Depression Counselling in Lions Bay, BC.

Social anxiety and shyness can easily lead to feelings of depression. If you feel depressed because you feel alone, isolated and have trouble making friends, you might be glad to know that there is a way to learn and practice the social skills you missed learning as a child. You can learn and practice new skills, meet new people, learn how to start conversations and create your own social circle. Life can change and it takes just one step to start the process rolling in the right drection.

I help client with depressive symptoms by listening and validating their experience and helping them change their negative self talk. This negative self talk that clients experience are contributing to their feelings of depression. I use a technique called cognitive behavioural therapy to help clients release their depressive symptoms. By creating a safe enviornment to talk about their concerns healing and change occurs through the counselling relationship. Dealing with your depression will allow you to have a happy life.

Depression affects all of us is some form or another, feelings of emptiness and despair can be challenging. For some taking the first step to get help can be even more challenging, I congratulate each client that comes in for counselling. I work with my clients on the issues behind the depression, and make small changes to the unhealthy patterns. In therapy, the clients learns their strengths, and how to utilise their strengths to make the necessary changes that can help them heal to have a fulfilling life.

We are first interested in the context and history of the depression or sadness and what may it potentially be in response to. We understand that it is normal to feel extreme sadness in the face of trauma, violence, grief and loss, etc. We also know that clinical depression is something that deserves intentional support and intervention. We work to understand and provide the best support for each individual or family.

No two people experience depression in exactly the same way and so dealing with it also needs an individual approach. Rather than viewing depression as something wrong with the person experiencing it, the client and I listen to what it might have to say to them. Though understandably, nobody likes depression, and it can be managed with tools such as Cognitive Behavioural therapy and mindfulness, etc., it can also be engaged through other approaches that allow its importance and meaning (and what it is calling for) is revealed. This can bring greater richness, wisdom, and appreciation for life.

When struggling with depressed moods, everything feels heavy and you lack a sense of meaning and purpose. Even the most simple tasks can feel impossible. If you find yourself turning to alcohol, substances, or other addictive behaviours to cope with depressed moods, there is a way out. I help clients with addictions overcome the depressed moods causing them to turn to substances or addictive behaviours to cope. Everyone is different, so I work with you to develop a plan that fits your unique situation. If you are unsure where to start, send me a message. If I'm not the right fit, I can connect you to resources that will allow you to start getting help today, without having to wait.

Feeling depressed is a horrible way to live your life. I work with clients to help them overcome their depression for good. We spend time on creating awareness and insight while developing healthy coping strategies, repairing/strengthening relationships, addressing ineffective habits, and altering thinking, feeling, and behavioural patterns. Whether it be situational depression or an ongoing pattern of depression, we can find ways to improve your mood and thus your quality of life.

As human beings, we mostly ignore the flashing red engine light warning us that a tune up is in order. We put our heads down and keep going and before we know it we're just not functioning right. My role in helping you through depression is reconnecting you with your needs: emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, relational, and occupational, so that you become your best champion in meeting your needs and feeling more connected to yourself and others.

Depression can be a very debilitating experience. Many people become more and more isolated when depressed. There are ways to help lift you out of a depression. Therapy along with the support of a medical practitioner often can make depression take a back seat in your life within a couple of months. Using therapies based on current research I encourage clients to make small realistic changes to their lives. Before long, they seem to be feeling a lot better.

Depression can be suffocating, but there is a way out! My focus is to help you find hope, purpose and inner peace and to help you see a future with genuine smiles. You can wake up not feeling numb or empty and actually have something to look forward to. I use evidence-based techniques such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness to help clients identify negative thought patterns, develop coping skills, and learn healthy habits for better mental and emotional wellbeing. You'll learn tools you need to a happier and more fulfilling life. Through our work together, clients can gain a sense of empowerment, improve their relationships, and increase their overall sense of well-being.

Depression is a state of mind that effects most people at some point in our lives. Often, symptoms of depression include a loss of interest in things that once made us happy, sleep disturbance or abundance, change in appetite, and dark thoughts. People can experience depression for many many reasons including postpartum depression, situational, relationship loss or difficulties, loneliness, seasonal affective disorder, teen depression,isolation and many more reasons. There are many treatments for depression, beginning with talking to someone about your experience. In some cases, talking to your doctor about medication helps combined with therapy to help deal with the sadness.

My approach is to work with you to understand all of the many layers of your life which may have caused your depression. Then we can collaboratively develop a plan for getting better, one step at a time. I use therapies such as CBT, ACT, and EMDR as needed to speed your recovery in collaboration with you. Most important is our therapeutic relationship and connection for change you can count on.

Research tells us that depression is the most treatable mental health issue. I am passionate about conceptualizing depression as a symptom instead of root problem. Depression is a normal response to things like painful life experiences, suppressed emotion, attachment trauma, abuse, complicated grief, loss of self-efficacy. Re-establishing connection to ourselves (i.e., our inner worlds), our bodies, important relationships, spirituality, meaningful work in life, etc., have all been shown to lead to a significant decrease in depressive symptoms. Savoring positive emotional experiences, and being relentless in the search for hope, are things I partner with my clients to do.

Depression is more than just feeling temporarily down or blue. It's a painful state of body, mind, and soul that can leave you despairing and feeling like you’re in quicksand. Through therapy you can examine what’s going on and what has led you here. Maybe you’re playing a role that you don’t want to play but don’t know how to stop. You feel like you’re not living your own life, that you’re living someone else’s idea of who they want you to be. Or you may feel like you’re nailed down somewhere in the past because of painful experiences that haven’t been addressed. In therapy, you can discover where you’re pinned, risk speaking the unspeakable, and we can pull the nail out together.

I can help you explore feelings that you may not be aware of. I can help you understand how your behavior and mood can be affected by unresolved issues from your past or present. Some depression symptoms may be low self-esteem, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness, changes in sleep, and feelings of loneliness. I offer counselling that will help you understand and work through difficult relationships or situations that may be causing or contributing to your depression. I encourage you to talk through your feelings in order to make positive change in your life.

Depression is debilitating, frustrating and can leave you feeling like there is no light to be seen. We can help you take one step at a time to learn tools to handle strong feelings associated with depression . We work with the individual to address the biopsychosocial contributors to depression and use CBT, talk therapy and mindfulness to treat the underlying cognitions associated with the depression

Depression is often associated with negative beliefs about oneself and the world, and EMDR can help to desensitize and reprocess these negative beliefs, leading to a more adaptive and positive worldview. Through the use of bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements or tapping, EMDR can help to process the distressing memories and beliefs, reducing the intensity of the emotional response and increasing emotional resilience. By addressing the underlying negative beliefs, EMDR can help to alleviate symptoms of depression and improve overall mood and well-being.

Different therapeutic modalities can be used to examine thought patterns and your ability to emotionally regulate; an open dialogue can help explore alternative beliefs and perspectives that may serve you better. A closer examination of how your thoughts, feelings and actions are impacting your overall wellbeing can help create a treatment approach that may include coping skills and lifestyle adjustments, while building capacity to sit with negative emotions and move through challenging times.

Depression can feel debilitating and leave people feeling isolated and unsure of how to get out of that "grey" zone. I describe it that way because when depressed, everything feels grey and nothing seems to matter. I think it is very important to uncover the underlying causes of a client's depression. This typically involves an increased awareness of how they are seeing themselves, and changing these negative thought patterns. In a way, depression can result in self loathing and recrimination. I help my clients make significant shifts in how they see themselves and others.

If depression could speak, it would say "why bother?" Depression leaves us feeling unmotivated, hopeless, and negative about ourselves and our potential. In counselling, I provide a compassion-focused approach to treating depression that will help you to increase your sense self-worth and build motivation to mobilize yourself. I believe that when treating depression, it is essential to explore emotions such as anger, guilt and shame that often perpetuate a defeated and empty state. Doing so can feel uncomfortable, but is ultimately liberating. Many of my depressed - even suicidal - clients report that therapy has helped improve their mood and take meaningful action in their lives.

Depression is not only a mental problem, it is also a physical one - often leaving you with fatigue and lack of motivation to do anything. The first step to healing depression is building inner and outer resources for immediate symptom relief. This includes self- care, especially physical exercise along with mindful awareness of your internal experience . The next step is challenging those distorted beliefs and perceptions of yourself and the world. You can get better soon.