Counseling in Our Park Slope & Bay Ridge Offices

At Ridge Psychological, we use a variety of strength and skills-based counseling approaches that have proven effective. Our integrative approach means we blend different therapeutic styles to suit your unique needs. This might include a mix of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques and talk therapy methods, giving you the flexibility to achieve your goals. Read on to learn more about therapy with our team in Brooklyn at our convenient Park Slope and Bay Ridge locations.

What is Evidence Based Therapy?

Evidence based therapy combines effective strategies from various treatment models to meet the individual needs of our clients, including CBT and talk therapy. CBT encourages you to explore your beliefs, feelings, and actions, and how they influence each other. It helps you identify any unrealistic or negative assumptions you might have about yourself, others, or situations, and addresses motivation challenges.

Using a CBT approach can help you understand how your thoughts, feelings, and actions are interconnected, and how changes in one area can affect the others. For some, CBT alone is very effective in developing the skills needed to reach counseling goals. For others, we combine CBT techniques with traditional talk therapy.

While CBT focuses on problem-solving and symptom reduction, traditional talk therapy, or psychodynamic therapy, takes a more holistic view. It allows us to explore multiple aspects of your daily life, health, and mental health history, helping you develop the skills to become the thriving individual you aim to be. The goal of traditional talk therapy is to understand the root causes of your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and relationship patterns, so you can change your present and future actions.

Getting Started

Once you contact our Park Slope or Bay Ridge office, we’ll get back to you within 24 hours. We offer a free phone consultation to discuss your concerns, review costs and fees, and answer any questions you might have. After scheduling an appointment, you’ll receive our startup forms via email to complete before your visit, allowing us to review your concerns in advance.

What Happens During Therapy?

In your first session (or first few), we’ll talk about why you reached out and what you hope to achieve through counseling. Together, we’ll create a plan, set achievable goals, and work with you to bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. We often use CBT and traditional talk therapy to guide you through this process.

Think of therapy sessions as ongoing discussions or problem-solving meetings. We usually start with a simple, “How have you been this week?” and go from there. Your therapist might ask you to reflect on specific events and how you thought, felt, and acted. You might even receive some homework—small steps or things to consider outside of sessions to apply the skills you’re developing.