Depression

I come from the model of dis-ease not disease. Medical model supports that depression is a dysfunction of neurotransmitters requiring medication. This can be so troubling as that means that there is something wrong with our brain. Dis-ease means that we are reacting to something unpleasant resulting in depressive feelings. That means that it can be changed and result in feeling better. https://morejoyfullife.com/you-have-a-disease-big-lies-of-mental-illness/

As with anxiety, depression can be caused and fed by many factors; not to mention symptoms of depression can vary widely from person to person. Together we dig into your experiences and the narratives created by those experiences.

Does Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants speak to you? Eeyeore? Are you a "sad potato" who feels like you bring everyone else down? Depression is much more than just "being sad," and it takes more to recover from it than just "cheering up". If it were that easy, we wouldn't need therapists! I recognize how incredibly difficult it is to seek help when you're struggling with depression. If you're reading this, you've taken a powerful step toward feeling better. I can help.

There is a well-known simple truth that states, "Life is difficult." While this is true and important to understand, life should also be fun, joyous, beautiful, exciting and so much more. In depression, which may come one for many different reasons, the difficult and painful parts of life crowd out, or overshadow, the good. Our work together will be to gain a better understanding of the roots of your depression and your way out, to once again experience and enjoy all that life has to offer.

Are you feeling hopeless, isolated and not your usual self? Do these thoughts often enter your mind? I am worthless and can’t do anything about it. I feel guilty for just wanting to eat, sleep and be alone. I hate who I am these days. I understand the social stigmas that come with label of being depressed, and thus aim to help clients sort out their environmental, biological and circumstantial factors while offering support and and care through a very dark time in their lives.

How do you experience your depression? What impact does it have on your life? Everyone gets down sometimes but what do we do when we feel like our melancholy is bottomless? What if your depression had a place to emerge, had a place to be seen without judgement? Would the way you experience it change? How might you change if it did? I will work with you to answer these questions and help you deepen your own understanding of how you can cultivate and sustain renewed vitality.

An often overlooked, stigmatized, and sometimes silent illness, Depression can be difficult to identify with or admit to experiencing. Have you ever had anyone say: Just stop thinking about it? Be positive! Why are you depressed, look what you have in life? So many people are struggling more than you & are not depressed! This illness has been known to lead to very sad outcomes if not treated. Please do not suffer alone. Seeing a therapist is one courageous way to begin healing.

The soaking wet blanket on top of you is uncomfortable. Yet it is so difficult to take it off. I have worked many years with people who suffer from depression. Sometimes substance use complicates matters and sometimes not. Sitting in the muck is part of the therapeutic process in order to get to the other side. I can help with that process and be side by side with you during it all.

Depression can feel like you are navigating through a fog of darkness, and I want you to know that you're not alone. I'm here to provide a compassionate space to better understand your experience, identify patterns, set realistic goals, and develop coping skills. Rebuilding a sense of purpose and joy is a gradual process, and I am committed to supporting you every step of the way.

Knowing that there are positive things happening that you cannot feel is frustrating and compounds the sadness and self blame.

Depression can get in your way and stall out progress toward your goals. I can help you adjust and improve your mood state while we work on your life goals as the two are intertwined and affect each other.

As a humanistic and existential therapist, I do not aim to pathologize our emotional experience but rather am interested in exploring and understanding their function. This includes depression and anxiety which can impact our daily functioning, relationships, and quality of life. My hope is to explore your values and meaning in life to empower you to live a life within congruence of these values and hopefully decrease feelings of hopelessness, internalized shame/guilt, and inauthentic living.

Depression can make a person feel stuck and not sure what the first step is. I like to help my clients take small reasonable steps to help combat depression and to start to get clients to get out of this rut. I always try to have my clients challenge their negative thoughts related to depression with kind thoughts and how to use compassion for themselves during this time.

Decrease depressive symptoms by gaining more insight and coping skills.

Depression is the symptom, but what is the cause? Often times it is a lack of clear meaning and purpose in one's life. Other times it is living in a toxic or dehumanizing situation where you are treated as less than human. Together, we'll get clear on YOUR values and aspirations in life, and figure out how to take steps in creating a life that is personally fulfilling for you. We'll also figure out what choices you can make to re-claim your own freedom so you can feel fully human again.

Many people deal with depression. For some it is chronic and others it comes on during stressful times of life. When we suffer from depression it is like wearing a heavy coat on a hot day and we cannot take it off. It just makes everything that much harder to do. If you suffer from depression I can help you identify tools and activities to help lift that heavy coat from your day to day life.