Depression Counselling in Ottawa, ON.

The Depression & Mood Service at the Centre for Interpersonal Relationships offers children, adolescents, adults and couples psychological assessment and treatment of depression and other mood disorders. Finding a path toward recovery can be challenging, but the good news is that depression is treatable; recent research indicates that psychotherapy is extremely important in your recovery from depression.

Helping clients understand what depression is and ensuring that they are aware of what the various treatment options that are available to them (i.e therapy, traditional medicine, naturopathic medicine, etc). Helping clients determine what is at the root of it all and finding strategies that work for them to cope with the emotional roller coaster and other symptoms associated with depression. Normalizing client's experience and determining a treatment plan that aligns with the client's goals for therapy.

Depression is all encompassing. It affects all aspects of our life including our physical health, our emotional state, our thinking patterns, our behaviours and reactions, and our relationships. We often lose interest in participating in life and this can lead to feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and worthlessness. Working together in therapy, we will reconnect you with your world using proven techniques, and help you reconnect with joy.

Depression is a sadness that accompanies us wherever we go stealing our experience of happiness and joy. Others often do not understand that depression has changed our vision of a colorful, vibrant world to one of varying shades of gray. Depression can make tasks that were once completed without much thought like taking a shower, brushing one's teeth, or even getting out of bed, feel like an overwhelming challenge. Activities and people that we once enjoyed, no longer bring pleasure. "Why can't I just snap out of it?!" I use an integrative approach to therapy providing an empathetic, supportive dynamic to empower you to change your emotional experience of life.

I believe that depression is one of the most common mental health issues and I always tell my clients how it is normal to experience emotions like heavy sadness. I will work with you to find the root causes of the depression. We will work to better understand your triggers and how those link to the types of thoughts you are getting. From there we can plan new responses to the thoughts that are the result of a collaborative effort to ensure the new responses will work for you specifically!

Getting to the root of one's depression, why it occurs, and how it presents itself is imperative in understanding how one can remedy it. By working with clients to explore and comprehensively understand their depression, we will be able to better manage, mitigate, or eliminate the cognitions, behaviours, and feelings tied to our depression. How we became depressed is only the first step in ones work on depression; figuring out how to create change, support, and maintain change is the bulk of it.

Depression presents in various forms and has many different features. When working with me, you will find that space is created to explore the experience of depression, its influence on different aspects of your life, and how you can work through these challenges as they arise. If you are hoping to find solace in your experience, I invite you to contact me for a free consultation to see if we would be a good fit.

Saint Paul University’s Counselling and Psychotherapy Centre welcomes a diverse clientele, for individual or couple’s therapy. Services are provided by counselling interns at the Master of Arts and Doctoral level in Counselling and Spirituality at Saint Paul University. *Services in French available

Depressive symptoms include deep sadness or hopelessness that persists for an extended period of time and has multiple impacts on affected individuals. It can greatly hinder an individual's capacity to engage in everyday activities. Fortunately, the effects of depression are highly treatable through therapy, which can serve as a potent remedy. Therapy can help you determine which negative or distorted thought patterns lead to the helplessness and hopelessness that come with depression and set realistic goals that enable you to enhance your emotional well-being. You will regain a sense of control and pleasure in life while incorporating enjoyable, fulfilling activities back into your life.

A feeling of emptiness, loss of motivation, trouble concentrating, a felt sense of sadness that is hard to explain. These are the some of the signs of depression. I can support you as we explore your personal symptoms and experiences with depression. It takes courage to reach out for support. I can offer a safe space and work with you as you find a path to well-being.

"Be positive!" "It could always be worse!" - If you suffer from depression, you hear these invalidating phrases often. Improving your mood takes so much more than just changing your thoughts and behaviours. Sessions with me would first provide you a space to be heard, to explore the root causes behind your feelings, and support you in making connections between your current feelings and your past experiences. We will then fill your toolbox with short-term and long-term strategies that will allow you to find relief, make lasting changes, and achieve your goals.

Depression can be debilitating. I work with many individuals who struggle with both chemical and trauma related depression. Through coaching and emotional support, I will work with you create a healing plan that fits your needs. We will discuss not only your emotional stressors, but other factors that may be deepening your depression (e.g. sleep patterns, food option, and more).

Depression can make a person feel as if the world has gone dark and nothing can bring them joy. Utilizing effective therapeutic methods, I can help you identify factors that contribute to depression and help you find ways to adapt to those situations. We will set realistic goals for the future, identify distorted thought processes or unhelpful behaviours that contribute to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness and develop skills to cope and prevent future episodes of depression.

Every now and then life throws a curve ball at us which could leave a person feeling confused, alone, and unenthusiastic to complete daily tasks. Like George Harrison says, "It's all in the mind". I genuinely believe that asking for help is a sign of strength, and it means you are aware enough to take care of your mind as you do your body. Let's work together.

In many cases, I view depression as an "alarm bell" that tells the individual that there is something wrong in their life. Have they turned their anger in life toward themselves? Are they not living their best, or preferred, life? Is there something that's happened in their life that is getting them down, but they don't realize how much power it truly has? Depression can also be about learned helplessness, or having a sense, through experience, that there is no point in even trying at something. Such helplessness can come from feeling defeated, feeling significant guilt about something, & even from self-defeating 'self-talk' that an individual engages in (without completely realizing it).

When engulfed in the blackness of depression we loose site of the debilitating negative cloud casting despair over all aspects of our life. We come to see our lives solely through the depression lens rather than being able to construct an accurate map of our reality. With psychotherapy we can learn to once again access a more balanced vision of our living that better recognizes the goodness in our lives and provides direction to possibilities. Depending on the level of clinical depression, medication is often recommended temporarily in conjunction with psychotherapy to alleviate depression symptoms and help bring motivation for movement--the client can begin to help themselves

Depression has different impacts on different individuals. Because of this, treatment plans specific to depression are especially unique. When I work with clients with depression, I ensure that the root of the depressive mood is explored, the current aspects in the client's life that is maintaining the depression is targeted, and that client-specific interventions and strategies are put into place. Depression has various aspects to it and it is only in exploring each of these aspects that treatment can be thorough and effective.

Through our work together you will experience a shift in your understanding of the cause of your depressive symptoms. My clients often experience a sense of relief, a release of shame and guilt when we explore how their depression has come to exist. The experience of depression can isolate you from yourself, your family and even your future. Together we understand how you came to feel depressed and actively work on releasing the feelings that you've held onto for so long.

Depression is problematic in several ways and can feel impossible to break out of. My goal for working with clients struggling with depression is to start imagining a better future. My interest lies in getting to know my clients specifically, because while there may be some general truths about depression treatment, the more specific we can tailor the healing, the more it will fit and sustain itself.

Depression is a sign that we are no longer able to adapt to the complex and stressful world we live in. Our biological bodies and brains were not designed for the types of financial, cultural, social, and relational stressors we live with today. I see depression as a pivotal moment in one's life - as a reminder to start listening to our body, our mind, and spirit. If you are feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, sad, fearful, stuck or on autopilot in your life, I can help you to get at the root of these feelings and work through them to attain relief.

People struggling with depression are often battling negative thought patterns, low mood and sometimes behaviors that may include withdrawal, lack of energy and low motivation. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) targets negative thought patterns. The premise of CBT is that our thoughts, feelings, and actions are influenced by each other. If we can reframe these negative thoughts, we can change how a person feels and hence change some of the behaviors associated with depression. All three therapies: CBT, ACT and DBT have been shown to help with mood disorders such as depression.

Do you experience low mood most of the time? Are you unable to cope with day-to-day activities? Comparing yourself to others has become your norm and this may leave you feeling empty, lost, and dissapointed. Together, we will look at how low mood affects your life and find straetgies to propel you forward. You want to feel strong and in charge of your life.

Sadness and Depression are often challenges we may encounter in our lifetime. Feelings, thoughts and behaviors associated with them can at times overwhelm and even paralyze us with their power. In a supportive and empathic environment I help clients understand these feelings, progress through their isolation with them, find a way through their tight hold and learn to live productively again.

Therapy can be a place where clients can explore the blocks they are experiencing to feeling ok. Sometimes such things as early childhood experiences, trauma [recent or historic], challenging work situations, feeling overwhelmed in life, and interpersonal and relationship struggles can contribute to feeling disempowered, hopeless, helpless, numb, exhausted, and disinterested in life. Being able to feel supported, to explore and come to understand what is happening, to explore the body's and the nervous system's role in how one is feeling, to speak freely can often help.

Depression is a mood disorder that can cause a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest that can interfere with daily functioning. Reaching out for help is a step towards wellness. Symptoms of depression can vary from person to person, but it is a very treatable condition. Therapy for depression helps you overcome the feelings of hopelessness and despair and to gain control of your life.