Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a type of psychotherapy which is typically used in combination with CBT.

ACT aims to help you reduce the struggle against distressing thoughts, experiences and life events. Focusing on helping people to learn to ‘defuse’ from thoughts; to notice acknowledge and make room for these experiences using a variety of techniques.

Techniques learnt in ACT drawn on principles of mindfulness, metaphors acceptance and commitment to values-based living.

Attachment-based therapy is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on the emotional bonds and attachment styles between individuals and their loved ones. It is based on the idea that our early relationships with caregivers play a significant role in shaping our emotional and interpersonal functioning.

The goal of attachment-based therapy is to help individuals develop more secure and healthy attachment styles, which can improve their relationships and overall well-being.

Attachment-based therapy typically involves working closely with a therapist to explore your early relationships and attachment styles.

This can involve talking about your experiences with caregivers, significant others, and other important people in your life.

The therapist may also help you to develop new ways of thinking and relating to others that are more healthy and adaptive. This may involve learning new communication skills, setting boundaries, and working through conflicts in a more constructive way.

The focus of attachment-based therapy is on helping individuals develop more secure attachment styles and improve their relationships with others.

Behavioural activation is a type of therapy that focuses on increasing engagement in activities and experiences that bring pleasure and enjoyment, and can be effective for treating depression by helping individuals break out of patterns of inactivity and avoidance. It is typically delivered by a therapist who is also trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

Body Reprogramming is an evidence-based lifestyle change programme for central sensitivity syndromes - as in Fibromyalgia and ME for example.

Body Reprogramming is a specific therapeutic intervention designed to help those with a long term conditions, such as central sensitivity syndrome or fibromyalgia and are seeking to understand and manage this condition better.

Body reprogramming comes from a new way of thinking about the body, called ‘the Hyland model’. The model is based on the founding principles of systems biology and complexity theory and where the body is understood as a biologically intelligent system.

Dr Linda Solbrig, At My therapist Online, offers this superb new treatment. Linda is one of the few clinicians trained in Body Reprogramming in the UK, and she was also lucky enough to co-deliver and train with the clinical and academic developers of Body Reprogramming.

Brainspotting is a powerful, focused treatment method that works by identifying, processing and releasing core neurophysiological sources of emotional/body pain, trauma, dissociation and a variety of other challenging symptoms.

Brainspotting is a simultaneous form of diagnosis and treatment, enhanced with biolateral sound, which is deep, direct, and powerful yet focused and containing.

Brainspotting gives us a tool, within the clinical relationship, to neurobiologically locate, focus, process, and release experiences and symptoms that are typically out of reach of the conscious mind and its cognitive and language capacity.

Brainspotting works with the deep brain and the body through its direct access to the autonomic and limbic systems within the body’s central nervous system.

Brainspotting is accordingly a physiological tool/treatment which has profound psychological, emotional, and physical consequences.

Brainspotting is a “body to body” approach. The distress is activated and located in the body which then leads to the locating of the Brainspot based on eye position. As opposed to EMDR where the traumatic memory is the “target”, in Brainspotting the Brainspot is the target or “focus or activation point”. Everything is aimed at activating, locating, and processing the Brainspot.

Any life event which causes significant physical and/or emotional injury and distress, in which the person powerfully experiences being overwhelmed, helpless, or trapped, can become a traumatic experience.

There is growing recognition within the healing professions that experiences of physical and/or emotional injury, acute and chronic pain, serious physical illness, dealing with difficult medical interventions, societal turmoil, environmental disaster, as well as many other problematic life events, will contribute to the development of a substantial reservoir of life trauma. That trauma is held in the body.

In most cases, the traumatised individual does not usually have the opportunity or the support to adequately process and integrate these traumatic life events. The traumatic experience then becomes a part of that individual’s trauma reservoir. The body and the psyche cannot remain unaffected by the physical, energetic and emotional costs extracted by this accumulated trauma load. The medical and psychological literature now acknowledges that approximately 75% of requests for medical care are linked to the actions or consequences of this accumulation of stress and/or trauma upon the systems of the human body.

Every health care professional encounters treatment situations in which physical symptoms cannot be separated from their emotional or psychological correlates. Traumatic life experiences, whether physical or emotional, are often significant contributing factors in the development and/or maintenance of most of the symptoms and problems encountered in health care.

Useful web links

For further reading on Brainspotting please visit www.brainspotting.com and www.bspuk.co.uk.

You may also find this video link useful, in which David Grand (developer of Brainspotiing) explains BSP: https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=lm3Plvaf3UE

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an evidenced based & well researched talking therapy. It is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for many mental health problems.

It is most commonly used to treat anxiety and depression, but can be useful for other many mental and physical health problems.

CBT focuses upon how your thoughts and behaviours impact upon your emotions and physical symptoms.

CBT is collaborative treatment and typically involves doing homework tasks between appointments.

It aims to teach you to become your own therapist, teaching you tools so you can keep using the strategies and techniques you have learned after you have finished therapy.

British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies www.babcp.com

For further information on Cognitive Behavioural therapy (www.psychnet-uk.com/psychotherapy/psychotherapy_cognitive_behavioural_therapy.htm)

For further information on guidelines for promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health (National Institute of Clinical Excellence)

CAT stands for Cognitive Analytic Therapy.

CAT brings together ideas and understanding from different therapies including analytic psychology and cognitive therapy.

It is a collaborative programme for looking at the way a person thinks, feels and acts, and the events and relationships that underlie these experiences (often from childhood or earlier in life).

The therapist works together with the client to recognise unhelpful or ineffective patterns and supports them to make adjustments and changes for the better.

CAT is particularly helpful in helping people recognise relationship patterns that continue throughout their life and are difficult to change without help.

CAT is different from CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) in its focus. Where CBT particularly focuses on the link between actions, thoughts, and feelings in the here and now, CAT also looks at the past. This allows the therapist to help the client focus on what their problems and challenges are, how they started, and especially how they are relational.

CAT is a particularly helpful approach for people who struggle with addictions, anxiety, depression, disordered eating, obsessions and compulsions, phobias, relationship issues, self-harm and stress.

Counselling is a type of talking therapy that supports a person to talk about their problems and feelings in depth in a confidential and safe environment.

The term counselling is a process people seek when they want to change something in their lives, or simply explore their thoughts and feelings in more depth with professional support.

A counsellor is trained to listen with empathy and compassion. They can help you deal with any negative thoughts and feelings you have.

The aim of counselling is to help you express your feelings, make sense of them and develop new ways of looking at yourself and the world around you.

They will help you to create a plan of action to either help you address your problems, or help you to find ways of coping.

Counselling can be used to help with many different mental health conditions, including:

• depression

• anxiety

• borderline personality disorder (BPD)

• trauma

• long-term illnesses

• eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia

• drug and alcohol misuse

• bereavement , grief & Loss

• relationship breakdown

• redundancy or work-related stress

• explore issues such as sexual identity

Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) is a therapeutic approach that aims to help those who struggle particularly with self critical thoughts and/or shame.

Self critical thoughts and shame typically come from early experiences. CFT teaches a person to cultivate the skills of self-compassion which can help regulate mood and lead to feelings of safety, self-acceptance, and comfort.

“One of it’s key concerns is to use compassionate mind training to help people develop and work with experiences of inner warmth, safeness and soothing, via compassion and self-compassion..” -Prof Paul Gilbert OBE

An experienced therapist may intergrade CFT practices and principles into your treatment alongside other approaches, such as CBT and ACT.

Some aspects of CFT are similar to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in that it also instructs clients about the science behind the mind-body connection and how to practice mind and body awareness.

CFT helps us to understand, and work with, our ‘tricky’ brains. It builds our abilities to use our bodies to support our minds, and develop the courage and wisdom to address our life difficulties and thrive.

Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is an evidence based psychotherapy that is based on CBT, but it is specially adapted for people who feel emotions very intensely.

The aim of DBT is to help you:

• Understand and accept your difficult feelings

• Learn skills to more effectively manage your feelings

• Become able to make positive changes in your life

DBT is based upon the biosocial theory of mental illness and is the first therapy that has been experimentally demonstrated to be generally effective in treating borderline personality disorder (BPD).

DBT skills training is effectively integrated into treatment with a goal of emotion regulation and improved distress tolerance.

It has been a highly effective treatment for a wide variety of problems including :

• depression

• complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD)

• parenting

• borderline personality disorder (BPD)

• self-harm

• eating disorders, specifically binge eating disorder and bulimia

• anxiety

DBT combines CBT techniques for:

• emotion regulation

• reality-testing

• concepts of distress tolerance

• acceptance

• mindful awareness

Many My Therapist Online therapists are highly trained in DBT.

Clinical Psychologist, Ian Scott, runs DBT groups, which is a highly effective form of DBT delivery.

Dynamic interpersonal therapy (DIT) is a simple, 16-session individual therapy protocol for the treatment of mood disorders and relationship problems.

DIT is drawn from the psychoanalytic/psychodynamic approaches and it is specifically designed to address symptoms of depression and anxiety.

DIT explores difficult past experiences, particularly previous relationship difficulties, to help a person understand how they may affect the way you feel and behave in the present.

IPT is a here-and-now, structured, goal-focused therapy.

Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) is a type of short-term therapy that is used to improve attachment and bonding in adult relationships, and is typically used within couples therapy, but can be adapted for family therapy and individual therapy.

EFT helps people to form a more secure emotional bond, which can result in stronger relationships and improved communication.

EFT can benefit couples who are struggling with conflict, distress, and poor communication.

EFT can be particularly helpful for those where one or both partners have:

• Addiction

• Chronic illness

• Depression

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

EFT can be used in individual therapy too, and is highly effective for those struggling with:

• Anxiety

• Borderline personality (BPD)

• Depression

• Childhood abuse or neglect

• Eating disorders

• Interpersonal issues

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing is a psychotherapy treatment that was originally designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories.

EMDR therapy facilitates the accessing and processing of traumatic memories and other adverse life experience to bring these to an adaptive resolution.

When a person experiences psychological trauma or highly stressful events, they are not always able to process the relevant information (i.e. thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations). As a result, they can end up getting “stuck” inside of them and can resurface later on, as if the person was still reliving the traumatic or stressful event.

EMDR aims to ‘process’ negative experiences or events which can subsequently improve emotional well-being and help to significantly reduce, but more often eliminate distressing symptoms and bodily sensations associated with the trauma.

After one or more EMDR sessions, typically, a person stops reporting PTSD symptoms, and the memories associated with the traumatic event stop being so negatively emotionally charged. Emotions become less overwhelming and bodily sensations become less intense.

WHO CAN EMDR HELP?

EMDR can particularly help people who experience current emotional distress as a result of past traumatic life events or experiences.

EVIDENCED BASED

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for the treatment of mental mental health problems, particularly trauma.

A substantial amount of research shows that adverse life experiences may be the basis for a wide range of psychological and physiologic symptoms. EMDR therapy research has demonstrated that processing memories of such adverse experiences results in the rapid reduction of negative emotions, beliefs, and physical sensations.

In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) has also acknowledged EMDR as being an effective treatment approach to psychological trauma and trauma-related disorders.

For further information on Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR.com)

Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is an evidence based type of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

ERP is most often used to treat OCD, but it can be used within treatment for other anxiety disorders such as Emetophobia and BDD.

ERP encourages a person to confront obsessions and resist the urge to carry out compulsions.

During ERP, a therapist will support a person to deliberately put themselves in a situation that would usually make you feel anxious.

By gradually being exposed to their feared situations ( in. a graded way) they experience a gradual reduction of the anxiety that feeds obsessions and compulsions.

This happens through a process called habituation, where a person becomes less physiologically aroused by triggering stimuli or obsessions after being repeatedly and safely exposed to them.

People also learn over time that the stimuli, thoughts, and feelings that prompt compulsions are more bearable (they are more able to cope) than they predicted and do not actually lead to feared outcomes.

While it might seem counterintuitive to intentionally expose a person to situations that cause anxiety, exposure therapy is widely recognised and supported with good evidence as one of the most effective treatments for anxiety.

'Functional Imagery Training is Health Coaching 2.0...' Rutger Top, Coach, Trainer, Project Manager, Amsterdam

FIT is strength-based motivational training that effectively boosts motivation and performance across the entire behavioural spectrum.

FIT is relevant to and useful for all areas of wellbeing change - from health behaviour and lifestyle change, keeping well and recovering from mental health issues, to addressing a life goal and/or performance goal.

FIT is currently most effective way of training individuals in using mental imagery to support their motivation and confidence for goal-success and maintenance long-term.

FIT is a flexible ‘motivational vehicle’, driving forward any change a person may wish to pursue, creating strong desires to achieve.

FIT takes a very personalised approach to wellbeing and performance.

Dr Linda Solbrig (FIT primary developer) offers FIT at My Therapist Online.

FIT is a training that teaches individuals and groups of people to use a new way of thinking, and communicating by drawing on their own cognitive abilities in using mental imagery to compare and contrast, vividly and creatively consider valued goals and to effectively address challenges, as well as to find solutions.

FIT uses a variety of mental imagery exercises to continue building goal, process and success imagery and crucially, it teaches individuals how to do this for themselves, rather than depending on coaching support long-term.

Is Functional Imagery Training effective?

FIT has been used successfully in research to achieve significant weight-loss and to support weight-loss maintenance, to aid recovery from eating disorders, increase physical activity in people with major depression and in the general community, increase grit in professional athletes, increase resilience and support building growth mind-sets, raise the pass-rate of trainee soldiers on their All-Arms Commando Course (AACC) through resilience and grit in the British Army, support diabetic self-management, treat alcohol dependence, manage cannabis use in people with psychosis, to reduce anxiety and manage stress effectively, to reduce self-harm in young adults.

FIT is unique because it aims to replace the need for ongoing support and is wholly designed to equip clients/patients with all the skills they need to quickly become their own coach.

Person centred Therapy (PCT) was developed by psychologist Carl Rogers in the 1930s, and it has been one of the most widely used approaches counselling therapy.

PCT is a form of talk counselling which relies on the therapeutic relationship between the client and the therapist.

PCT is a non directive approach, which means that a persons thoughts and feelings lead the counselling session.

The goal of PCT is to create conditions under which patients can discover their self-worth, feel comfortable exploring their own identity, self-understanding, self-awareness and alter their behaviour to better their wellbeing.

Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) is a treatment focused primarily on interpersonal relationships and communication.

It looks at relationships along side communication skills, and life situations rather than viewing mental health issues as things that occur independent of these complex factors in a person’s life.

IPT typically focuses on here-and-now relationships and aims to improve interpersonal functioning and social support.

It is a particularly helpful approach for those struggling with:

• Depression

• Mood Disorders

• Conflict

• Life Changes

• Grief, loss & bereavement

An IPT therapist will help you to identify patters or difficulties in relationships and develop strategies for coping with these.

The Counselling Directory explains that "Integrative therapy, Integrative counselling is a combined approach to psychotherapy that brings together different elements of specific therapies rather than using just one single approach".

There are hundreds of different types of therapy available. The one that is most effective in any given situation often depends on the type of problem that is being treated.

The most common types of therapy an integrative therapist may draw upon depending on the situation and the problem include:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

• Mindfulness

• Humanistic therapy

• Psychodynamic therapy

Integrative therapy is a therapy that integrates a wider variety of theories in order to tailor therapy to the individual with their different personality traits and needs. Considering their behavioural, cognitive and psychological systems and how they each effect the individual.

The central belief of integrative counselling is that there are many ways in which human functioning can be explored and understood.

Each approach offers explanation and insight into human behaviour, as well as a unique understanding of key factors that will result in changes to behaviour and other areas of functioning such as cognition and emotions.

Integrative therapy can be used to address a wide range of problems, including anxiety, grief and bereavement, depression, low self-esteem, stress, substance use disorders and trauma.

Life coaching is a solution focused approach to personal development aimed at helping people make very positive and lasting changes in their lives.

The life coach facilitates positive change in a person’s life. They will guide and inspire you towards your personal values and goals.

All the My Therapist Online therapist who have life coaching in their list of expertise, also have a core professional qualification.

We do not list Life Coaches at My Therapist Online, but we do list qualified, accredited and experienced therapists who have Life Coaching skills. These therapists use those skills as valuable tools which they integrate into evidence based practice for he treatment of a wide variety of mental health problems.

Mentalization based therapy (MBT) is an evidence based integrative type of psychotherapy that brings together aspects of CBT, psychodynamic, systemic and ecological therapy approaches.

Although it can help other mental health issues, MBT treatment MBT was originally developed by Peter Fonagy and Anthony Bateman for the treatment of borderline personality disorder.

Establishing a trusting therapeutic relationship is an important first step in allowing MBT to be most effective, so an individual feels safe while talking about deeply personal topics.

Although there may be other complexity to understanding a person’s difficulties, very often a person's inability to mentalize stems from an insecure attachment to a parent, or abandonment issues early in life. MBT helps a person to differentiate between their own thoughts and feelings and those of others.

In a MBT programme, MBT programme, individuals will learn about and practise mentalizing skills together with the therapist.

Main aims of MBT include:

- Experiencing a more stable sense of who you are

- Increasing emotional resilience and regulation

- being able to recover quicker after high levels of emotions are experienced

- Make better sense of other people

Mindfulness is the practice of purposefully learning to bring ones attention into the present moment without evaluation of that moment.

It means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally.

Mindfulness practice aims to increases awareness, clarity and flexibility in being with our experiences and stepping out of life’s auto-pilot mode and improving your overall wellbeing.

Mindfulness is particularly good within the treatment of anxiety and is in the NICE guidelines for the treatment of depression.

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is a form of cognitive behavioural therapy that incorporates principles of mindfulness and CBT.

1) Mindfulness is a state of being, where one is fully present in the moment and does not judge or react to their thoughts and emotions.

2) The other main component of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy is cognitive behavioural therapy techniques.

MBCT combines the principles of mindfulness with CBT.

An MBCT therapist aims to:

• teach you how to prevent negative automatic thoughts and feelings from triggering unhelpful behaviours

• teaches mindful meditation

• helps a person change their relationship with these potential triggers

• support a person to be able to experience negative thoughts without letting them influence their feelings and behaviours

Anyone could benefit from learning mindfulness skills. Mindfulness therapy can help people with mental health problems like depression, addiction, anxiety, and other mental conditions. It can also help you if you have physical problems that are causing or caused by your mental health issues.

Psychodynamic therapy helps a person understand how their current feelings and behaviour are shaped by past experiences and unconscious mind and impulses.

Psychodynamic therapy is also known as the psychodynamic approach, psychodynamic counselling or psychodynamic psychotherapy. It is a therapeutic approach that combines parts of many different types of analytic therapies. It is derived from psychoanalysis and the theories of Freud.

Psychodynamic therapy helps people to understand how unconscious thoughts and perceptions are developed throughout a person's childhood. These unconscious thoughts and perceptions affect their current behaviours and thoughts.

The aim of psychodynamic therapy is to bring the unconscious mind into consciousness.

A skilled Psychodynamic therapists knows the importance of the therapeutic relationship, this trusting relationship is central to psychodynamic therapy.

In psychodynamic therapy a person will explore life factors including emotions, thoughts, early-life experiences and beliefs.

The therapist will help to identify recurring patterns in a person’s life, explore how they play a part in the problems they face and insight may allow them to begin changing those patterns.

Psychodynamic therapy can help with many different problems, including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addictions and personality related disorders.

Rational Emotive and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (RECBT) is a comprehensive and active-directive psychotherapy that promotes change by teaching people to identify, confront, and change their self-defeating thoughts and beliefs, to thoughts that promote goal achievement and emotional well-being.

The aim of REBT is to challenge a person’s negative thoughts and beliefs before the person experiences a negative outcome due to their beliefs.

This approach aims to help a person develop better coping skills and improve their overall quality of life.

RECBT is a leading CBT approach, which is the most evidence-based and NICE recommended therapy.

RECBT is used to address a wide range of problems, including:

• anxiety

• depression

• addictive behaviours

• phobias

• overwhelming feelings of anger, guilt, or rage

• procrastination

• disordered eating habits

• anger and aggression

• sleep problems

The most fundamental task of couples therapy is to provide a safe space for self-reflection and exploring your relationship with your partner.

Although the theoretical foundation of the therapist will shape the therapy process, most practitioners use a blend of various approaches and techniques to address the presenting problems from different angles. The process may include an exploration of components such as:

• Interpersonal interactional patterns

• Communication skills with an emphasis upon active listening and clear, direct expression of feelings and needs

• Relationship strengths

• Individual personalities and individual coping dynamics

• Unresolved past issues and emotional wounding

• Family of origin dynamics and the impact upon current relational patterns

• Conflict resolution skills

The role of the therapist

Some practitioners may be more fluid and informal, while others may adopt a more structured approach. The most effective approaches combine the couple’s needs with the unique style and talents of the therapist.

The role of the therapist is to listen empathically to each partner and to step back and observe the interaction between them. Often, the therapist will identify potentially destructive processes, describe what is seen and offer feedback. The aim is to provide alternatives to repeated patterns that are not useful.

Communication skills, is an important part of relationship therapy. The therapist may encourage the couple to make their expressions and phrasing more constructive and specific. The couple may be requested to use ‘I’ statements, describe behaviour and impact rather than blaming, label emotions, and engage in reflective listening.

Frequently, the process emphasises gaining insight into the ‘something deeper’ that is happening within each person. For example, “why is the individual feeling defensive and what is the root anxiety underlying the defensiveness?” In facilitating greater insight, the therapist supports individual clarity, engagement, and responsibility.

Schema therapy (ST) is a form is psychotherapy that brings together elements from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), attachment and object relations theories, and Gestalt and experiential therapies.

ST is aimed at addressing and resolving long standing problems, negative patterns of thinking and acting.

Schemas and early maladaptive schemas are themes and patterns at the core of people that create self-defeating thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.

A schema acts like a filter, through which a person views themselves, others and the world. Therefore all a persons thoughts, feelings and behaviours are effective by the schemas we have developed over our life. Unhelpful schemas can distort a person;’s view and make it difficult to see the world, themselves and others in a fair or helpful way. These difficult schemas can result in unwanted affections on a personal mental health, their relationships and ability to live the life they want.

Schema therapy encourages a person to recognise and dispute these schemas to feel better and function well in society.

There are many different schema types, which will be assessed by a skilled therapist. A schema therapist will assess which schema types seem to be affecting the individual the most and work to lessen their impact.

Solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) is an approach to psychotherapy based on solution-building rather than problem-solving.

SFBT is a future-oriented, goal-directed approach to solving human problems.

The focus of SFBT is on a person's health, goals and direction rather than the problem.

It focused on:

• strengths rather than weaknesses or deficits

• skills

• resources

• coping abilities that would help in reaching future goals and valued directions in a person’s life

SFBT has been found successful in helping a wide range of problems, including couples, families and children.

SFBT It is thought to work very effectively for those who are keen to embrace change and have a goal-orientated mindset, as these individuals are often more responsive to therapy techniques.

Due to the brief nature of the SFBT approach, solution-focused therapy can be particularly beneficial to those who lead fast-paced lifestyles.

Systemic therapy focuses on relationships between a group of people, rather than solely on an individual’s thoughts and feelings. Systemic therapy is often a term used to cover family and couples therapy.

The systemic psychotherapy believes we are interconnected to those around us.

Systemic therapy focuses on the interactions and relationships between people, couples and groups of people.

In Systemic therapy, space is created for everyone to have their say in a safe and non-judgemental environment.

Systemic therapy aims to identify patterns of behaviours and communication within a relationship and within a group and help all involved to understand their differences and what may be causing them problems.