Depression Counselling in Port Alberni, BC.

Living with depression is challenging. Using CBT and DBT strategies, I work with you to create manageable goals that will help to cultivate positive experiences and emotions. We will work together to determine what would be most beneficial to you and where to start. Throughout the process, we will challenge negative thinking, develop emotional regulation skills, and learn how to tolerate distress. Focus is also placed on your unique strengths, abilities, and the power you have to take control of your life and enjoy it to the fullest.

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.

I know all about the deep darkness of depression and how to climb out of it. Depression can be brutal and isolating. First we need to be witnessed and understood in our pain in a safe comfortable non-judgemental space. Then we can learn tools and strategies to face the things that seem impossible to face. I will support you to take the steps necessary to improve your depression.

Depression is something that all humans share, whether they are able to admit it or not. However, when that depression impacts our functionality to a point where it intrudes and prevents us from being & feeling whole, learning new skills and methods to manage our feelings, can be the difference for some between life and having no life. Using a variety of techniques drawn from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Reality/Choice Theory, Solution Focused & Existential Therapy, we can examine how our minds blend our worries, stress, fears, doubts, self-esteem, self-image, concerns and projections into a soup mix that threatens to overwhelm us, and halt it in its tracks. You can learn to rise above it.

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 tricky. Depression causes a lowered mood, fatigue, and decreased motivation. Sometimes, Depression goes unnoticed by friends and family. It can appear like everything in your life should be fine, but inside, it's a struggle to get out of bed. I provide a non-judgmental space to explore the areas of your life impacted by depression. You will learn alternative coping mechanisms to help ease future symptoms of depression.

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.