Depression Counselling in Port Alberni, BC.

Many people these days experience depression and yet the severity of the symptoms and impacts on your life can vary greatly. You may want to seek out counselling if you are experiencing some signs of depression such as fatigue, irritability, difficulty sleeping, doing less of the activities you enjoy, weight loss, anxiety, difficultly concentrating and paying attention, or a general unhappiness with your life. Treatment for depression can address the symptoms and also explore what is required to overcome into the future. Benefits for treating depression are limitless and include a greater sense of day to day well-being, enhanced relationships, more job satisfaction, enhanced self esteem.

Let go of the painful emotions that cause depression. Using rapid release techniques, this process does not have to take long. Life can be difficult and overwhelming. We try to cope by pushing away our feelings and forging ahead. This can work temporarily, but when we don't allow ourselves to release our emotion, it can build up. We may find ourselves overwhelmed and notice our happiness disappearing. I believe that underneath all of our suppressed emotions our sense of well-being is still in tact. Letting go of the build up of emotion can ease the burden and allow the inner happiness to resurface. Your happiness is waiting...

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.

The psychology part of my biopsychsocial approach to depression is Mindfulness Based Cognitive Behavioural therapy. In cultivating a mindfulness practice we are able to bring our feelings and thought to the present. Since the hallmark of depression is ruminating on our past actions and circumstances, MCBT can help undermine the power of those thoughts on our mental wellness. Through making connections in group care and partnering with yoga studios we can create holistic emotional tool belts to treat depression and prevent the onset of future episodes. I have a passion for working with women with postpartum depression.

I believe it is important to separate the problem of depression from the person. Depression can feel all-encompassing and it becomes easy to forget that is something that you are struggling with and not who you are. There may be many influences on why the depression exists and I believe it is important to look at the context of one's life. The person is not the problem, the problem is the problem.

Depression can trick us. Things that normally make us happy, don’t. Our motivation to move forward in our lives seems to have disappeared into an empty pit. Things that made us feel alive feel like a distant memory. We get stuck. But, therapy can help – sometimes in unexpected ways. My approach doesn’t involve spending months figuring out the ‘root’ of the depression, although building insight is an important part of the process. We figure out what’s important to you, learn ways to get ‘un-stuck’ from our thoughts and feelings, and use concrete strategies to get you living again. The difficult part about treatment for depression is that there isn’t going to be a magic, ‘ah hah!’ mom

A proven effective form of counselling therapy for Depression is cognitive-behavioural whereby problem thinking is identified a cognitive "reframes" are developed and utilized as "counter thoughts". With cognitive-behavioural therapy and a self care plan, individuals can become empowered to take control and address depressive symptoms before they take over. Don't suffer in silence. Depression is treatable!

At the Centre For Expressive Therapy, I offer counselling to adults and children suffering from depression. I use Holistic Expressive Therapy that helps to further explore difficult issues that words sometimes cannot reach. Within the safety of the therapeutic relationship, images are created through drawing, writing, painting, collage, sand play, and photography. These images are then reflected upon for the purpose of finding solutions to underlying issues. My therapy methods help individuals of all ages to not only cope with their life challenges but to learn and grow from them.