TheraKonnect therapist profiles list modalities like CBT, DBT, EMDR, ACT, or psychodynamic. To someone shopping for a first therapist this reads like an alphabet soup. Short guide to what each one actually does.
CBT — Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
The most researched form of therapy in the world. Central premise: thoughts, feelings, and behaviours reinforce each other, so changing any one of them changes the others. Structured, homework-heavy, usually 8-20 sessions. Strong evidence for anxiety, depression, OCD, phobias, insomnia.
Good fit if: you like structure, you want a plan, you're comfortable doing exercises between sessions.
DBT — Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
Built from CBT for people whose emotions arrive faster and stronger than they can handle. Adds four skill modules: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness. Longer commitment (6-12 months in most programmes) and often includes group work.
Good fit if: emotions feel like they hit you sideways, relationships are unstable, you've been told you're "too sensitive" all your life.
EMDR — Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing
Specialised trauma treatment. The therapist guides your eyes side to side (or uses tapping / audio tones) while you recall a distressing memory. Sounds unusual and is — but the evidence for PTSD is unusually strong. Doesn't require you to talk in detail about what happened, which some patients prefer.
Good fit if: you have a specific traumatic memory that still triggers strong physical reactions when you think about it.
ACT — Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Less about changing thoughts, more about changing your relationship to them. You learn to see thoughts as passing weather rather than orders. Values-based — you clarify what actually matters to you and take action toward it, even in the presence of anxious thoughts.
Good fit if: CBT hasn't worked because your thoughts feel true rather than distorted, or you want a longer view than symptom relief.
Psychodynamic / psychoanalytic
The classic model. Explores unconscious patterns, early relationships, and how they shape your adult life. Longer, less structured, more open-ended. Evidence base is broader but harder to measure — the goals aren't always symptom-specific.
Good fit if: you're less interested in quick symptom relief and more interested in understanding why you keep repeating the same relationship dynamic, career pattern, or emotional loop.