Depression Counseling
Have you been feeling depressed almost daily for two weeks?
Have you lost interest in things you used to enjoy?
Do you feel excessively tired and want to sleep all the time, or has it been days since you had a good night’s sleep?
Do you often have thoughts of just never waking up or that there is no point to life?
Do you often feel deep sadness that nothing seems to shake?
If you have experienced any of these, then it’s possible you have a type of depressive disorder. You would not be alone. Many men and women also experience depressive symptoms.
Almost everyone feels some level of depression at some point in their lives.
In the United States, almost seven out of every 100 adults 18 and over experienced Major Depressive Disorder (1). Men and women experience depression differently. Men typically become more tired, irritable, and angry. On the other hand, women often experience intense sadness, worthlessness, and guilt.
Depression can be caused for various reasons, such as losses, which can include the death of a loved one, financial loss including unemployment, divorce, or experiencing repeated small losses in a short period of time. Sometimes, depression is caused by no apparent external reason and symptoms are often caused by our own genetic history.
The good news is that depression can be treated. Depression counseling with a therapist who is compassionate, skilled, and experienced can journey with you to learn ways to decrease common depressive symptoms.Trauma Counseling can help to mitigate and manage symptoms related to past trauma.
You can find hope and feel joy in your life with help from depression counseling.
Counseling to address depression symptoms begins at the first session with a thorough assessment. I am qualified personally and professionally to help you to begin your journey to mental wellness through techniques that will mitigate, and in some cases eliminate common symptoms. Depression is draining, exhausting, and we often feel alone in our pain. I understand. I’ll provide a non-judgmental and safe environment to begin to address your symptoms of depression.
Often those who experience clinical depression have difficulty with time management, concentration, and decision-making. Even simple tasks can feel monumental. Negative self-statements begin to take over causing procrastination or feeling paralyzed to move forward. Together, we’ll set up a program for you that will help to decrease many of the symptoms. A couple of these is establishing a daily physical activity and learning time-management skills. I’ll need to identify what areas of your life are minimized and need attention/balance.
Along with symptom management, we’ll also look for the root of what’s causing the depression, and then begin to address that using techniques from Cognitive Behavior Therapy. This technique promotes experimenting with new behaviors, re-thinking scripts, identifying Automatic Thoughts that may not be helpful or realistic. I’ll introduce you to terms like cognitive distortions, which are ways that individuals thinking processes are skewed and cognitive triangle, which is the relation between a person’s thoughts-feelings-behaviors. With my help, you’ll learn ways to change the way you think about your life and feelings.
I also like to incorporate techniques from Positive Psychology, which promotes positive thinking, use of humor and laughter, and recognizing gratitude. I promote and encourage daily self-care. Often depression takes over, and we forget the basics of our own physical, mental, spiritual, and psychological needs. Self-care is simple, yet for people experiencing depression can feel confusing and difficult. I’ll encourage you with small steps about ways to care for yourself first. Many of us are uber busy, but we can’t adequately care for others if we don’t first care for ourselves. These are a few of the techniques I use to help you with your individual healing in depression therapy.
If you report suicidal ideation, I will assess for risk and protective factors. If your risk assessment is high, then I will refer you to the nearest Emergency Room and/or Psychiatric facility for a complete assessment and possible admission. Additionally, there are cases in which medications are helpful, and if this is your case, I’ll recommend that you see a physician to prescribe a medication that works best for you.
For the last 13 years, I’ve worked with numerous individuals to help them find ways to cope with, decrease, and in some cases eliminate symptoms of depression. I feel compassion and understanding toward any person experiencing depression. There are different types of depression; Major Depression Disorder, Adjustment disorders, and Depressive disorder unspecified. It’s not uncommon for someone with depression to also be experiencing anxiety as a secondary diagnosis. Often an individual with a Major Depression Disorder will require medication.
You may still be wondering if depression counseling is right for you.
When will I start to notice improvement?
For most people with a clinical depression, simply making that first step to meet with a compassionate caring person brings a sense of relief, and this begins the journey of healthy and positive self-care. For others it may be the 2nd or 3rd depression therapy session when they begin to experiment and practice the behaviors and news ways to think about life.
How many sessions will it take to complete treatment?
Depending on the techniques used, treatment typically is completed after 16-20 sessions. This will depend on your adherence and commitment to practicing the techniques presented.
Will I be required to return for follow-up sessions?
You will not be required to return for follow-up sessions, but many choose to return for refresher sessions, and or for symptoms to be monitored.
What is the cost for depression counseling sessions?
Another way to ask this question is what is the cost for not obtaining depression counseling? Mental Health America reports that untreated depression costs as much as heart disease or AIDS in the US Economy with over $51 billion dollars due to absenteeism and lost productivity and $26 billion due to direct medical treatment (2). What this means for individuals is that the more days you miss, the more income you lose, which increases the employee’s risk of being terminated, and then looking for another job. The investment of treating your depression symptoms with depression therapy will save you money and improve the quality of your life.
Join others who have taken the first step to attend depression counseling.
I will be glad to speak with you. I offer a free 15-30 minutes phone consultation. Give me a call at 479-531-9844 to set up that phone consult. Take a few minutes to complete the depression quiz available on this site (depression quiz). The quiz will help you to identify symptoms of depression and a resources section that provides you with information about treatment for and ways to deal with depressive symptoms. Please, your life matters. Seek help whether you decide to see another therapist or to work with me.
If you feel you cannot keep yourself safe, please call the following number or text the crisis hotline.
National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255
Crisistextline.org: text 741741
(1) Anxiety and Depression Association of America. www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/depression
(2) www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/depression-workplace