Depression Counseling in Lakewood, CA.

Depression can be experienced at any age and comes in various degrees impacting how we feel about ourselves and others. It can change our mood, eating, sleeping, thinking, and involvement in activities. Many individuals suffer in silence but their mood and behavior reveal a deeper turmoil within themselves. Talking to a trusted person about those inner thoughts is helpful but many friends and family members may not have the knowledge and skills to help you. Seeking a professional counselor can reduce feelings of isolation and provide you with feelings of hope. “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed” Proverbs 15:22.

For clients experiencing depression, I help them explore both external and internal circumstances that are impacting their mental health and look for relationships in their lives that are impeding the healing process. Then we do relational work together to move out of a place of hopelessness and helplessness into a place of strength and empowerment.

Working with the experience of depression is much more than changing our thoughts to change our behavior. Our brains are wired to notice the negative; it's part of our survival. I support my clients in expanding what they notice, and help them discover what works for them by creating a tool kit through experiential relational interventions in session. When I see children, I utilize play therapy as the modality, including Child Centered Play Therapy, Filial Therapy, and Prescriptive Play Therapy. When working with adolescents and adults, I utilize expressive arts, DBT, CBT and Narrative Therapy.

Depression drains the color out of life: heaviness in the morning, loss of interest in things you used to enjoy, a sense that effort no longer pays off. It can be quiet and grinding or acute and frightening, and from the inside it often feels like it will never lift. It can, and it does! I work to understand depression rather than just label it. Low mood is frequently carrying something: grief that wasn't fully felt, anger turned inward, a loss or disappointment that never found words. As we make sense of what your depression is expressing, its grip will ease, and energy and meaning will return. I've helped many people resolve depression, and I have full confidence that we can do the same!

The therapeutic process and, applying a psychodynamic foundation, will assist one through healing from difficult moods and behaviors with a treatment model especially tailored to fit your emotional needs. We will discuss moods and behaviors related to negative processing of information and positive processing. Depression can become overwhelming and is often related to memories of chilhood trauma. We will work together at healing and letting go of the painful responses of traumatic injuries.

Depression is a common mental health disorder, affecting all age groups, that causes intense & persistent feelings of hopelessness, sadness and personal emptiness. Depression affects how you feel, think, behave and could lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems, left untreated. If you are struggling with depression you don't have to be alone, seeking help is the first step to improving your symptoms. Psychotherapy has shown to improve the symptoms of depression. Together will develop a comprehensive treatment plan specific to your concerns, needs and symptoms to improve the quality of your life.