Understanding Psychotherapy
We treat older adolescents and adults who are comfortable using telemedicine. Yavneh Psychology, PLLC is committed to being a safe space for people with a wide variety of cultural identities.
Treatment begins with a case formulation, an understanding of how your symptoms make sense. From there, we use evidence-based practice to address your presenting concerns.
Psychotherapy is for anyone who wants to address symptoms that are getting in the way of everyday functioning. It can also be a helpful tool to gain a greater understanding of yourself and improve your relationships with others.
Dr. Stucker-Rozovsky is trained to treat a wide variety of mental illnesses. She has specialized training in Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy (IRT), which has helped patients who have not responded to other treatments and who have significantly impairing conditions such as personality disorders and chronic suicidality. This training applies to less severe conditions.
Psychotherapy Stages
1
Evaluation Phase
The evaluation phase usually spans the first few sessions. During this time, you will learn about the process of therapy and we will have in depth conversations about what brings you to therapy. We will start to get to know each other and we can collaboratively decide if we are a good fit.
We will also set treatment goals and go over initial impressions of how your symptoms make sense and how we can approach reducing these symptoms.
2
Treatment Phase
The treatment phase is what most people think of when they think of therapy. This is where we are actively addressing on treatment goals and hopefully starting to feel better! Between sessions, I may assign you homework. This can be worksheets to complete, something to read, or practicing a new skill for yourself or with someone else.
Treatment length largely depends on your presenting concerns. Some concerns, such as single incident traumas or phobias, typically take 12-16 weeks. More complicated issues, like chronic trauma, personality disorders, or other treatment resistant conditions, may take longer.
3
Maintenance/Termination Phase
When your symptoms have noticeably reduced and you have made marked progress on treatment goals, we will likely meet less frequently (every 2-4 weeks) to allow you to practice what you have learned more independently. If you continue to progress, we start to talk about termination, the natural end of therapy. Once treatment goals have been met, we will meet for a final session to consolidate what you have learned and plan for the future. Don’t worry, if something comes up later you can always reach back out!
Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy (IRT)
Dr. Stucker-Rozovsky is one of a handful practicing psychologists in the world certified in IRT. Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy (IRT) is an integrative therapy modality and theory of psychopathology that is used to better understand someone’s symptoms in light of their learning history (Benjamin, 2006; 2018). This modality was created originally by Lorna Smith Benjamin, Ph.D. and has been used primarily to work with individuals who have not responded to other treatments. Research using IRT has focused on individuals with personality psychopathology, though the underlying principles of IRT can and are used by Dr. Stucker-Rozovsky to treat a wide variety of conditions.
IRT involves talking about significant relationships in your life, particularly in your early formative years, and understanding patterns of behavior that have been learned in three general ways: 1) acting like a significant caregiver, 2) acting like that significant caregiver is still around and in charge, and 3) treating yourself like your caregiver once treated you. While research has demonstrated both adaptive and maladaptive versions of these patterns, IRT tends to focus on those that are maladaptive, those that are linked to significant early relationships but are associated with your symptoms and distress.
If you are interested in learning more about IRT and how this treatment may be helpful for you, please feel free to book a consultation call with me.