Therapy for Depression

Many people suffer from sadness, loneliness and grief or normal fluctuations in mood due to events in life or even their physiology.  Without sadness when we experience lack, or loss, we would have no attachments, no motivation to seek out betterment.  Grief and loss, loneliness and frustration need to be heard and supported.  This does not always require therapy.

Depression is not sadness. It’s a mood state that sometimes plagues a person like a dark cloud and often is marked by a state of apathy and a loss of interest in things that used to make a person happy.

There is often a negative outlook on things that impacts choices and behavior.  It can impact sleep, appetite, bonding, motivation, focus, and more.  The very things that make a person feel alive and well tend to feel like too much of a burden to engage in and sometimes others are pushed away or stay away because they do not know how to be helpful, making depression potentially more severe.  Poor physical health can worsen depressed mood, and depressed mood can worsen physical health.

Therapy that takes a mind-body approach to depression is imperative.  Empathy and support together with gentle behavioral activation, is helpful to bring back enough vitality to help a person work to enhance their own mood and wellbeing.  Pacing is important.  Enhancement of motivation needs to happen in the context of understanding the whole person, not their depression.  People who struggle for a long time with depression tend to forget their true self and over identify with their depression.

Our Psychotherapists are trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance Based Therapies like ACT and Mindfulness to treat depressions. Some of us have special skills in understanding how medication can interact with therapy and how fitness or time in nature can help.

​Most of us also understand how to draw from Self Psychology – enhancement of sense of self and self worth.  Choose a therapist you feel can understand and connect with who you are as a person, but who also knows how to help you change your thoughts and behaviors in a respectful manner towards a more positive life.  Make sure you are addressing mind-body wellness with attention to potential health factors that might relate to low mood and/or poor self care.  Please ask us to match you with a therapist that helps with Depression, Low Mood or Grief by emailing us here.