Therapeutic clinicians at Valenta Mental Health draw upon their expertise and skills from a broad range of modalities to create a patient-focused, integrated and comprehensive treatment plan for you. Some of the modalities and skills include:

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT):

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) groups are a core component of Valenta’s programs to help patients address the symptoms and cognitive distortions related to their diagnosis. CBT groups occur daily with continual reinforcement throughout the therapeutic program. Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, by Albert Ellis, is the foundation for basic CBT techniques to help patients recognize the connection between their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. With awareness of these connections, participants then learn to dispute/replace irrational or distorted thinking and to choose healthier, more adaptive thoughts and behaviors. At Valenta’s, CBT will help patients learn and understand how emotions, thoughts, and behaviors work together toward change. With the help of the program, patients will also learn how to manage difficult emotions, challenge distorted thinking, and use healthier coping skills. While CBT is an important therapeutic tool, the skills and concepts will be used in conjunction with a variety of other modalities to provide a well-rounded approach to treating the whole person, not just the diagnosis.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT):

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a methodology developed by Marsha Linehan in which standard cognitive-behavioral techniques for emotion regulation and rational thinking are combined with more Eastern principles, such as mindfulness, distress tolerance, and acceptance. of self. DBT consists of four main ‘modules’: Emotion Regulation, Core Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance Skills, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. Valenta uses DBT to help patients become more aware of their own thinking, conceptualize how others think, learn distress tolerance and mindfulness skills, and to balance the concepts of acceptance and change. Valenta also uses DBT to help patients connect with their body and gain insight into how to better tolerate emotions. At Valenta Mental Health, DBT is incorporated into groups and is also used by therapists in individual sessions.

At Valenta Mental Health, DBT is incorporated into groups and is also used by therapists with patients individually.

Communication & Coping Skills:

Communication and coping skills are commonly used to help decrease symptoms that arise when stress is present. At Valenta, we go beyond simply teaching healthy coping skills to a deeper understanding of why the patient is stressed, the sources of that stress and how to incorporate their new coping skills into tolerating and resolving the stress through healthier communication patterns. We help the participants understand their thought processes related to stress and help them change their ways of responding to stressors when they arise and then communicate more effectively to others around them.

Valenta’s treatment program uses the following methods to help patients manage stress:

• CBT skills to challenge distortions that coincide with increased stress
• DBT skills to increase overall mindfulness and distress tolerance skills
• Therapeutic breathing techniques and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)
• Communication skills, such as learning to use “I Feel Statements” and reflective listening skills, assertive communication
  skills, and knowing when and how to take a break
• Understanding boundaries and how they impact and influence coping skills and interpersonal communication.
• Improving self-soothing/self-care behaviors.

Self-Care:

Self-care is often an extremely difficult task and is often a primary indicator of depression. Life becomes so busy with work, school, family, and friends that patients often forget about taking care of themselves or have beliefs that ‘it’s selfish.’ For those suffering with mental illness, it can be even more difficult to find the energy and desire for self-care in the midst of daily struggles. At Valenta, we assist patients to work towards finding a balance of taking care of themselves and taking care of others. We want to help patients find a place for themselves when they are busy, stressed, or tired. We help them do this in various aspects of treatment, but Self-Care is explicitly designed to help patients learn how to better care for themselves in the following ways:

• Daily Check-ins regarding progress/struggles with self-care behaviors
• Weekly Goals that can address self-care areas of consistent struggle
• Physical Wellness Goals addressing specific areas of nutrition, movement or sleep hygiene elements.

Goal Setting

Goals Group occurs every Monday. It is a structured way of helping patients set smaller, incremental goals each week within their larger goals of recovery which we call Overall Treatment Targets. It allows patients to recognize progressive steps they are taking to restore health and power in their lives. It also provides for a sense of accomplishment as they start to recognize the progress they are making each week.

At the beginning of each week, patients review if their previous Weekly Goals were met or not, and what obstacles prevented goal completion, if applicable. Patients set formulate goals for the coming week, identifying everything from initiation, to small steps, to ways of overcoming roadblocks. Goals are concise and attainable within the week, with the long term goal of health restoration. Patients collaborate with each other for accountability and encouragement and have staff available for support as well.

 

Nutrition & Wellness:

At Valenta Mental Health, we believe it is important to understand and give attention to the relationship between physical wellness and mental health. Having balanced nutrition, understanding the importance and purpose of nutrients in the body, as well as factors such as movement and appropriate sleep are vital aspects of an individual’s well-being. Our Registered Dietitian conducts individual sessions and leads various groups that address important aspects of health and nutrition that impact overall functioning and quality of life. Topics of nutrition, sleep, and movement are incorporated through weekly sessions within the treatment program in order to dispel common health myths, provide research-based information, and assist in building healthy behaviors that will continue to support mental wellness beyond treatment at our facility. Through these experiences, participants learn to set achievable health wellness goals, overcome individual roadblocks, and create positive behaviors of self-care.

Process:

This group provides patients the opportunity to participate in traditional process group structure dynamics which focuses with practical application of applies on the concepts learned in skills based groups aspects of interactions between group members, and the work is to address the nature of the relationships between members in a group. This serves to explore and address current interpersonal issues contributing to patients’ mental illness. This will allow participants to examine and process situations and patterns that feel overwhelming or difficult in their daily lives, apply concepts learned, and receive important feedback from peers and staff. Clinical staff members will assist patients in noticing their here-and-now interpersonal patterns, how these patterns might create challenges in their relationships, and how the group relationships provide the opportunity to create corrective experiences.

Discharge Planning:

One of the main goals of Valenta’s IOP treatment program is to work in conjunction with and/or aid in establishing an outpatient treatment team. Upon initial assessment, the individual’s outpatient treatment team needs will be assessed and appropriate referrals and follow-up will be provided. The Depression & Anxiety Recovery Program is a short-term, skills-based program, and is designed to work alongside an outpatient treatment team, not replace it. Discharge planning is a collaborative process and will be addressed on an ongoing basis upon assessment and throughout treatment.