — calm, curious, compassionate.

Best for: Complex trauma · Self-criticism · Eating disorders

Richard Schwartz (1980s, emerging from family therapy)Read
EMDR5 min · 5 techniques

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Reprocess stuck traumatic memories using bilateral stimulation while holding the memory in mind.

Best for: PTSD · Single-incident trauma · Phobias

Francine Shapiro (1987)Read
SE5 min · 5 techniques

Somatic Experiencing

Trauma lives in the nervous system; healing happens by completing thwarted survival responses.

Best for: Single-incident trauma · Medical trauma · Developmental trauma (with adaptation)

Peter Levine (developed over 1970s–90s)Read
MI5 min · 5 techniques

Motivational Interviewing

Evoke the client's own reasons for change instead of arguing for it.

Best for: Substance use · Health behavior change · Treatment ambivalence

William R. Miller & Stephen Rollnick (1980s, for addiction)Read
Schema5 min · 5 techniques

Schema Therapy

Integrative therapy for chronic patterns rooted in unmet childhood needs.

Best for: Personality disorders (esp. BPD, NPD, avoidant) · Chronic depression/anxiety with characterological features · Treatment-resistant cases

Jeffrey Young (1990s, extending CBT for personality disorders)Read
PE5 min · 5 techniques

Prolonged Exposure for PTSD

Repeatedly approach the trauma memory and avoided reminders until they lose their grip.

Best for: PTSD (single & multiple-incident) · Combat trauma · Sexual assault trauma

Edna Foa (1980s, building on emotional processing theory)Read
MBCT5 min · 5 techniques

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

An 8-week group program that uses mindfulness to prevent depressive relapse.

Best for: Recurrent depression (3+ episodes) · Residual depressive symptoms · Anxiety

Zindel Segal, Mark Williams, John Teasdale (1990s, building on MBSR)Read
CFT5 min · 5 techniques

Compassion-Focused Therapy

Build the capacity for self-compassion in clients dominated by shame and self-criticism.

Best for: Chronic shame · Self-criticism · Depression with self-attacking

Paul Gilbert (early 2000s)Read
SFBT4 min · 5 techniques

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Build the preferred future instead of analyzing the problem.

Best for: Brief contexts (EAP, school, primary care) · Goal-focused work · Client strengths-building

Steve de Shazer & Insoo Kim Berg (1980s, Milwaukee BFTC)Read
Narrative4 min · 5 techniques

Narrative Therapy

The person is not the problem — externalize, deconstruct, and re-author the story.

Best for: Identity-bound problems · Eating disorders · Trauma

Michael White & David Epston (1980s, Australia/New Zealand)Read
IPT5 min · 5 techniques

Interpersonal Psychotherapy

Depression is treated by working on the interpersonal context that surrounds it.

Best for: Major depression · Perinatal depression · Bulimia

Gerald Klerman & Myrna Weissman (1970s)Read
Gottman5 min · 5 techniques

Gottman Method Couples Therapy

Forty years of observational research on couples, translated into a structured therapy.

Best for: Couples in distress · Conflict gridlock · Affairs (with Trust Revival)

John & Julie Gottman (research begun 1970s; method formalized 1990s)Read
EFT5 min · 5 techniques

Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples

Distress is an attachment cry; therapy creates new bonding events that reshape the bond.

Best for: Couples in distress · Trauma in relationships · Anxious-avoidant dynamics

Susan Johnson & Les Greenberg (1980s)Read