Psychotherapy

“People are people.
They all have to grow up and face issues and deal with them in some way.
The first thing they deal with is control of their own body and all the feelings in it;
then, how to get other people to help them with their feelings.
They have to work out equitable distances to live and love with people."

"No therapy is comfortable,
because it involves dealing with pain.
But there’s one comfortable thought: that two people sharing pain can bear it easier than one.” 
--Elvin Semrad
 

Psychotherapy Training

At the Northern Light Psychiatry Residency program we believe that each person that comes here is an investment in our future, and we will treat them as such. A critical part of the personal and professional journey that is residency training is the development of competency in practicing psychotherapy. While not all of our graduates will choose a career path as a therapist, the successful practice of all healing arts is based on an understanding of the person seeking help. As such, we seek to build a strong psychological foundation for our trainees to help them know themselves and to know their patients. We accomplish this through mentorships, seminars, Balint groups, and clinical experience. Psychotherapy case conferences will provide residents the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of their psychotherapy patients while learning interviewing techniques from preceptors in a real-time format. 

Psychotherapy Supervision

Supervision by an experienced faculty member is a longstanding training tradition and is extremely valuable. Supervision helps a resident expand their skills and appreciate their limitations. Beginning in the PGY-2 year, residents are paired with a psychodynamic psychotherapy supervisor to meet weekly and foster their skills and identity as effective therapists. Concurrently, residents will start seeing their first long-term psychotherapy patient during their PGY-2 year to apply these psychotherapy skills into practice. Additional supervision in specific therapy modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectic Behavioral Therapy, and group psychotherapy is built into the clinical rotations throughout the program.

Psychotherapy Didactics

Didactic seminars are scheduled throughout the 4 year curriculum to build on the growing knowledge and sophistication of our trainees. The topics include:

  • Psychotherapy 1
  • Motivational interviewing
  • Introduction to psychodynamic psychotherapy
  • Supportive psychotherapy
  • Interpersonal therapy
  • Cognitive behavioral therapy
  • Dialectical behavioral therapy
  • Principles of family therapy
  • Group psychotherapy
  • Advanced psychotherapy concepts