What makes U-center's treatment approach sustainable and effective? Our psychologist Myrr van den Broek explains how our holistic vision, group therapies, practice and evidence-based treatments, among others, all play a role in our clients' recovery.
"At U-center, you work with a team of treatment providers and the client on the client's recovery," Myrr says. "I found that super interesting, so after my studies I immediately started working at U-center." She has now been working at the treatment center in Epen for almost 3 years.
Listening to the client from your own expertise and feelings
What is your approach and expertise as a psychologist?
I teach MBT groups (mentalization based therapy) at U-center and have also further developed in ACT(acceptance commitment therapy), schema therapy and CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy). Besides all these techniques I also like to work from the connection with the client/my feelings. What do I feel about it and what must that be like for him or her to have gone through or experienced this? I find it important that everything can be discussed, no matter how dark someone's thought may be.
Most people who come to our treatment center have had complaints for so long and have tried so many things that they have sometimes lost themselves. That is why I think it is very important to pay attention to 'who are you as a person', because besides your complaints you are also a human being. Often people think 'I am no longer valuable and all I have is misery and complaints'. That's why we also look at what makes you valuable, besides the complaints. From there we work together.
Treating more sustainably by focusing on plurality
Why do clients come to U-center?
Diagnoses go hand in hand, and in many cases more than one diagnosis is at play. If you work on addiction problems, there is often another problem underneath. If you only address the addiction, then the other diagnosis comes more to the fore. Or if you address the other diagnosis, then the addiction issues may become more prominent again. In those cases, it is very important to treat both diagnoses at the same time.
Most clients at U-center have stalled in regular care because it was not sufficiently effective. Many processes people have had before coming to U-center were framed and focused on one part of the complaints, while there are multiple problems. Here we also work from diagnoses, but we look at the whole picture and especially at the person himself.
A while ago a client said to me, "My trauma symptoms have always only been looked at, but I also keep getting stuck in certain patterns, and those patterns in turn perpetuate my trauma symptoms. I keep running into them, avoiding things or not discussing them. At U-center I can't escape it, because here we both address my patterns and traumas and both are known." I also regularly hear from clients that it can be good to be away from your home situation for a while to work on yourself, but that there is still enough space to still involve your loved ones in your process.
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Clients also often mention that they don't feel like a number at U-center, that they really listen here and that everything is done in consultation. That is perhaps the biggest compliment we can receive as practitioners?
Myrr van den Broek - U-center psychologist
Finding yourself and not just your complaints
So how do you help the client as a human being?
U-center looks more broadly than just at a diagnosis. In our treatment offerings, some of it is evidence-based (scientifically proven effective), but some of it is also practice-based (proven effective in practice) and consists of treatments that we believe can contribute to someone's' recovery. In practice-based treatment, for example, we offer Oxygen for the Soul. A form of therapy in which you learn to see yourself as the protagonist of your own life. In such treatment you let go of the armor of neatness, control, and fears, giving you space to feel free, unconcerned, and uninhibited again.
In that sense, we look further into how we can help someone as much as possible as a person. There are also many different therapies here individually and in groups, which is why clients often say, "I was able to try everything and also things that I thought beforehand 'well that's not going to help me at all,' that might have been the most helpful." That variety also helps with recovery. Clients also often say that they are approached personally at U-center, that they really listen here and that there is a lot of consultation. I think that is incredibly valuable!
The added value of group therapy
Group therapy with different people with different symptoms can sometimes be exciting for clients. Yet that very variation provides a lot of insights for clients. People are often surprised how many similarities there are even though they are at U-center for a different reason. That may be in how you grew up or what you have experienced, certain feelings that often come back. You can recognize a lot in each other and have a lot of support from each other. Sometimes it's nice when someone experiences completely different symptoms and can therefore offer a completely different perspective on how to deal with them.
During group therapy, you learn a lot from each other's' feedback. You reflect on what the other person's behavior does to you and why, for example, one person feels touched and the other does not. Sometimes you are not aware of certain behavior and in a group you can be mirrored. This can be very confronting, but everyone learns a lot from it. Half of the days are spent together in group therapy. You also see each other during meals and possibly during your free time. So you share a lot of time together and it is special to see each other's process and see each other grow. You experience each other during lows and highs.
Treating from a holistic perspective
At U-center, we always try to look at the whole picture of the person sitting in front of us. On the one hand, we look at the symptoms, who are you as a person, what have you all been through, what are things that have shaped you and how do you deal with all those things? We also call that a holistic approach. From that approach we look at what goals fit with that. That is why we have an open communication with the client and adjust the treatment plan together with the client. So the client always has some control and I think that is very important. We also look at different areas of people's lives, such as what does your social life look like, how are you doing physically, can we involve loved ones in treatment. U-center treats from that vision.
Client Satisfaction
Are you looking for treatment of all your complaints at the same time? At U-center we get to work on all your complaints in an intensive treatment program. U-center measures the appreciation of clients at different times. During treatment and at the end of the treatment program, U-center scores high on client satisfaction. Want to know if treatment is right for you? Get in touch with a professional from our communication center without obligation.