Get unstuck from depression & rediscover what makes life meaningful

Some people find it hard to know when they are depressed, as depression can set in slowly and feel like this is “just how life is”.

Some signs that you are experiencing depression are that you’re having difficulty going to work or getting your work done, caring for yourself or people under your care, or enjoying activities you once found pleasure in. You also may notice differences in your self-image and outlook on life, such as feeling worthless, hopeless, guilty, or indecisive.

Whether you are experiencing depression or a rough patch, if you find yourself here seeking information, this may be a sign that your challenges are significant enough that they may benefit from counseling. Counseling can help you better manage your stressors, whether they come from a temporary rough patch or a long-running struggle with depression.

Emotional symptoms of depression include feelings of sadness, emptiness, hopelessness, or anger. You may experience irritability, tearfulness, restlessness, or difficulty concentrating. Physical symptoms include fatigue, sleeping too much or too little, eating more or less than usual, slowed body movements, and unexplained pain such as back pain or headaches.

Depression therapy can be useful at any stage. Some people come in proactively at the first sign of depression, allowing us to explore ways to prevent symptoms from worsening. Others find themselves seeking therapy after depression has become a noticeable and significant challenge in their lives.

You may benefit from counseling for depression if you notice any of the symptoms described in the second question above, or if you’ve noticed a change in your ability to go to work/school, care for yourself, or enjoy hobbies and interests you once cared about.

During your first session, I’ll be focused on helping you to get oriented and comfortable with the counseling process. I’ll ask you questions to learn more about you and what brings you to therapy.

We’ll spend some time talking about what depression has looked like for you recently, and throughout your life, and we can also explore other areas of your life that you may want to address in counseling as well. I’ll ask you about your hopes for therapy, and we may set some initial goals or intentions for our work together.

I recommend planning to meet weekly, at least for the first 6-8 sessions. After that, some people find it helpful to continue weekly until they meet their goals for therapy, and others find it useful to eventually space out their sessions to biweekly or monthly.

How long our work together will take can vary from person to person. Some people are able to meet their depression-related therapy goals within 1-3 months, while others benefit from the deeper work than longer term therapy can provide. I’ll give you a more tailored recommendation after we meet and I am able to learn more about your specific needs.

I blend several therapies to offer you a tailored approach to meet your specific needs. Often with depression, I find that a combination of acceptance and commitment therapy and compassion-focused therapy can help you build a kinder, more supportive relationship with yourself, and reconnect with what matters to you so that you can start building a life worth engaging in.

I also utilize a systemic approach, recognizing that the context surrounding you can impact your well-being. We may take a look at the impact of your relationships, upbringing, workplace, experience of oppression, and reaction to climate change or other societal stressors. This can give you the space to better understand what contributes to your depression and how you may want to set boundaries, make a change, or care for yourself in the midst of these experiences.

These are all challenges we can explore and work on in therapy. I’ll work with you to help you understand where your stuckness is coming from. Sometimes, low motivation and burnout come from too many demands being placed on you, in which case we’ll work to build acceptance that you’ve reached your capacity, and explore ways to remove some of those demands to give you the room to recover and regain your energy.

Other times, burnout and low motivation come from a lack of connection with your values. You may have become so disconnected with what matters to you that life loses its “color” and you lose the energy to engage with life. In this case, we’ll gradually identify what might matter to you, and I’ll encourage you to try a few small experiments where you engage in these values to see if it makes a difference.

This depends. If your depression is mild, therapy may be sufficient to reach your goals and feel better. If your depression is moderate to severe, a combination of medication and therapy may bring better results.

I recommend that you speak to your primary care doctor or psychiatrist to get a recommendation based on your symptoms, as I am not able to prescribe or give specific recommendations about medication. However, I am happy to discuss the process of considering medication with you - sometimes it’s helpful to talk through your thoughts and explore any hesitations you may have before seeking a medical opinion.

These experiences can have some overlap, but there are some distinctions. Sadness is an emotion, and emotions typically come and go. If you experience moments of sadness, this is just part of being human and having the spectrum of emotions that we all have. Sadness that persists over an extended period of time may be a symptom of depression and is something to take notice of.

Grief is the response to the pain of losing something that mattered to you, whether it be a loved one, a pet, a home, or a relationship. Grief may involve sadness, anger, guilt, and disbelief. Grief can come with difficulty sleeping, eating, or thinking straight. For many people, grief eases over time as they come to accept and mourn the loss. For some people, grief is more complicated, such as when trauma accompanies the grief, and may require more time and possibly therapy to promote healing.

Clinical depression is a mood disorder that involves mental, physical, and emotional symptoms. Unlike grief, there may not be a clear cause of your symptoms. And unlike sadness, depression persists for a longer period of time, typically for 2 weeks or longer. Sadness, grief, or depression can all be the focus of therapy if they are getting in the way of your sense of well-being, and therapy can be a space to better understand which of these you are experiencing.

Having thoughts of self-harm and suicide can be fairly common with depression, and I encourage you to seek counseling if you have been having these thoughts. Counseling is a space where we can explore these thoughts so that you can understand where these thoughts come from and find alternative ways to cope when mental pain arises.

If you need immediate support for thoughts of self-harm or suicide, or are currently considering acting on these thoughts, please call the Lifeline at 988 to speak to a counselor, or go to your nearest emergency room.