Experiential therapy is a new approach to treating substance use disorders, depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns. It uses a variety of holistic therapies to aid individuals in gaining a better understanding and control of their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Regarding experiential therapy expectations, you may wonder what happens once you enroll in a program. This is a non-medical approach to helping people realize their recovery goals and lead healthy and productive lives.
At Gulf Breeze Recovery, we offer experiential therapy in Florida for men and women seeking a whole-person treatment program. Our team has experience treating all types of substance use disorders and other mental health conditions. For more information about our Gulf Breeze, Florida, experiential therapy center, call 833.551.2304 today to speak with our dedicated team.
What Is Experiential Therapy?
Experiential therapy is a holistic approach to treating several mental health issues. It assists people in identifying the various emotions that cause psychological pain. Therapists work one-on-one with each client to teach them how to recognize the emotions associated with success, disappointment, responsibility, and self-esteem and how to cope with the feelings or behaviors they create.
Experiential therapy can assist people with unresolved childhood trauma, current relationship issues, anger management issues, eating disorders, drug addiction, and compulsive behaviors. It uses a variety of holistic therapies that include:
- Animal-assisted therapy
- Play therapy
- Music and dance therapy
- Art therapy
- Ecotherapy
- Adventure therapy
- Painting
- Journaling and creative writing
These therapies can help in several ways. Music therapy can improve sleep patterns and reduce anxiety symptoms. Art therapy can reduce symptoms of personality disorders, eating disorders, and PTSD. Plus, animal-assisted therapies have impressive results in helping people cope with physical and psychological disorders.
Experiential Therapy Expectations
In addition to cognitive-behavioral therapy and other talk therapy, experiential therapy will include several hands-on interventions and experiences. This is a person-centered type of therapy where the person’s interests are used to determine which therapies are best.
What to Expect in Experiential Therapy
Each person’s experience with this type of therapy is unique to them. Therapists will work closely with each client to understand the underlying issue causing emotional pain and find a holistic approach to addressing those feelings or memories. They will focus on the client’s awareness and perceptions while participating in an activity like painting, creating music, putting on a play, or animal-assisted therapies.
They may ask the client to talk about their feelings during the activity and work through any troubling emotions or negative behaviors that may appear. The program aims to help clients release pent-up frustrations and negative energies through creative self-expression to resolve internal conflicts they have ignored.
Experiential Therapy Benefits
Experiential therapy has multiple benefits for men and women struggling with their mental health. It allows for the release of negative emotions in a healthy manner and improves emotional processing. It also teaches clients how to alter their perspectives, increase social activity, participate in favorite activities, and improve their overall mental health through other forms of self-expression.
Enroll in Experiential Therapy in Florida at Gulf Breeze Recovery Center
At Gulf Breeze Recovery Center, we welcome people ready to begin their journey toward better mental health. We are a full-service mental health treatment facility offering residential and outpatient treatment programs with in-person or telehealth therapy session options. In addition to experiential therapy, we also offer cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and motivational interviewing (MI). We also provide eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), medication-assisted treatment, dual diagnosis, and family therapy.
To discuss the experiential therapy expectations with our staff, call 833.551.2304 or message us online today.