Depression Counselling in Mill Bay, BC.

Sometimes feeling sad, stuck, and hopeless is something that can be shifted with support and some fairly straightforward strategies. At other times, depressed feelings can be signs of complex processes that take time to unravel and sometimes lead to profound transformations. Still at other times, stuck emotions and energies can be moved through experiential processes. Ultimately, feelings of depression and their resolution are unique to your life. Even though ways out can be challenging to see when we’ve been feeling stuck for some time, there are many ways through. I'll help you find the one that works for you.

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.

Nothing can zap joy from life as quickly and devastatingly as depression can. I will help you move through the fog of depression to understand how our perceptions affect our mood and reality and how to shift to a place where we have more control over our reactions, our beliefs and feelings, and ultimately our behaviours. Understanding why we find ourselves in the place we do is important but it is not useful if we don't also develop the skills to move out of harmful and damaging places.

Depression can feel like an empty pit and a hopeless one at that. If you are struggling with depression, counselling can help you to recover from numbness, gain clarity and realign yourself with your values. I will work with you to process your feelings and experiences in order to help you get to a more compassionate, hope-filled place. I will hold the space for you to feel all your feelings and get in touch with your body.

To provide psychoeducation with depressive symptoms and how this will not only affect their mood, but also their own body's response. The mind and body connection will be pivotal. To explore the root cause of their depression and provide coping strategies that will be enable the client to live a good quality of life. Talk therapy with the incorporation of CBT, DBT, and SFBT.

My approach to dealing with depression is to face it on two levels. First, there are the cognitive behavioural treatment options to address the basic skills needed just to get through each day. We will build a strategy together and I will help to keep you on track. Then the real therapy begins. Together, in a safe manner and at an acceptable pace, we will unveil some of your defences and rediscover your trapped potential - the part of you that gives life real meaning and purpose. I truly believe your life means something and that you have purpose.

Depression can actually feed on itself, creating an on-going cycle of paralysis and drain. Through therapy with me, you will learn tools to understand, recognize and manage your depression. Often people have been depressed for so long that they give up ever recovering. We will look at your belief systems and thoughts that keep you stuck, and develop new beliefs and thoughts that can break the cycle.

I am available to support at any point in your experience of depression. Recovery from a episode of depression can take time, warmth, patience and small steps. Prevention can involve learning about thought patterns, reducing triggers, plans for action, consultation with other health professionals and lifestyle changes. Some approaches I draw on include, talk therapy, mindfulness, EMDR (eye movement desentization and reprocessing) and CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy).

Dealing with depression requires that we both lean into the emotions that we are feeling while also making small and steady changes in our daily life. I can help you to learn how to tolerate negative emotions and understand why you might be feeling them. I can also work with you to set up small and achievable goals so that you can take the steps you want in making positive changes in your life.

Are you looking for therapeutic help in learning about cognitive strategies for managing depression? Are you wanting a compassionate space to reflect and gain deeper insights into your experience with depression? Are you wanting time for deeper spiritual exploration into your experience with depression? Depression is often complex and does not respond to a "one strategy fits all" approach. Together, we will develop an approach that involves a combination of clinically sound methods that meets your needs in helping you to cope with the daily challenges of living with depression.

Just about will experience depression at some point in their lifetime. Sometimes, there is a clear reason for its presence… sometimes it might not make sense. Depression can knock us hard, flatten us out and keep us down. Sadness, unhappiness, unmotivated, helpless, discouraged, hopeless, numb or just feeling empty with no energy… it manifests in all kinds of ways. In my practice, I help people to gain insight into their relationship with depression and develop a personalized approach to get through to the other side. With some help, change is very much possible. You can get up again and move toward different experience in life.

Caught under a dark and weighty cloud that affects your thoughts, mood, emotions and behaviour? Maybe you're having trouble concentrating, remembering things or even contemplating suicide. Facing depression can alleviate feelings of sadness, worthlessness, guilt, restlessness, emptiness, irritability (just to name a few!). You may also feel relief from more physical symptoms such as a loss of energy and appetite, aches and pains, and digestive problems. Building on the joy and vitality that you may be overlooking in your life, we will pull you out of your pit of despair and teach you how to walk the path with no giant holes!

Living with depression can be like wading through mud. Every step requires enormous effort. All the while, the gas tank is empty. For many, the urge is to take to bed, as the world just feels like too much to face. I like to work on the root cause of depression while simultaneously collaborating on small manageable steps to regain confidence and interest in living a valued life. I find that working on what seems to be an unsolvable problem is often the starting point of recovery. My goal is to provide support and guidance that goes beyond just the sense of feeling "better". Rather, my aim is for my client's to thrive, with the newfound capacity to experience joy and happiness.

Depression is usually marked by a change in eating habits, sleep, and energy levels. The person may suffer from isolation and a sense of worthlessness. I work to draw out my clients' concerns and deeper thoughts as well as their doubtful concerns. Every person has the potential of drifting into a depressed states, and some people live here a lot. But sharing one's personal thoughts and unmet needs is a powerful way to draw a person out of their depression. I also focus on some of their past successes, even in situations that appear to be futile. We all have the power to survive and overcome, even when things seem hopeless. Bearing witness to the moments of success, contribute to forward moti

I can guide you to take that first important step using relevant therapeutic insights and my own experience. If your depression is crippling your life or is hurting your loved ones, you need to do something even if it is hard to believe that anything can ever be different. You may tend to feel that nothing matters or that talking or sharing can not help you. Even when you feel you have little or no control, getting a sense of what is going on can provide a small opening you need to think and feel differently. A small change at times when we are desperate can make a huge difference in the end. Yes, it takes patience and tenacity. You need to show up and to be prepared to do what you can.

As someone who has a history of depression personally and intergenerationally, I am well aware of the great challenges and opportunities for growth that this experience can bring. For those struggling with depression, healing can feel elusive, as if nothing will ever work. It often requires a wider lens, an eye for patterns and a deeply supportive and holistic orientation to shift this dynamic. My approach comes from my years of experience moving through and finally out of my own depression and integrating the ancestral patterns that laid the foundation for it in my life. I now come to you with a wide-reaching tool kit to support you in your journey.

When you are depressed you may feel sad, weepy, hopeless, helpless, unmotivated, maybe sleep too much or not enough and also lose interest in sexuality, your friends and activities. These feelings last a long time and are really hard on relationships. You may think that you will never be happy again. You may have tried drugs but now want to take charge yourself of the changes you want to feel in your life. Counseling starts with your story of what is happening. I will ask lots of questions to help you get a clear idea of the causes and patterns in your life. We'll work on coping strategies and maybe try therapies like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. You'll feel more content with your life.

Do you feel sad, unmotivated, hopeless, helpless, weepy, maybe sleep too much or too little? Have you lost interest in your friends, activities, sex? Have you felt this way for a long time and your relationships and job are suffering? Maybe you have tried prescription drugs or used alcohol or other substance. Now, though, you want to take charge yourself and see some turnaround in your life. Counseling begins with you talking about what is happening in your life. I'll ask questions to help you get a clear understanding of causes and themes. We'll discuss different approaches and behaviours for you to try. Maybe Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or a Trauma Relief therapy would be good for you.

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.

Depression is a devastating condition. We are fortunate to live at a time where there strategies and treatment combinations that can help people become not only undepressed but also transformed into their best selves. Where you are right now is just right now. I try to orient people to what they can do in the present to help themselves weather difficult circumstances that can lead to or exacerbate depression. I focus on strengths

Depression can feel like a wet blanket you wear around you day in and day out. You may find it hard to remember what if felt like before or have hope that you will ever feel normal again. The most valuable thing I can do for a client with depression is to inspire hope, to help you regain your confidence and recover a positive, constructive outlook on life. My therapeutic approach for helping clients move through their depression incorporates a compassionate and nonjudgmental acceptance so important to supporting changes in ourselves.

Those who suffer with Depression know that it is far more than being sad. It is a pall, a darkness, a fog that permeates every part of your existence and sucks the life out of every joy. It is also a complex and complicated knot to untangle. Sometimes depression can be a mask for shame that has been carried from our family of origin. Our work on your experience of Depression will offer practical skills, which can start to ease some of the heaviness. I will also support you to get underneath the pain and discover what is fueling that story and that experience. Any of this will be in concert with, not take the place of, therapeutic medication prescribed by your Doctor.

Dr. Sloat's therapeutic approach* to treating depression stems from her belief that depression is best treated while a person is feeling well. Although she acknowledges that depression should also be treated while acute, she also recognizes that depression tends to be episodic for long term sufferers, and the best way to long term success is to create tools and strategies while well that inoculate against further episodes. In short, Dr. Sloat describes her approach as "Depression Management". *Approach includes CBT, i.e., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

I am honoured that you are interested in my services and I would like to tell you a little bit about myself. I have been described as slightly non-conventional in the counselling world, which suits me perfectly, and also tends to suit youth who are trying to stand up to the force of the problems in their life. I am very comfortable working with this population, and I feel fortunate that I can connect with teens the way I do, conventionally or in a way that makes sense to them.

Depression hurts. It hurts to feel stuck, to feel alone, and to feel out of step with other people. And it hurts not to know how to pull ourselves out of it. When depressed, we often believe that something is deeply wrong with us at a personal level. In counselling, we explore the legitimate reasons why you might be depressed – what in your situation sets you up to feel bad? And we consider what you can do differently to support yourself. It can be challenging to face your difficulties, including both those things you can and cannot change. In counselling, I help you clarify your experience, support you, and help you find confidence and motivation to live life differently.