I am pleased to have the opportunity to provide you with information about our co-operative practice and some of the clinical methods used by our Phoenix Board Certified therapists. We hope that this page is helpful in making an informed decision concerning our clinical services. There are several methods used in therapy by our therapists and we cannot publish information on all of them. The following are some examples of often-used therapies. Should your issues not be listed or explained please ask us directly via e-mail. If you are considering internet therapy and are currently in live therapy with another therapist, please reconsider staying with your therapist as internet therapy does not offer the excellence that one-on-one live therapy does. However if you are local to one of our directory therapists and wish to end your current therapy, I encourage you to discuss this with that therapist as we offer live one-on-one therapy as a traditional method of helping. Internet therapy may be an excellent tool for beginners with the goal to enter into live one-on-one therapy.

Thank you,

Heiko Ganzer, LCSW (R), CASAC, NYCGTS, Executive Director

  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: The Most Clinically Proven Therapy - CBT has been very thoroughly researched. In study after study, it has been shown to be as effective as drugs in treating both depression and anxiety. In particular, CBT has been shown to be better than drugs in avoiding treatment failures and in preventing relapse after the end of treatment. Other symptoms for which CBT has been shown to be its effective include problems with relationships, family, work, school, insomnia, and self-esteem. And it is usually the preferred treatment for addictions, shyness, headaches, panic attacks, phobias, post-traumatic stress, eating disorders, loneliness, and procrastination. It can also be effectively combined, with psychiatric medications if required. CBT is a clinically proven therapeutic approach. Hundreds of studies by research psychologists and psychiatrists provide evidence that CBT is effective for conditions such as these:

- Depression and mood swings
- Shyness and social anxiety
- Panic attacks and phobias
- Obsessions and compulsions
- Chronic anxiety or worry
- Post-traumatic stress symptoms
- Eating disorders
- Insomnia
- Difficulty establishing or staying in relationships
- Problems with marriage or other relationships
  you're already in
- Job, career or school difficulties
- Feeling "stressed out" or "stuck"
- Insufficient self-esteem (accepting or respecting yourself) -
  Inadequate coping skills, or ill-chosen methods of coping -
  Passivity, procrastination and "passive aggression" -
  Substance abuse, co-dependency and "enabling"
- Trouble keeping feelings such as anger, sadness, fear,
  guilt, shame, eagerness, excitement, etc., within bounds.
- Over-inhibition of feelings or expression

  Rational Emotive Therapy

RET is a practical, action-oriented approach to coping with problems and enhancing personal growth. RET places a good deal of its focus on the present: on currently held attitudes, painful emotions and maladaptive behaviors that can sabotage a fuller experience of life. RET also provides people with an individualized set of proven techniques for helping them to solve problems. RET practitioner’s work closely with people, seeking to help uncover their individual set of beliefs (attitudes, expectations and personal rules) that frequently lead to emotional distress. RET then provides a variety of methods to help people reformulate their dysfunctional beliefs into more sensible, realistic and helpful ones by employing the powerful RET technique called "disputing." Ultimately, RET helps people to develop a philosophy and approach to living that can increase their effectiveness and happiness at work, in living successfully with others, in parenting and educational settings, in making our community and environment healthier, and in enhancing their own health and personal welfare. We have found that RET is very helpful for those who lack spirituality in their lives.

  Psychodrama

This approach involves role-play between two or more people to foster insight and emotional awareness, expression and healing. For example, I could play the role of your sister, and you could say things to "her" that may be difficult or seem inappropriate to say in "real life." Then we could switch roles. You could tune in to "her" perspective -- aiming to see yourself from a new angle. The experience is frequently meaningful and surprising.

In a powerful variation, we might suggest you speak with the Higher Self of your sister (or another important person). This provides an opportunity for you to experience warmth and understanding from her -- at a level that she may be unready to provide in her everyday state of consciousness.

  Hypnotherapy

We are proud to offer Hypnotherapy as another method to achieve desired results in therapy. Hypnotherapy has been proven to be effective with many issues. Heiko Ganzer is a Board certified Hypnotherapist.

  How does the Therapist work?

The therapist normally takes an attitude of unconditional acceptance. This basically means that the therapist holds you in high regard because you are a person, no matter what your problem is.

The therapist tries to develop a relationship with you, to help you discover what is going on in your unconscious mind. They do this partly by theoretical knowledge (academic stuff!), partly by experience, and partly through their knowledge of themselves.

We know the last part must seem quite weird, but actually it is critical. The therapist often uses how they feel in the room with you, as a guide to how you are feeling. They are, for lack of a better way of putting it, testing the relationship with you to discover more about you than you are aware of. The therapist uses interpretations, which are a way of making sense to you about what is going on, in order to help you become aware of your unconscious feelings.

So, in every session, the therapist is trying to judge, how much you are in touch with your own feelings, what feelings you are not aware of, how close are you to knowing the unconscious feelings, how painful these feelings are to you, and how well you can tolerate the pain that becoming aware of these feelings will bring.

How the therapist works is actually more complicated than we have presented here, but we hope this gives you a rough idea.

Couples Conflict Resolution

Guided Imagery and Inner
  Child Work

Family Counseling

Children of Addicted or
  Dysfunctional Families

Marriage Counseling

Depression & Anxiety

Phobia's

Pre-Marital Counseling

Adult Children of Addicted
  Families

Addiction & Substance Abuse
  Counseling

Sports Counseling

In-Home Counseling on Long
  Island

Problem Gambling

Eating Disorders

Co-dependency Counseling

Guided Meditation and Stress
  Reduction

Adolescents & their problems
 

 (if you don’t see it ask for it!)