Clinical Psychologist
anitablakeleysmith2075@gmail.com
Northern Beaches (Brookvale) and North Shore (Pymble).
Specializing in Mood and Couples Therapy
Treatment Areas
Anita focuses on the areas of mood, depression and various anxiety disorders, self esteem, personality disorders and relationship issues. Her therapy involves a collaborative approach incorporating evidence based treatments such as : Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Schema Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Solution Focussed Therapy and Couples Therapy (Gottmann and Emotion Focussed Therapy). She is also trained in the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) designed to assist parents with children’s behavioural issues.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy:
CBT is a structured, often time-limited, psychological therapy that helps clients identify and modify unhelpful thoughts that mediate their feelings and behaviour. By encouraging more helpful thoughts the individual is likely to improve their emotional state and make behavioural choices that are overall more satisfying, effective and functional for the individual. Treatment often involves keeping a record of thoughts, recognising unhelpful patterns of thinking that contribute to distressing emotions and problematic behaviour, challenging unhelpful beliefs, setting behavioural goals, conducting behavioural experiments to challenge the reality of certain thoughts, structured problem solving and training in effective communication skills. Numerous research studies have shown CBT to be effective in the treatment of depression, anxiety, psychosis, eating disorders, substance use problems, relationships difficulties and problematic anger.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
ACT is a treatment that helps individuals identify and clarify their personal values and develop acceptance of their thoughts, emotions, body sensations, and urges. When individuals are able to accept and struggle less with their thoughts, feelings, body sensations and urges they are better able to act in ways that are consistent with their individual values and live a more satisfying life. Individuals are taught mindfulness meditation a practice whereby they become more aware of their internal experiences and surroundings and learn to stay present in the here and now accepting their feelings, thoughts, situations and ultimately oneself. Individuals are also encouraged to regularly set goals in line with their deepest values so that each day is experienced as more meaningful and satisfying. Studies have shown the effectiveness of ACT in treating depression, anxiety, psychosis, chronic pain and addictive behaviours.
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
DBT is a structured therapy designed to improve individuals' emotional regulation and interpersonal relationships. It combines cognitive behavioural techniques with concepts such as, distress tolerance, acceptance, and mindful awareness primarily derived from Buddhist meditative practice. Individuals are taught skills in four key areas: Distress Tolerance, Affect Regulation, Mindfulness Skills and Interpersonal Effectiveness. DBT skills are often taught in a group therapy setting, however, these skills can be introduced in individual therapy. Some individuals may benefit from developing competence in each of the four key skill areas whilst others may benefit from focusing on one specific skill area. The approach was originally developed to treat people with Borderline Personality Disorder. Research demonstrates it is an effective treatment for people with Borderline Traits and can benefit people suffering from chronic mood disorders, self-harm behaviour, trauma histories, poor self-esteem, body image issues, disordered eating, anger, and substance abuse problems.
Couples Therapy
Dr Anita uses the Gottman Method and Emotion Focussed Therapy (EFT) is a therapy that helps couples identify and modify problematic patterns of interaction and unhelpful emotional responses in order to assist couples in achieving greater relationship satisfaction. The focus is on understanding one's own, as well as one's partner's, emotional needs, helping couples fulfil these emotional needs, disrupting negative patterns of interacting, and developing a more positive way of relating to each other.