Therapy should not be a mysterious process, it should be mutually agreed upon and a clear process. Dr. Polansky believes that she is in the business of helping people change. There are three primary ways that help people change: as the result of novel experiences, as the result of education and as the result of viewing their situation differently. Dr. Polansky utilizes each of these approaches in her practice.

First, people change as the result of having new or novel experiences. Sometimes Dr. Polansky asks clients to try on new ways of being in the therapy session. Other times she has people try new things out in their personal life. People do change as the result of having new experiences; think about how profound an experience travel can be. Sometimes people come into the office as the result of having had a new experience such as a diagnosis of cancer, or an automobile accident.

Second, people change as the result of being educated. Dr. Polansky provides her clients with a lot of information. This information may be in the form of educating them about their diagnosis or it may be outlining various responses to specific symptoms associated with their problems such as teaching people appropriate sleep hygiene. It becomes the individual's responsibility to use the information in order to lead to lasting change. For example, once a person is given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, people often find it helpful to receive information about treatment and the usual course of interchanging mania with depression. Dr. Polansky then spends considerable time helping the client structure their life so that they are better prepared to deal with the ups and downs inherent with bipolar disorder. She also tends to work on helping them have a more realistic vision of how they are impacting the people in their life.

Finally, the third way of helping people to change is by changing the way they are viewing the situation. As human beings we tend to have a negative bias in the way we process information. We often are not aware of how negative we are in our thoughts and approaches to life. Dr. Polansky provides her clients with other options. She also works with people to view their own situation from a number of different perspectives. Quite often, she has found that a change in perspective will reap significant results.

The two treatment modalities she most often employs are cognitive behavior therapy and interpersonal therapy. Both methods have been widely researched and are shown to be effective in treating depression, bipolar disorder, medical issues and relationship issues. Cognitive therapy is also effective in treating anxiety and stress related concerns. Interpersonal therapy is especially effective in treating relationship issues.