Dominique Benavidez Ph. D.

Individual Therapy

Individual therapy is a form of counseling in which a client meets one-on-one with a therapist and develops a trusting relationship so that he/she can talk about and resolve his/her concerns or problems. The goal of individual therapy is to solve specific difficulties, improve overall functioning, and create positive changes in one's life. Individual therapy can be helpful for clients who are having difficulties regulating their mood or emotions, managing stress, solving problems, and/or connecting with others. Generally, clients who seek individual therapy are struggling with specific mental health issues such as depression and anxiety; however, this is not always the case. Some clients seek individual therapy in order to better navigate life's challenges, improve relationships, get advice on important decisions, or during times of adjustment. Therapists use many different techniques to help their clients. These techniques come from different models of therapy. I primarily use empirically-supported treatment models to assist clients. These are therapy techniques that have been tested in research studies and have proven to be effective with specific problems.

 

Group Therapy​

Group therapy is a form of counseling in which a therapist facilitates discussions and provides education/skills to a group of individuals with the same or similar issues. Group therapy can be an excellent alternative or adjunct to individual or family therapy. As an alternative to individual or family therapy, group therapy tends to be less expensive and it is often time-limited. Group therapy can also be a great supplement to individual therapy, especially in circumstances where a client could benefit from more social interaction and support. Group therapy can also be helpful for clients who feel alone in their problems and may benefit from knowing that others face similar difficulties. The goal of group therapy is to provide support and/or skills for managing problems and improving functioning. In general, groups have a few different types: support, educational, or skills. Support groups focus on providing a safe and comfortable environment in which individuals can discuss difficulties, process their feelings, and seek help, guidance, and encouragement from their peers. Educational groups help participants to better understand their challenges and how to cope with them.

 

Family Therapy​

Family therapy is a form of counseling in which a therapist meets with all family members rather than just meeting with one or two. In family therapy, there may be one individual who is identified as having the most difficulties; however, the entire family is usually affected by the problem and needs to learn ways to cope with it. Family therapy is often helpful when it is necessary to identify and break family patterns that contribute to family dysfunction or to the symptoms of one family member. It can also be helpful when the family is changing in some fundamental way (i.e., children are becoming adolescents, adolescents are preparing to leave for college, parents are divorcing, separating, or re-marrying). The goal of family therapy is to improve family functioning. This goal is met by teaching families effective communication skills, problem-solving strategies, and appropriate roles, limits, and boundaries. Like individual therapy, there are many different approaches or models of family therapy. I use structural, strategic, solution-focused, behavioral, and family-focused family therapy to address the needs of clients.

 

Parent Coaching​

Parent coaching is a form of counseling in which the therapist meets with a parent (or parents) and teaches him/her specific strategies for improving his/her parenting skills. The child may be occasionally included in the sessions so that the parent can practice their new skills and get feedback. Parent coaching is helpful for parents who are becoming frustrated with their child's behavior and feel ineffective in addressing it. The goal of parent coaching is to increase feelings of efficacy and competence by giving parents the skills they need to manage their child's behavior and/or more successfully address their child's emotional functioning. There are many different therapeutic approaches to parent coaching. I use Behavioral and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to empower parents, as these treatments have the largest evidence base in research studies.

 

Life Coaching​

Life coaching is a form of counseling in which an individual meets one-on-one with a therapist for the purposes of identifying and achieving specific goals. Unlike individual therapy, life coaching does not target psychological illness. Instead, it focuses on improving quality of life for relatively healthy individuals who would like to achieve a more optimal level of satisfaction. Life coaching is helpful for individuals who wish to set and achieve specific goals such as personal projects, life balance, career change, or job performance or satisfaction. The goal of life coaching is to motivate clients to achieve their goals by working together to create and implement a plan of action. Life coaching uses many different techniques, including personal strategic planning, values clarification, brainstorming, and motivational counseling. I also use positive psychology techniques to identify clients' strengths and use these strengths to achieve a more optimal level of functioning. For more information about positive psychology, please visit www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu.

 

Early Childhood Mental Health​

The Early Childhood Mental program infuses early childhood mental health principles and best practices into an early childhood education setting.  The program integrates early childhood mental health principles and practices with our existing behavioral health treatment for families in recovery.

 

Best practices suggest that to achieve effective results, treatment should involve both the child and their caregivers directly.  Services include initial screening and assessment of social, emotional and behavioral concerns, diagnostic classification, early intervention strategies including mental health consultation in our centered-based early childhood setting, and treatment strategies including relationship-based, dyadic, parent-child therapy, and individual play therapy.

 

Targeted population are children between the ages of 0 to 5 years of age who are at risk of serious social, emotional and behavioral problems.

 

Evaluations and Assessments

Dr. Benavidez provides evaluations and assessments to understand each person’s psychological and learning potential and ways to maximize that potential.  Each of us is unique and understanding our own strengths and areas of growth can ensure that we have appropriate educational and workplace accommodations, work toward a rewarding career path, and prevent unnecessary frustrations.  Our psychologists combine the science and art of assessment to accurately understand each person’s clinical, cognitive, neurological, and learning styles.

 

Our services include:

 

• Cognitive and learning assessment for school or testing accommodations

• Assessment for giftedness

• Assessment for dyslexia

• Assessment for math disorder

• Assessment for auditory processing problems

• Comprehensive evaluation for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder for children and adults

• Neurological screening for memory loss and dementia

• Clinical assessment for diagnosis

• Developmental Screening & Infant/Early Childhood Assessment