Depression Treatment

Have You Lost Hope That A Happy Life Is Possible?

Does it feel like you’re living under a dark shadow of sadness you can’t escape? Are you stuck in a headspace that causes everything to feel hopeless? Do you know that you want a fuller experience in life but you’re unsure how to move forward?

Perhaps your outlook on the world keeps telling you that you’re destined to fail over and over again. As much as you try to shake this sense of defeat, it keeps showing up—whether at work or in your relationships. Although you might crave the company of others, you choose to remain isolated because of an unbearable sense that you don’t belong.

A Low Mood Could Be Affecting Your Physical Health

When your energy is low, it may start affecting how you feel physically. Perhaps you’ve lost motivation and this, in turn, is preventing you from partaking in physical exercise or other activities you normally enjoy. This may set off a vicious cycle where you start sleeping more; yet the more you sleep the more tired you become. This lack of energy could also affect your appetite and concentration to the point where you struggle to remain focused on anything.

Maybe you’ve given up hope that the way you feel now will ever be different. Overwhelmed by feelings of hopelessness and despair, you struggle to maintain perspective that your sadness is only temporary or that overcoming your depression is possible.

The good news is that therapy allows you to uncover what’s behind your symptoms of depression. Treatment can help you better understand how your beliefs affect your feelings so you are no longer influenced by depression and the painful emotions that no longer serve you.

“Pain is certain, suffering is optional.” - Dalai Lama

We Often Confuse Sadness With Depression

The latest statistics published by Johns Hopkins Medicine report that approximately 9.5 percent of American adults suffer from a depressive illness each year. And yet as common and treatable as depression is, for those of us who struggle with its symptoms we often feel alone, defeated, and hopeless to change how we feel.

When we are depressed, we perceive our fleeting feelings of sadness and pain as a permanent state of being. When we identify ourselves with temporary thoughts or feelings instead of the true essence of who we are, we often choose to shut down our emotions instead of observing what lies beneath them.

The Beliefs We Hold About Ourselves May Not Reflect Who We Really Are

Our culture has developed a prescribed definition of who we are supposed to be, what family should look like, and what it means to be a "good” person within our various roles as children, siblings, partners, and parents. These definitions are so fixed and unwavering that we may adhere to them without really examining what they mean or how they compare to our true wants and desires. Our deep attachment and faith to these ingrained beliefs—that don’t truly reflect who we are—can cause psychic pain.

Social media and advertising have only exacerbated the problem. When we compare ourselves to others and become acclimated to being “seen” over these platforms without real human interaction, it contributes to our sense of isolation. What’s more, we’re bombarded with false images—colorful marketing developed for us to have a primal response to what we’re seeing that is in no way connected to our true environment—and so we often detach emotionally.

Although you may have avoided your emotions as a coping mechanism for dealing with your depression, therapy can help you understand the difference between temporary feelings and your true self, so you no longer identify with momentary sadness or pain.

Treatment For Depression Is A Path Back To Yourself

Many of us feel pressure to fulfill various roles within our daily lives, such as parent, spouse, employee, or friend—rarely letting our guard down to consider how we are feeling and relating to the world. Therapy is a place that's your own to express and examine parts of yourself that otherwise get suppressed or ignored in the hustle and bustle of daily life. It’s a place where new choices are possible that can lead to new outcomes.

What To Expect In Sessions

You might be aware that your depression relates to a pattern that you seem fated to repeat even though you wish you could break from it. In our initial session together, we will unpack how this pattern shows up for you and how you react to it physically and emotionally. Identifying your pattern will be followed by you creating a timeline of your life—discovering the common threads that link your experiences—that you will share with me in our second session.

Looking for repeated experiences and feelings is a great road map to identifying the habituated thoughts and beliefs you hold. In ongoing sessions, we will focus on identifying and then slowing down your automated reactions and responses to these thoughts and beliefs.

I will help you relate your experiences to the thought framework that you have imposed on your life and point out how this framework serves or doesn't serve you. We will acknowledge the many choices you have in any given moment so that you become liberated from the reactionary responses that have been keeping you stuck in unhelpful feelings and behaviors.

How Do You Eat An Elephant? One Bite At A Time

We make it hard on ourselves to feel better when our definition of what “better” means is an unattainable version of perfection that seems light-years away. My philosophy is that change in all its forms—behavior change, thought change, perception change—occurs in micro shifts. Once you reframe what it means to feel better and be better, you will realize that it’s been happening incrementally all along.

I will offer exercises to practice micro shifts in perception, reactions, and behaviors from day one. Mindfulness, meditation, and breathing practices will help you remain comfortable and grounded in the present moment. Additionally, we will identify the support system that you have in place in terms of friends, family, and your work and home environment to determine how they fit into your overall plan for improvement.

My goal in working with you will be for you to be regarded for who you are and not what you do. I want you to live in complete acceptance of the beautiful being you are, fully in charge of the process of understanding yourself and the transformation that you are undergoing.

But You May Wonder Whether Depression Treatment Is Right For You…

I think I might need medication for overcoming my depression.

Successful depression treatment may sometimes require a multi-pronged effort to be effective. Therapy for depression is always recommended, but medication might be a beneficial adjunct to your treatment if you suffer from clinical—or severe—depression. Once your mood is stabilized, you will have better results with therapy. After I evaluate how you are feeling at your initial session, we can determine together if medication is warranted and I can refer you to the appropriate care provider.

I’ve always felt this way—how can depression treatment help someone like me?

Seeking a therapist’s support to identify your own capacity for growth is helpful when treating depression. Once you commit to therapy, a chain reaction of new thoughts and feelings will follow that can have a significant impact on your life and those around you. There are no labels required to navigate the healing process or define when you are “better”, just degrees of willingness to be authentically yourself.

I’ve tried depression treatment before and it didn’t help me.

You may have tried therapy for your depression before and, if you were dissatisfied with the experience, decided it’s not for you. But not all therapists are alike. My intellectual approach to depression counseling is customized to suit your needs. Even if you’re unsure you are experiencing the signs or symptoms of depression, you may still be a good candidate for therapy. If you’re ready to do the work and become more connected to your essential self, let’s work together.

Redefining Your Beliefs Will Change Your Outlook

If you are reading this page, your transformation to wellness is already underway. I can help you free yourself from depression so it no longer casts a shadow over your life.

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