Depression Treatment
Has Life Become Heavy For You, Causing You To Feel Stuck?
Have you felt hopeless dealing with certain situations in your life? Are you ready to move forward but believe it’s impossible? Is it difficult for you to take the initial steps needed to improve your life?
Maybe nothing seems right anymore. Or perhaps you have lost enjoyment in what you used to look forward to.
Despite common perception, signs of depression include more than just feeling down or sad. Perhaps you have noticed how quickly you become irritated or angry with yourself or others, even over small things. Or maybe your energy levels have dropped, but no matter how much you sleep, you still wake up feeling exhausted.
Feeling physically and mentally drained makes shaking these feelings that have taken root seem impossible. And not knowing what to do, you may have tried turning to alcohol, drugs, or binge-eating to cope with the rut you are stuck in.
You know you aren’t acting and feeling like you used to, and you just want to go back to your former self. Before, you were happy and felt secure in your relationships and friendships. Now, it feels like you are draining to friends and family. Not wanting to be a burden, you may withdraw from your support systems and all the activities you used to love.
It can be hard to get on the right path again. When depression drags you down and you lose all motivation, the smallest task can seem as if it’s a mountain too steep to climb. You want to get in touch with your true inner self, but have no idea how to untangle the mess you feel inside.
Believe it or not, wanting to feel better but not knowing how to get there is a common experience. With depression counseling, you can begin the journey of finding yourself again.
Depression Can Affect Anyone At Any Time
There is a common misconception that only people going through difficult times can experience depression. The truth is, depression can impact anyone—even those of us who have positive things happening in our lives can become depressed.
To the outside observer, symptoms of depression are not always obvious. Some of us are just better at putting our figurative masks on because we feel like we need to be able to deal with depression on our own. Despite having promising careers, great support systems, and things we love doing, we can’t seem to shake the despair we feel inside.
Unfortunately, societal and cultural pressures can cause us to feel an overwhelming need to be successful. If we don't succeed in the way society implies we should, we often have a tendency to internalize this as failure. As thoughts of failing overtake our minds, many of us begin dealing with symptoms of depression, even if we’re not always aware of it right from the start.
Mental health awareness has come a long way in the past decade, but sadly, there are still stigmas surrounding it. To the outside world, depression can be perceived as made-up, or just an attention-seeking mechanism. In spite of needing help, it is commonplace to not seek counseling for depression for fear of being shamed or judged.
As we become more isolated and withdrawn, we tend to push our support systems farther away. However, retreating in this way is maladaptive because we are not maintaining healthy coping skills to manage our moods.
In some cases, we may not even realize that what we are dealing with is depression. Mental health issues are often portrayed as just being sad or anxious on television and movies. When these matters are brushed under the rug, it may cause us to not even recognize our issues as something more.
While overcoming mental health issues is no small battle, depression treatment can provide hope at the end of the tunnel.
Depression Therapy Can Help You Respond To Stress In Healthier Ways
I understand that taking the first steps to seek help can be overwhelming. When you have isolated yourself for so long, it can feel completely foreign to ask for assistance. You may even be scared to reach out.
Therapy can provide a safe place for you to better understand your symptoms, the root causes of your depression, and how it is manifesting in your life. By pursuing treatment for your depression, you put yourself in a position to receive help to not only determine the cause of your issues but also learn how to cope with your symptoms in the present and the future.
In our first session, I will talk with you to understand how the symptoms of your depression are affecting your life. There may have been a single or multiple situations that have led you to this moment in your life, and part of my intake session is to understand the scope of the effects. Through an open discussion, we can learn how you have tried to cope with depression in the past and what has and hasn’t worked.
I strive to help my clients understand their mental health issues in a clearer and deeper grasp.My approach to depression therapy focuses on quick modifications of behavior and teaching coping skills to help reduce your symptoms. By decreasing the severity of your symptoms, we can then shift the focus on what is at the core of your depression.
In therapy, I use an evidence-based approach called Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT.) EFT focuses on identifying the underlying emotions that are causing depression to remain in your life. Chances are In other words, there are core emotions at the root of your depression that have caused you to feel this way.
Since a variety of factors can lead to depression, I also integrate aspects of other evidence-based treatments such as Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Interpersonal Therapy during sessions. These approaches will allow us to examine how your thoughts, behaviors, relationships, and attachments have influenced your depression.
Treatment for depression is not a one-size-fits-all matter, so we will develop a personalized plan to help you succeed. My aim is to help you learn to get in touch with your emotions in order to respond to the stresses in your life in a healthier manner.
Not only will therapy help you develop healthier coping skills, but you will also have a clearer understanding of what has caused your depression. When applying meaning to the deeper, psychological influences of depression, you can experience empowerment and relief.
You May Still Have Questions About Depression Treatment…
I can’t be depressed because I am not sad and I don’t cry.
Depression does not always just boil down to sadness or tears. Depression symptoms can manifest themselves in many ways. Some people experience anger or irritability. If you want to ask yourself if you could be depressed, a better approach is by saying, “Is something off with me lately? I just don’t feel right.”
I have many things to be thankful for, so I really shouldn’t be depressed.
It is great that you recognize the positive areas in your life. However, you can’t compare your pain and struggles to what others may be experiencing with depression. It’s possible to be grateful for the positive aspects of your life while still feeling a deeper-rooted unhappiness.
I’m not as motivated as I usually am, but I can get through this.
Struggling with motivation, concentration, and feeling overwhelmed can be signs that you are depressed. To make things even more difficult, you may start criticizing yourself to the point that you respond with apathy and hopelessness which can worsen your mood.
I’m worried about the cost of therapy.
Instead of thinking about therapy as an expense, think of it as an investment. Not only would you be investing money into yourself but also time and energy into becoming the best version of yourself that you want to be.
You Can Find Motivation and Clarity
I understand how hard it can be to reach out and take the first step to get help. I would be happy to schedule a 15-minute phone call with you to answer any questions or concerns you have. You can also reach out to me through my contact form or call my office directly.