Therapy Basics

Therapy is about CHANGE. Therapy is about solving problems and making your life better, happier and less incumbered.

Change is not always easy, and the initial catalyst for change is sometimes unwelcome. Some people want to change because they are passionately committed to excelling at whatever they do. This could be athletics, work, relationships, health or overall enjoyment of life. More often, unfortunately, it is pain that motivates us to change. We sometimes seek therapy when we are unhappy about something we cannot solve by ourselves.

Often, spouses, partners, employers, parents, or physicians are the ones who “encourage” us to get professional help.

In searching for the right clinical psychologist I highly recommend you find someone you believe can help you, and someone you trust. Ask friends or family members if they know of someone. If you don’t have any leads but a list from an insurance company, start making calls. A good therapist is often a busy therapist, but that isn’t always the case. If the therapist is full, but you feel like he or she might be a good fit, ask about a waiting list.

We at Daleoworks Psychological Services, Inc., have seen clients who were previously in treatment for years, without significant improvement. Some eventually gave up. Others found a new therapist but were frustrated after hoping for months that some sudden insight would magically produce change. Some people had chronic conditions or would attempt to dictate their own treatment in therapy, ultimately resulting in their perceived failure of the therapist. Keep in mind, therapists do not do their own therapy. We too need guides, consultation, on going continuing education, and mentorship. Three of the most common reasons therapy fails for a client is the client’s reluctance to do the hard work of self-examination, believed others were the cause of their problems, or not following the therapist’s suggestions for medication referrals if needed, support groups if needed, or simply sabotaging their own treatment. Therapy is not for everyone, but most people get better with therapy. Keep in mind, a good therapist or even psychiatrist isn’t always going to say things you like to hear, but you need to believe your therapist is someone who is knowledgeable, understands you, genuinely cares about you and provides you with the kinds of information, guidance and feedback that makes sense and produces positive results. Dr. David Daleo has conducted his own treatment outcome research over numerous years and has qualitative and quantitative statistical evidence that his treatment method and approach has resulted in clinically positive change in 95% of those clients seen. Most of our referrals come from current or previous clients. There are many schools of psychotherapy. You may have heard the term Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Psychodynamic, Humanistic, Client-Centered, or even Eclectic models. Dr. David Daleo uses a unique and specialized form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy know as Reality Based Therapy. Dr. David Daleo’s motto and trademark is Specializing in Psychology for the Future. Reality Based Therapy, or RBT, pulls from the most clinically effective techniques of various theoretical orientations while simultaneously focused on future growth, symptom resolution and happiness. Reality Based Therapy encourages people to view their current problems or distress as symptoms of maladaptive patterns of learned thoughts and behavior. For example, if you learned to over eat when you feel sad, that is a maladaptive pattern of learned thought and behavior. RBT focuses on the present and encourages people to draw realistic and practical solutions to the things that are hindering growth and happiness. Instead of spending countless sessions uncovering a person’s past, our team utilizes the most salient historical events of a person’s life experiences and applies them to a “here and now” problem solving technique, hence the importance of looking towards the future. How we learn to view the world, other people, our work, relationships, the car in front of you that just cut you off, and even times of crisis all affect general level of happiness. In a time when many people are struggling in our society, some people have unlearned how to be happy and learned how to be unhappy.

Reality Based Therapy explores how the past may repeat itself in our daily lives through patterns in our relationships with others, individual distress, or even addictive behaviors. Dr. David Daleo postulates that a person’s past and events therein when misguided or misdirected manifest into psychiatric symptoms which are commonly referred to as “psychopathology” by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. We at Daleoworks deemphasize labels and focus on a person’s thoughts, behaviors and outcomes, again Specializing in Psychology for the Future.

Dr. David Daleo applies a complete behavioral medicine treatment plan focusing on five main areas: outpatient psychotherapy, referral for psychiatric medication if needed, exercise, diet, and social support groups. While specializing your treatment plan we consider biological, psychological, and cultural factors to maximize the best clinical results and outcomes