Depression Therapy
Has Depression Been Keeping You From Fully Enjoying Your Life?
Are you struggling to find the energy or motivation to get through the day and constantly want to just crawl into bed and sleep?
Do you experience low appetite or sex drive, migraines or headaches, or other physical symptoms?
Have you been consumed by thoughts of death and dying, hopelessness, defeat, and low self-worth on a regular basis?
Maybe it feels like you’re always carrying a heavy emotional weight around with you or that you’re easily irritated—but you’re not sure why. You may also find yourself sabotaging or pushing relationships, friendships, jobs, or general success away from you.
If you’re wondering whether or not you may be experiencing depression, consulting a therapist can help you find the answer.
It Can Be Daunting To Face The World When Depression Has A Hold On You
Depression can have a way of being all-consuming and overpowering, weighing on you emotionally, mentally, and physically. At times you may find yourself on theverge of crying, completely depleted and exhausted even after not doing much. Or you may just be constantly tired and consumed with sadness, guilt, or regrets about life.
When you’re depressed it’s not uncommon to beat yourself down internally or struggle to locate the good and worth within yourself, always feeling like you’re inadequate. It’s also common in episodes of depression to spend a significant amount of time in nostalgic memories—longing to return to the times in your life when you felt happy, joyful, and carefree. It may seem like those feelings are relegated to the past (and/or the future) and are so hard to come by in the present.
Starting therapy can be a major empowering step towards alleviating your depression symptoms and finding the motivation, energy, and relief to get back on your feet. And, maybe even help you recapture (or find for the first time) that carefree feeling, as well.
Depression Can Have Different Origins For Everyone
While it is the case that some people may be more susceptible to depression than others, anyone can experience depression, given the right circumstances.
For some of us, depression can start with a relationship breakup, the death of a loved one, a difficult life transition, or the loss of a job. Grief from loss tends to be carried in the body and accumulates over time when it is not processed. In fact, grief is actually a natural response to various types of losses—whether from deaths, breakups, or other events, such as growing up and leaving childhood.
Depression can also be the result of a daily life full of chronic overwhelm, constantly having to overperform at work or in relationships, or taking care of everyone else and not having enough room available for our own needs. When we feel deprived in our lives or our relationships and it seems like no one is really seeing your personal struggle, there’s only so much we can take without feeling a deep impact on your mind and body.
How We Feel On A Deeper Level Towards Ourselves Can Also Set Depression In Motion
Low self-esteem and self-worth can be a psychological and emotional strain that can, ultimately, create a foundation for depression. It’s hard to feel joy when we believe we’re coming up short with our relationships, jobs or careers, or in other ways. In addition, unprocessed trauma can also heavily play into depression through the feelings we carry, towards others, ourselves, and the world.
Overall, any combination of experiences in which we have been repeatedly suppressed (e.g. our voice or identity being pushed down), oppressed, abused, held back, or bullied all have the potential to set the scene for depression.
For every person, the reasons vary. And part of our work in counseling is to come to understand and work through what underlies and feeds your depression.
Therapy Can Help Unburden You From The Darkness And Heavy Weight of Depression
It’s difficult to break free from depression without the specific kind of support therapy offers—where we can solely focus on you, away from other distractions or the needs of others around you. As a therapist, I aim to provide you with a safe, supportive, and open space so you can feel at ease to sort through any life experiences, some of which may be deeply painful and emotional, and explore the deeper roots of your depression.
The attention here is for you and what you need—at your pace.
My approach to depression therapy is integrative. I come from a mind-body perspective as a therapist and am psychodynamic, relational, and analytic as we work through the depths of your depression. At the same time, as needed, I will bring in other techniques that are more behavioral to help create a sense of motivation and coping while we engage in the deeper process together.
Whether you are struggling with ongoing depression, on-and-off episodes, or even just a sense of chronic sadness and heaviness, I’m here to support you and help bring you back on your feet.
What To Expect In Depression Therapy Sessions
The counseling process would generally start with getting to know you and learning about your overall struggle with depression. As we continue forward, our conversations will naturally shift towards reflecting on deeper life experiences (present and past) that could be triggering and feeding your depression. During the course of this process, we will look at patterns in your relationships, emotional patterns, how you engage with and see the world (and yourself), and more.
As we work together, we will be loosening the weight and power of the symptoms you are feeling, aiming to free you from the grip of depression, and helping you to feel lighter so you can look forward to engaging in your life again.
While depression has many possible underlying factors, it is often fed and sustained by unhealthy dynamics that unknowingly play out in our lives. Therefore, as part of a relational approach, we will also at times look at our therapeutic relationship and how the dynamics may come into play with us. This will allow us to work in real-time to shift unhealthy dynamics into something that works for you, rather than against you.
The overall goal for our process of working together is that you will be liberated from the darkness and heaviness of the emotions you’re carrying, while also increasing your level of motivation, energy, and empowerment in your life.
You May Have Some Questions About Depression Therapy…
What if I feel like, “What’s the point? Nothing is going to help anyway?”
It can be very common in the midst of depression to feel a sense of hopelessness, helplessness, or resignation. It may feel like you’re ready to give up at times and just keep dragging through life, or that you just don’t feel like doing anything about it.
However, even if it does feel this way at first, being able to have a place to put these feelings outside of yourself is the first step towards moving things forward. At the start of depression counseling, the idea actually isn’t to feel better, yet. The aim is just to allow what you’re going through to be present with us. So, if you feel like, “Why bother?”, there’s room here to “not bother” together.
What if I’m just a melancholy person? I don’t think happiness is really in the cards for me.
Psychotherapy for depression isn’t only for the purpose of creating happiness. A lot of people struggle to have the space for their emotional needs getting the attention they deserve, possibly feeling they are burdening other people around them with their own problems. In therapy with me, the space is yours, and you will have the support that is often so hard to come by in the outside world.
How long does depression therapy generally take?
While it’s always nice to be able to predict how long emotional processes take, if a therapist were to try to tell you in advance how long it would take, I’d be concerned about that approach. Emotional processing is different for everybody, as it’s personal and is based on your own needs.
Therapy also varies based on how severe your depression symptoms are. It tends to work best when things open organically and we take our time with it—at your pace and comfort. Putting pressure on the process or trying to speed it up generally leads into the opposite direction. But when you are patient with yourself in the process of healing, the reward is generally greater as a whole.
It Is Possible To Come Through To The Other End Of Depression
Taking the step to ask for help from an experienced therapist opens the door to relief and liberating yourself from the heaviness and emotional burden of depression. The light at the end of the tunnel is there. It can sometimes just be hard to see it when you’re in the darkness.
If you’re ready to get back on your feet to experience joy, motivation, and the good that life has to offer, please reach out to schedule a consultation.
Request an Appointment
More about Depression…
6 Signs of Possible Depression
Everyone has ups and downs, but sometimes it’s hard to tell when those “downs” are signs of something more serious. Depression can sometimes sneak up on you in ways you might not expect. Maybe you’ve [read more]
People Pleasing: Understanding Its Role in Depression
Do you ever feel like you’re bending over backward to make everyone happy, only to end up feeling miserable yourself? You might be caught in the people-pleasing trap. It’s a common habit that seems harmless [read more]
Does Your Toxic Work Environment Have You Depressed?
It would be nice if everyone can have a job they enjoy showing up for every day. Unfortunately, not everybody does. However, if you often dread going into work (whether in person, or working from [read more]