Depression Counseling in Santa Ana, CA.

Depression takes away your ability to feel joy in life. But with the right help you can overcome it. I use Dialectical Behavior Therapy to help you understand your emotions and take concrete actions to change how you feel. It's not easy, but it is an evidenced based therapy that can offer you a chance to feel joy. Understanding how you can change your mood in positive ways can help you find joy again. I can help you do that.

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.

So many coping skills out there focus on reducing the energy. What if the problem is you’re struggling to find energy because depression is zapping you of it? What do you use to cope, then? I’ve been working with clients for years to translate common coping techniques to fit their needs and experience. I’m here to help you, too. We start with what hasn’t been working for you and transform it into something that does.