Frequently Asked Questions

Finding the right therapist involves more than learning about credentials and theoretical orientation. It's about the connection (or alliance) you have with the therapist and trusting your gut feeling. Consider: Do you feel this therapist can understand your concerns without judgment? Are they open to receiving feedback? Does their approach resonate with what you’re looking for?

My Approach

As an integrative therapist, I'm trained in various evidence-based modalities and primarily draw from Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). I help you understand your emotions and use them as a compass for growth, while also offering practical skills to help you navigate life’s challenges effectively. I also integrate elements of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), mindfulness, and body-based interventions to meet your unique needs.

What to Expect

Our work together is collaborative and tailored to you. We'll explore:

- The emotions beneath your struggles and what they’re telling you about your attachment and emotional needs

- Patterns that may be keeping you stuck

- Mind-body awareness and practical skills for managing distress

- Building a more secure sense of self and deeper connections with others

I focus on understanding the unique details of your experiences and the meaning you make of them, your strengths, as well as your history and its relevance to your current concerns. My approach is creative, relational, and process-focused. I teach DBT skills during our sessions as needed, integrated with the work we're doing together. This is different from structured DBT programs that use homework, diary cards, and between-session assignments. If you're seeking traditional structured DBT programming, I'm happy to provide referrals.

The first session is an introduction. Before we meet, I'll ask you to complete an intake form to help me understand your concerns.

During our first appointment, we'll:

- Review informed consent and confidentiality (and its limits)

- Explore your personal history relevant to your concern(s)

- Discuss your goals and hopes for change

- Begin establishing a therapeutic connection so you feel safe, heard, and understood

First sessions are 50 minutes, with 80-minute sessions available if requested. I encourage you to ask any questions about the therapeutic process or my approach, as this is also an opportunity to ensure we're a good fit.

Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) is an attachment-based approach that helps you identify, process, and transform the emotions shaping how you see yourself and relate to others. Rather than treating emotions as the problem, EFT treats them as a pathway — one that, when followed with curiosity and care, leads to lasting change and transformation beyond better coping.

In individual therapy, this means slowing down together to access the deeper emotions and unmet needs underneath your patterns. Through this process, you develop a more secure relationship with yourself: one rooted in greater self-trust, emotional resilience, and the capacity to show up more openly in your life and relationships.

In Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), we slow down together and follow the emotion — not around it, but through it. Rather than analyzing what you feel from a distance, we stay with your emotional experience in the moment, gently exploring what's underneath the surface: the attachment fears, longings, and unmet needs shaping your patterns.

As we access these deeper emotions together, something powerful begins to shift. What once felt overwhelming or confusing begins to make sense. You're not just gaining insight — you're having a new experience of yourself. The goal of EFT is to help you develop a stronger sense of self, improve emotional regulation skills, and gain a greater capacity to show up in your life and relationships with more openness and trust.

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) offers practical, evidence-based skills for some of life's most difficult moments — when emotions feel too intense to sit with, when relationships feel overwhelming, or when you're not sure how to communicate what you need.

Specifically, DBT builds skills in four key areas:

→ Emotion regulation: understanding and managing intense emotional responses;

→ Distress tolerance: getting through difficult moments without making things worse;

→ Mindfulness: staying present and grounded rather than reactive;

→ Interpersonal effectiveness: communicating your needs and setting boundaries in ways that honour both you and your relationships.

At Stadnyk Therapy, DBT skills aren't taught through worksheets or homework. They're woven into sessions naturally — so when a difficult emotion arises, you have the tools to stay with it rather than shut down or get flooded. This is what makes deeper emotional work possible.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) works by identifying and changing unhelpful thought and behaviour patterns. It's structured, goal-oriented, and offers practical tools that can be effective for managing anxiety, depression, and specific symptoms.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) works at a different level. Rather than starting with thoughts, EFT follows the emotion — treating it as a signal, not a problem to fix. The focus is on accessing the deeper emotions and unmet attachment needs underneath your patterns: the fear, longing, or shame driving your patterns of relating to yourself and others. Change happens not just through understanding, but through a new emotional experience — felt in the body, in the moment, in the safety of the therapeutic relationship.