Recently a client asked if I use cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) techniques. Yes, I do, if that is the strategy that seems appropriate for the client. Those CBT strategies are encouraged by insurance companies because they have been shown by research to be effective for certain problems. This modality uses left-brain techniques based on logistical thinking and the ability to verbalize. Emotions are seen as the antithesis to the client’s healing, the cause of his symptoms, the enemy to be overcome.

My clients have shown this thinking to be far too narrow. By using their right-brain strengths–imagination, emotional energy, and intuition–alone or in conjunction with left-brain thinking, they have made rapid progress. I recall one client who amazed me with her power to heal.

She was not a likely candidate for therapy. She was developmentally delayed, had been adopted into an abusive family, had little formal schooling, and, now in her late sixties, had been living in a nursing home for years. She’d suffered a stroke at some point long before I met her and, although she had no difficulty walking or using her arms, she had never regained her ability to speak. She could comprehend what was said to her, but her spoken vocabulary was limited to “Yeah,” “No,” and a repetition of the last word or two of what was spoken to her. Despite these limitations, she had managed well in the nursing facility.

Nursing home staff called me in to work with her because one afternoon she began wailing in the dining room, then raced out, and hid in a corner. Without speech, she couldn’t explain what upset her, but she was agitated, refused meals, and had disturbed sleep after that.

I met with her a few days later. By asking yes-or-no questions, I was eventually able to discern that a new resident strongly resembled a sexual perpetrator from her childhood. She was now flooded with memories and nightmares. Using relaxation techniques, I was able to calm her. I then used right-brain techniques I’ve developed to help her use her imagination to defeat the perpetrator.

She radiated joy and relief after our session. Although she couldn’t verbalize her gratitude, she gave me a hug and scooted away. For several years I met with her from time to time and confirmed that she remained symptom-free, able to eat in the common dining room, sleep peacefully, and live without anxiety. She is truly one of my remarkable clients.

Cognitive therapy is perfect for some clients and for some problems, but not for everything and everyone. I don’t have the time or the money to organize huge, random studies to “prove” right-brain techniques work, but my clients prove it for me over and over again with their resiliency and creative strengths.