Depression Counseling in Los Alamitos, CA.

My philosophical work on the nature of hope and despair is particularly well suited for working with clients suffering from depression. While my explicit aim is cultivating and creating a space of genuine hope, I also believe it is essential to recognize the reasons for despair and to diligently work through those circumstances. Compassionate understanding and patience facilitate hope.

Are you feeling helpless & hopeless? Is sadness interfering with your ability to work, eat, sleep, or have fun? If so, you may be struggling with depression. I’d like to show you some ways to overcome your sadness, so you can live the happy, productive life you deserve. There’s a lot we can do to change how you feel: We can explore the thoughts & behaviors that cause your sadness & change them to improve your mood. We can also identify the underlying causes of your sadness & develop a plan to eliminate their negative impact. I’ll create a comfortable, non-judgmental environment where you feel safe being open & honest, so you can tap into your personal strengths to achieve your goals.

Are you feeling sad, blue, lessor than, unable to see the joy in life? You could be experiencing depression if this is happening more often than not. I am so sorry you are struggling. I believe I can help you feel better and find some happiness. There is hope and you don't have to live this way. Begin by finding even the smallest thing to be grateful about. Please call me at 714-432-9856.

Are you spiraling downward and unable to retain a positive outlook? The effects and perceptions of external circumstances can create internal disturbances. Together, in a secure environment, you will be able to express and explore your inner most thoughts and feelings. By increasing awareness of self defeating negative thoughts and patterns of behavior, we will be able to identify alternative choices of being and relating. Acknowledging and reconfiguring our thoughts is often the path to regaining a healthy sense of self and the future.

I practice a type of therapy for depression called Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which research has shown to be especially effective with depressive disorders. Using CBT, we work together to discover underlying beliefs (which we call cognitive distortions) that are causing or contributing to your depressive symptoms. Once identified, we then use a variety of techniques to help you correct those thinking patterns that are causing you difficulty. We measure progress constantly so that we can try new techniques if needed, to help you feel better.

Depression is not something that exists "in" you. It is something you experience in a context. When we are out of connection with others we can become depressed. My approach to healing depression is not to simple help people get "over" their depression but by helping people move in and through it. That means, feeling into the pain and potential danger of feeling the feelings that are in you. When we are not alone in our feelings they can change.

Making the decision to go to therapy can be a difficult one to make. Finding the right therapist can be even harder. My treatment focuses on depression that stems out of childhood trauma. Feelings of despair, worthlessness, and feeling little hope can all be rooted in the isolation of trauma as a child. I specialize in working with survivors of childhood trauma (children, teens, and adults) in a short-term therapy model.

Depression often times is a result of ignored emotions and/or unmet needs or desires you feel there is little or no hope of obtaining. Maybe you feel lonely or empty inside. Or maybe you've lossed a significant relationship or job or have difficult finding a good relationship or job. The good news is that depression is highly treatable. Almost 100% of my clients have successfully moved out of depression and into a better place in life. Call today and learn new ways to cope with these difficult emotions.

Clients in therapy for depression with Dr. Parke can benefit from a warm and safe environment that nurtures them back into hope. Though the darkness and heaviness of depression can be overwhelming, Dr. Parke can provide you with tools and walk alongside you in this journey so that you know you're not fighting this battle alone. There is hope for depression, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and the courageous first step is reaching out for help.

Depression can have roots in the earliest years of our lives due to hurts at a sensitive age, or can result from current experiences of traumas, losses, and disappointments. Often these two origins dovetail, with current stressors resurrecting earlier levels of depression. A good therapy will take seriously the level and personal experience of depression. Clear introspection into the cause, development of truly effective coping strategies, and support for a process of working through depression is the basis of my therapeutic approach.

Wouldn't it be great if we could take a pill to fix all our problems? While medication can be an important tool in fighting depression, psychotherapy and medication is normally the "gold standard." Forming a relationship with a therapist in a confidential and safe environment is an essential step on the road to recovery. Your therapist may end up knowing you better than anyone else in your life. Finding a "good fit" is vital. I seek to provide such an environment to facilitate self-discovery and to make change for the better.

I like to work collaboratively with my clients with a special emphasis on going at their own pace. When feelings of hopelessness, sadness, or lack of motivation is a primary concern, it is important to help clients find goals that they feel they are actually able to achieve. Providing a supportive, non-judgmental and peaceful atmosphere in therapy can help a client explore some of the more challenging struggles that has made him or her feel stuck, either in their personal goals or in important close relationships. Finding new strategies or coping skills to replace the ones that have stopped working becomes the new goal and transformations in outlook and relationships can begin.

In treating mood problems, the most important piece in collaborating is to find rays of hope in your life. What did you love to do before that you no longer enjoy? What are/were your interests in life? Who are the people in your life you want to feel closer to? What are your strengths? How can we interupt habitual feelings of hopelessnes, by changing the way you think about triggers that lead you to depressed feelings? How can we challenge negative or unrealistic thinking? With sensitive, open communication in sessins, we can find answers to these questions that can curtail habitual depressive thought and feelings. Coping skills can be taught and mastered.