Offering Psychological Assessments In Ottawa, ON, Canada
Dr. Winogron’s Approach to Counselling & Therapy
What problems & disorders are treated at the Clinic?
What is the therapy approach?
Dr. Winogron and colleagues offer ‘CBT’, or cognitive behavioural therapy, for a broad range of psychological disorders.
CBT is a short-term approach to counseling that is evidence-influenced. This means that our therapy relies on scientifically-proven methods as much as possible. The goal of this approach is to empower you the client to understand the role that your thought patterns play in your disturbance, and to help you to take an active role in changing your thoughts in order to stop your negative feelings and actions.
In ‘short-term’ therapy we generally we try to be cost-effective – this means we to try to achieve lasting results via the briefest interventions reasonable for you.
Does CBT work? Many studies have shown CBT approaches are effective. To see a list of problems that can be improved by CBT, and to see a list of research studies, click the button below.
How long does therapy take?
Our therapies are short-term, meaning that we use the briefest therapy to achieve long-lasting results. 5-to-15 sessions is the normal range (more sessions are typical during motor vehicle accident recovery).
Group therapy runs for a fixed number of weekly sessions – the number varies depending on the theme of the group (e.g., stress management; workplace stress and burnout, etc.).
Our intent is to achieve your therapy goals efficiently. However, the success of any treatment depends not only on the therapy approach and the presenting problems, but also on your motivation. For this reason, we can make no guarantees about treatment length or success.
What are the client groups served?
Adults
Couples
What are sessions like?
Clinical sessions are offered in English and normally last 50 minutes.
Therapy is face-to-face (clients do not lie down on a couch), relaxed, and conversational.
Our therapists typically jot very brief notes during sessions, but focus on your issues & their resolution. We collaborate with you to understand & change inappropriate thinking, acting, and emotional reaction patterns.
Assessment is done in the first session or two, & self-report questionnaires are used from time to time to adjust treatment targets & assess your progress.
Your concerns & priorities are always considered in treatment planning. We always welcome your honest reactions to therapy.
Homework, or practical exercises are commonly used, & readings or ‘behavioural experiments’ are sometimes a part of treatment as well.
What are the clinic’s referral policies?
Referrals from family Drs. are welcome. Some insurers may require a Dr.’s referral for reimbursement – it’s advisable to check with your insurance company before scheduling an appointment.
A brief summary of any intervention & outcome will be sent, with your consent, to your referring Dr.
Client self-referrals, without a Drs. note, are also gladly accepted.
What are the fees & payment policies?
Clinical treatments are no longer offered. For fees related to Psychological Assessments, please see the Assessments tab.
Some thoughts about the most common problems we treat…
Some thoughts about your anxiety (stress)…
Your anxiety stems from your wanting something and seeing that you may not be getting it. Now, if you had no preferences or desires or wishes, you’d have no anxiety. But you probably wouldn’t live very well either — your desires to avoid discomfort, trouble, and all kinds of hassles are what helps you to survive and live well. Healthy anxiety helps preserve your life and lets you experience life to the fullest.
Unfortunately, there are unhealthy types of anxiety that are often harmful. They can be destructive and make you act in ways that are not in your best interest. Your unhealthy anxiety can show up in the form of panic, phobias, trembling, choking, numbness, and all kinds of physical problems that get in the way of your coping with life. Healthy anxiety, or what we can refer to as concern, caution, or vigilance, is very different to unhealthy anxiety. Healthy anxiety helps you get more of what you want and less of what you don’t want in life.
The challenge of anxiety therapy is to identify the mental processes that underlie your unhealthy anxiety and to learn effective skills for eliminating them. Thankfully, cognitive therapy is well-suited to helping clients with this task.
Harmful anxiety can be beaten.
Some thoughts about your relationship challenges…
The cognitive therapy approach to dealing with relationship troubles is not to explore your remote pasts all the way back to infancy. The cognitive approach looks at the mental processes that exist in both of your heads today, and the effect of these mental processes on how you behave towards each other day-to-day. More importantly, the cognitive approach helps you to become your own co-therapists — it gives you new insight and skills to overcome your bad habits.
Relationship dissatisfactions and disturbances can be overcome.
Some thoughts about your emotional distress…
Another component of unhealthy emotions that you likely experience is something that few people discuss. Without our being aware of it, the strong negative emotions distort and exaggerate our thinking. So, once anger or depression [etc.] takes hold, our thoughts start to change in ways that need to be fixed.
The cognitive therapy approach to dealing with problem emotions is not to explore your remote past all the way back to infancy. The cognitive approach looks at the mental processes that exist in your head today, and the effect of these mental processes on how you feel day-to-day. More importantly, the cognitive approach helps you to become your own co-therapist — it gives you new insight and skills to overcome your emotional disturbances.
Emotional disturbances can be overcome.
Some thoughts about your behavioural problems…
Behavioural problems, like emotional problems, have underlying causes. Thankfully, a lot of research has shown that if you work at understanding and changing your undesirable behaviors, they can be changed.
The cognitive therapy approach to dealing with problem behaviors is not to explore your remote past all the way back to infancy. The cognitive approach looks at the mental processes that exist in your head today, and the effect of these mental processes on how you behave day-to-day. More importantly, the cognitive approach helps you to become your own co-therapist — it gives you new insight and skills to overcome your bad habits.
The sure-fire way to make sure that your bad habits never change it to believe that they will be with you forever; that trying to change is hopeless. The best way to make sure that they do change it to work at understanding how and why you can change them for yourself. In cognitive therapy, the role of the therapist is to help you help yourself — in ways that you can carry with you for the rest of your life.
Harmful behavioural disturbances can be overcome.
For More Information
Please contact our office at our new location:
1559 Alta Vista Drive
P.O. Box 59030
Ottawa, ON., K1G 5T7
Phone: +1 (613) 978-1054 | Fax: +1 (833) 939-3549
