Depression Treatment

Depression Can Rob You Of Hope And Happiness. Therapy For Depression Can Help You Start To Enjoy Life Again.

Have you lost interest in the things you used to enjoy?

Perhaps it’s becoming harder to feel hopeful or optimistic.

Do you find that you tend to beat yourself up, or talk negatively about yourself?

Perhaps you’ve noticed yourself slowly isolating from others. These are all common characteristics of depression, and you are not alone in this.

Depression Effecting Relationships

When you’re struggling with depression, it can have an effect on your relationships. You may find yourself withdrawing from family, friends, or significant other. Depression may cause you to feel misunderstood. You may feel guilty for feeling depressed, and that can cause you to want to isolate even more. Therapy for depression addresses the many symptoms that can be related to depression, and helps to navigate the challenges it may add to interpersonal relationships.

More Adults Are Experiencing Depression

Anxiety and Depression

It is common that one may experience symptoms of anxiety along with depression. While the depressive symptoms may be more severe or pronounced, one can have symptoms of anxiety with the depression. These symptoms of anxiety can look like worrying excessively, becoming easily overstimulated with noise or stressors, fearing that others may be judging you, or having panic attacks. Depression treatment may involve screening for any additional symptoms of anxiety.

What To Expect In Therapy For Depression

Therapy for depression uses evidenced-based theories to provide strategies, techniques, and interventions to treat depression. In our first session together, I will honor wherever you are in your struggle with depression and provide compassionate support. Depression is not always something you can “fix” on your own, and I understand the value in having someone to help guide you out of the depression. I will ask you questions to better understand your depression and how it’s affecting your life. From there, we will work on establishing relevant goals that you are able to work on outside of our therapy sessions.

Here are some of the common methods I use for depression treatment:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is an effective method for treating depression as it uncovers the deeper thoughts and beliefs about yourself and your circumstances. Often times, we may have automatic thoughts about ourselves that we don’t realize are there. Thoughts such as, “I can’t do this, I’m a failure, nobody likes me, or I’m not good enough” can be playing over and over again in our minds without us realizing it. CBT works by first identifying these unhelpful thoughts, and then modifying them to produce more positive emotions and behaviors.

Mindful Self-Compassion

Mindful self-compassion uses a combination of mindful awareness and compassion for oneself to alleviate symptoms of depression. In therapy for depression, I will teach you how to become more compassionate towards yourself as we work to change those negative beliefs that are contributing to your symptoms.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is a type of therapy that is a scientifically validated treatment approach to trauma and PTSD. EMDR therapy may help depression as it can target traumatic experiences that are underlying the symptoms of depression. EMDR therapy can help by removing potential “blocks” in your mind that are keeping you from moving forward toward more positive beliefs about yourself.

Will Depression Ever Go Away?

While it is impossible to guarantee that your depression will be “cured” with therapy, there is hope that depression symptoms may lessen and become more manageable. As humans, it is common for us to experience ups and downs, even in the span of just one day! Therapy for depression helps by teaching you how to manage depressive symptoms while we work on lessening the distressing symptoms of depression. Everyone is different, and for some, they may say that therapy or other methods cured their depression. I believe that many things are possible and my overall goal is to help bring improvements, whether big or small, to your experience with depression.

Do I Have To Take Depression Medication?

For some people, depression medication is a helpful option to assist in treating certain types of depression. I cannot prescribe medication, but I can work with your prescriber to help you learn about your medication and monitor your experience with medication. There are many options for treating depression that do not involve medication and I am happy to discuss your personal needs in our sessions.

How Much Does Depression Therapy Cost?

Costs for depression therapy can range anywhere from $90 - $150 per session. My out-of-pocket fee is $110 for a 55-minute session. Therapy is an investment in yourself, your future, and your relationships. Depression can rob you of your time, physical, and emotional energy. If you are able to get some of that back by investing in therapy for depression, it may be well worth it.

Curious If Depression Therapy Can Help?

In depression therapy, I believe in approaching your problems with empathy, validation, and zero judgment. The first step to feeling better from depression is acknowledging and accepting difficult feelings and emotions. Once you understand what you’re feeling, we create solutions that work for you specifically to feel better. Counseling for depression is an effective, long-term solution to treating depression and getting you back to enjoying life. Please fill out the form on the Contact Me page to have a free, 15-minute consultation and see if therapy for depression can help you.