Our Approach
Sweetgrass believes in the notion that every person is the expert on themselves. We just happen to be the experts on psychology. When we combine our expertise, our therapists and clients unlock the client’s dormant potential, find new (healthier) ways of engaging with loved ones, and move a step or two closer to brightness. Truth-be-told, our therapists are often changed by the power of the work we do and humbled by our clients’ bravery, strength, and determination. We all consider ourselves to be so lucky to get to do this work and we would love the opportunity to work with you.
Each clinician at Sweetgrass is as unique as our clients. We all have different histories, training, personalities, and values and our individuality shines through in our work. Megan, our Director of Client Services, is available to answer questions or help you find the right therapist. We also invite you to browse through our team profiles to see if you think you see someone who might be able to help you get to where you’d like to be.
Forms of Therapy
Play Therapy
While adults and teens may find it easy (okay, easier) to talk about their difficulties, traumas, experiences, and fears, children often benefit from having the opportunity to use the language they’re most fluent in - play - to work through their challenges. Our play therapists engage with children at, and on, their level: we crawl on the floor, we dance around like fairies, we move slowly like elephants, in the spirit of helping children find a welcoming space to explore anything and everything that is holding them back.
Somatic Therapy
Our minds and our bodies are inextricably linked. Have you ever had a stomach ache when you were nervous? Have you ever felt tightness in your chest when you received sad news? For some people, this connection is profound and for others, less so. For those whose bodies and minds are powerfully linked, they may experience psychological distress or trauma in their bodies (sometimes without even realizing that’s what’s happening). Somatic therapy offers folks a chance to relieve their bodies of the physiological symptoms they’re experiencing through movement, breathing, exercises, and focused awareness.
Other special forms of therapy
EMDR - EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. This technique is designed to help individuals heal and move forward from traumatic and stressful events. Therapists trained in EMDR ask that their clients recognize the often-painful emotions that past events have harbored in them, and focuses on both the past, present and future. By processing these emotions under eye movement stimulation, clients are able to re-process their emotions to be more bearable and less distressful. This technique works particularly well with people who have experienced trauma and/or PTSD.
ACT - ACT stands for Acceptance & Commitment Therapy. While it is easy to feel guilty when we feel certain ways, and we often have the instinct to fight our emotions, ACT encourages people to embrace their thoughts and feelings. When clients understand what is not within their control, they are freed up to focus on steps they can take in their lives that will truly make a difference. This often begins with confronting thoughts, memories and experiences that have typically been avoided. But instead of shying away from such feelings, clients learn to understand them as appropriate responses that can motivate them to commit to moving forward in new and healthy ways.
CBT - CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The stories we tell ourselves are often more powerful than we ever recognize. It is all too easy to be consumed by things that are truly beyond our control, and to forget that we so often hold the key to our lives in simple yet profound ways. CBT asserts that our thoughts, or our stories, have a direct impact on our actions and behaviors. By directly challenging unhelpful or harmful thoughts, clients can start to walk through the world in a new fashion. Rather than focusing primarily on the past, CBT gives people tools and an understanding that allows them, in the moment, to make healthy decisions for themselves.
You can do hard things.