Therapeutic Orientation
Through his clinical training, private practice and volunteer work, Dr Barry has accumulated broad clinical experience working in crisis intervention, mental health and the provision of psychotherapy through private practice.
Mike works primarily from a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) orientation, and employs a values based approach to his practice.
He also uses trauma focussed approaches including Prolonged Exposure, Schema Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Imagery Rescripting for the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and complex trauma.
In his clinical practice, Mike focuses on the treatment of middle-aged and older men, and has broad experience working with military and emergency service personnel, and veterans.
Psychological Services
Mike offers face-to-face and telehealth services for a range of clinical problems including:
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Complex Trauma
Depression
Anxiety
Stress Management and Workplace Bullying
Lifecycle Transition, Retirement, Self-esteem and Self Development
(C) Mike Barry Psychology Services ABN: 73 313 464 358 Website last updated 15 Jan 2025
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy based on the idea that how you think and act affects how you feel. It can help in many different situations — with both mental and physical health problems.
In CBT, you work with a therapist to recognise the patterns of thinking (cognition) and behaviour that cause you problems. Then CBT teaches you practical ways to learn or re-learn more helpful and healthy habits. Basically, the aim is to challenge and break the habit of negative thinking.
Negative and unhelpful thinking can show itself in different ways. Some examples are catastrophising, where you always assume the worst possible outcome, and personalisation, where you take everything personally.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an action-oriented approach to psychotherapy that stems from traditional behavior therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy.
In ACT, we learn to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with our inner emotions and, instead, accept that these deeper feelings are appropriate responses to certain situations that should not prevent us from moving forward in our lives. With this understanding, we begin to accept our hardships and commit to making necessary changes in our behavior, regardless of what is going on in our lives and how we feel about it.
ACT aims to develop and expand psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility encompasses emotional openness and the ability to adapt your thoughts and behaviors to better align with your values and goals.
Schema Therapy aims to reduce symptoms and create a high-quality, satisfying life through the healing of early maladaptive schemas, formed during childhood, that play a crucial role in shaping our thinking in later life and the possible formation of mental disorders.
Early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) are “pervasive life patterns which influence cognitions, emotions, memories, social perceptions, and interaction and behavior patterns”.
In Schema Therapy, EMSs are typically formed during early childhood in response to traumatic and unpleasant events. They contain psychological and emotional components, shaping our perception and psychological experiences throughout our lives. The goal of Schema Therapy is to increase the client’s psychological awareness and help them gain control over their thinking and behavior.
The process includes modifying the EMSs and fulfilling unmet core emotional needs through a range of cognitive, emotion-focused, and behavioral interventions that facilitate the healing and transformation of active schemas (schema modes).
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Focus is given to past disturbing memories and related events. It is also used with current situations that cause distress, and to develop the skills and attitudes needed for positive future actions.
Eye movements (or other bilateral stimulation) are used during one part of the process. After the clinician has determined which memory to target first, the client is asked to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and to use their eyes to track the therapist’s hand as it moves back and forth across their field of vision.
As this happens, internal associations arise allowing the client to process the memory and disturbing feelings. In successful EMDR therapy, the meaning of painful events is transformed on an emotional level. For instance, a rape victim may shift from feeling horror and self-disgust to the belief that, “I survived it and I am strong.”
Prolonged exposure is a specific type of cognitive behavioral therapy that teaches individuals to gradually approach trauma-related memories, feelings and situations.
Most people want to avoid anything that reminds them of the trauma they experienced, but doing so reinforces their fear. By facing what has been avoided, a person can decrease symptoms of PTSD by actively learning that the trauma-related memories and cues are not dangerous and do not need to be avoided.
Imaginal exposure occurs in session with the client describing the event in detail in the present tense with guidance from the therapist. Together, the client and therapist discuss and process the emotion raised by the imaginal exposure in session. The client is recorded while describing the event so that they can listen to the recording between sessions, further process the emotions and practice the breathing techniques.
In-vivo exposure, that is confronting feared stimuli outside of therapy, is assigned as homework. The therapist and client together identify a range of possible stimuli and situations connected to the traumatic fear, such as specific places or people. They agree on which stimuli to confront as part of in vivo exposure and devise a plan to do so between sessions. The client is encouraged to challenge themselves but to do so in a graduated fashion so as to experience some success in confronting feared stimuli and coping with the associated emotion.
Imagery Rescripting
Unwanted images are a feature common to a variety of problems including PTSD and depression. Imagery rescripting is an evidence-based experiential therapeutic technique that uses imagery and imagination to intervene in traumatic memories. It aims to reduce the distress associated with negative memories of early adversive experiences.
It involves actively working with mental images rather than simply talking about what happened and consists of prompting patients to rescript the autobiographical memory in line with their unmet needs.
Imagery Rescripting helps to successfully changes the core meaning of traumatic memories and to redefine and create new neural networks which facilitate changes in negative schemas, core belief systems, and behaviors. Within an Imagery Rescripting session, the therapist will guide the client to revisit the memory they are working with. At a key point in the memory, either the client or the therapist will intervene in the image/memory.
The intervention may involve regaining control over the event, creating new outcomes, or re-establishing power over the narrative of the event. The aim is to connect to the client's unmet core needs resulting from the memory/experience to alleviate the symptoms of PTSD and trauma.
