Modalities
Each person is unique, and therapy should reflect that. At Manatee Mental Health, Stephanie uses a flexible, individualized approach rather than expecting every client to fit into one specific type of therapy.
Depending on your needs, therapy may include tools for processing trauma, understanding patterns, building insight, practicing coping skills, strengthening self-compassion, exploring parts of yourself, or making changes that feel realistic in everyday life.
Approaches Stephanie Uses Most Often
Brainspotting
A body-based approach that uses focused attention and awareness of the body to help process experiences that may feel stuck.
May help with: trauma and PTSD, anxiety, depression, grief, chronic concerns (stress, pain, illness), emotional overwhelm, performance concerns, self-doubt, compulsive or addictive patterns, and difficult experiences that feel hard to process through talking alone.
Internal Family Systems / Parts Work
An approach that helps you understand different parts of yourself with curiosity instead of shame.
May help with: trauma and attachment wounds, shame, self-criticism, anxiety, depression, relationship patterns, internal conflict, emotional overwhelm, avoidance, perfectionism, and feeling disconnected from yourself.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
An approach that helps you make room for difficult thoughts and feelings while moving toward what matters to you.
May help with: anxiety, depression, OCD and intrusive thoughts, chronic stress, grief, chronic pain, avoidance, perfectionism, difficult emotions, and feeling stuck or disconnected from your values.
Mindful Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
A way to notice thoughts, emotions, and behaviors while practicing more present-moment awareness.
May help with: anxiety, depression, chronic pain/illness, rumination, negative thinking patterns, emotional reactivity, avoidance, low self-esteem, and difficulty staying grounded in the present moment.
Additional Approaches Stephanie May Use
Strength-Based Therapy
A focus on identifying your strengths, resilience, values, and what is already helping you survive and grow.
May help with: low self-esteem, depression, major life changes, identity exploration, burnout, self-doubt, trauma recovery, and reconnecting with a sense of capability or hope.
Solution-Focused Therapy
A practical approach that helps identify small, realistic steps toward change.
May help with: feeling stuck, life transitions, stress, relationship concerns, decision-making, motivation, goal setting, and creating manageable changes in everyday life.
Psychoeducation
Learning about mental health, trauma, emotions, relationships, and the nervous system so your experiences make more sense.
May help with: understanding trauma, anxiety, depression, OCD, neurodivergence, nervous system responses, relationship patterns, coping responses, and reducing confusion or shame about your experiences.
ICBT
An approach that can be helpful for OCD and intrusive thoughts by exploring reasoning patterns, uncertainty, and doubt.
May help with: OCD, intrusive thoughts, obsessive doubt, rumination, reassurance-seeking, checking, mental compulsions, and difficulty trusting your senses or everyday reasoning.
Experiential Therapy
Therapy that moves beyond talking alone and may include reflection, noticing, imagery, emotion, or body-based awareness.
May help with: trauma, grief, emotional disconnection, relationship wounds, shame, anxiety, depression, difficulty identifying emotions, and experiences that are difficult to put into words.
Harm Reduction
A compassionate approach focused on safety, choice, and reducing harm rather than shame or all-or-nothing expectations.
May help with: substance use, self-destructive or risky behaviors, ambivalence about change, shame, relapse prevention, and building safer, more realistic steps toward change.
Family Systems
An approach that looks at how family, relationships, roles, and patterns may shape your experiences.
May help with: family conflict, relationship patterns, attachment wounds, boundaries, people-pleasing, caregiving roles, generational patterns, and understanding how early relationships continue to affect you.
Somatic Skills
Body-based tools that support nervous system regulation, grounding, and connection with the present moment.
May help with: trauma responses, anxiety, panic, chronic stress, dissociation, emotional overwhelm, tension, restlessness, shutdown, and difficulty feeling grounded or safe in your body.
Polyvagal Theory
A framework for understanding how the nervous system responds to stress, safety, connection, and overwhelm.
May help with: understanding fight, flight, freeze, and shutdown responses, trauma, anxiety, dissociation, emotional overwhelm, relationship patterns, and recognizing what helps your nervous system feel safer and more regulated.
Feminist Theory
An approach that considers the impact of culture, power, identity, relationships, and lived experience on mental health.
May help with: identity exploration, relationship dynamics, body image, boundaries, gender expectations, discrimination, social pressure, caregiving roles, self-worth, and understanding how larger systems may affect emotional well-being.
Learn More About These Approaches
If you're interested in learning more about the approaches Stephanie uses most often, these websites may be a helpful place to start.
- Brainspotting — Learn more about Brainspotting and how it may support trauma processing, emotional pain, and experiences that feel stuck.
- Internal Family Systems Institute — Learn more about Internal Family Systems, parts work, and approaching different parts of yourself with curiosity and compassion.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy — Learn more about ACT, including acceptance, mindfulness, values, and committed action.
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy — Learn more about MBCT and how mindfulness and cognitive therapy can work together.
