Depression Counseling in Pleasant Hill, CA.

Ugghh! The crushing, heavy feeling of depression can make it difficult to get up in the morning, to find connection to others and to the world, to move forward at all. Worse, symptoms of depression can, in themselves, make us feel more depressed still, creating a downward spiral into an an abyss of emptiness. It's so hard to motivate one's self to do anything about depression because of the weight of it all. It can feel immobilizing. You don't have to keep feeling that stuck, awful feeling. I can help! Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has been shown to be as effective as medication for treating depression and getting you back to the life you want to live.

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 can cause experiences of lonliness, sadness, agitation, tearfulness, hopelessness, and decreased motivation. Together we can work to identify potential causes of depression symptoms and how these symptoms may be impacting your life. In most cases a core belief about ourself or the world can cause depression to persist. Some of these beliefs can include but are not limited to "I'm not good enough", "noone cares about me", "it's not safe to express my emotions", and "bad things always happen to me". Taking a collaborative approach we will incorporate both self compassion strategies and tangible skills based interventions as a way to work on improving your mood.

The root of depression is complex. There is probably a genetic predisposition and may often accompany anxiety and trauma. Some difficult triggers can include the death of a loved one, divorce, illness, or having a challenging relationship with alcohol and other substances. It is not uncommon for life transitions that on the surface appear positive (weddings, pregnancy, children going to college, retirement) to trigger feelings of depression. You can find relief and healing through psychotherapy. Together, we can identify the triggers to get to the source of the suffering, identify short and long term solutions to bring about a sense of relief, and explore different avenues to help.

Struggling to live life with overwhelming sadness and apathy is often miserable. Depression can take over and become all consuming - unless you get help. A safe place to talk can begin easing the emotional pain controlling your life. Through exploring issues and emotions we can begin to identify and work through possible underlying causes. We can then begin to identify strengths and resources to start the process of moving you forward and out of the depths of your darkness. You can attain a more satisfying and productive life - one in which getting out of bed is not the biggest challenge of your day. Make that life saving phone call today and I will walk through this with you.