Depression Counseling in Woodstock, IL.

Depression is an energy disorder, a thief of enjoyment, accomplishment, connection with others, and self-care. It comes in many forms and facades. You can feel helpless not being able to change your feelings. Depression can be scary and cannot be reasoned away. I can help you identify, understand and regulate difficult emotions, and find a workable plan to address how difficult it can be.

People suffering from depression have more negative thoughts about themselves, the world, and the future. Those who are depressed also tend to feel more helpless, hopeless and worthless. Research with depressed individuals suggests that treatment focusing on changing peoples’ thought (cogntive behavioral therapy) is a particularly effective treatment for depression. CBT as part of a comprehensive treatment plan is a very effective approach to treating depression.

Feelings of sadness, worthlessness and hopelessness can be overwhelming and consuming. Depression is terrifying, but it is also treatable. Depression can present very differently for individuals, so thorough assessment and individual treatment planning are important. I use Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy interventions to identify negative core beliefs and self-talk that contribute to depression. EMDR is effective for depression by reprocessing early core memories having a lifelong impact.

Depression is seen by some as a biochemical imbalance that is genetically transferred to the individual and can only be treated through medication. This might be part of the picture, but also a depressive, negative style of thinking can result in changes in the brain that bring about this unhealthy biochemical imbalance - and psychological treatment can change the thinking style that leads to this imbalance, rendering the individual to be free of reliance on medication and overall improved life that lasts on it's own merits.

Depression therapy can help you break the cycle of depressive symptoms such as lack of motivation, negative self-talk, sadness, social isolation, intense bouts of anger or irritable mood, and several other symptoms that create misery for you and disrupt your life. Psychological counseling for depression works by breaking this vicious cycle of symptoms that tends to feed on itself, making the symptoms even more intense. If you or a loved one are struggling with depression, I provide the support, encouragement and research-based strategies to help you cope.

Mark D. Parisi, Psy.D. & Associates, P.C. offers evidence-based treatment solutions for depression. Our approach combines thorough evaluation with counseling and psychiatric medication management. We believe that in order to effectively treat any psychiatric problem, it is first important to understand what you are treating. This way, the optimal treatment strategy can be implemented. Our counseling staff will work with you to establish clear, concise, obtainable goals. We have the ability to involve more than one counselor in your care to safeguard your right to privacy in individual counseling. And, when needed, we provide expert psychiatric medication management.

You may have found that pushing through hard days just isn't working anymore. Maybe it is hard to get out of bed or experience joy as you once did . We use a grace based approach to find positive and healthy solutions to manage your overwhelming feelings so that you can find your energy and purpose. We will look at your life holistically to determine if there are health problems or biochemical reasons for your depression. We want you to be free of shame so you can develop a healthy sense of self worth, competence so you can experience joy and hope!

Feeling depressed is one of the hardest emotions to deal with--especially if you have been suffering with it for a long time. Know that there is always hope for feeling better. First, I will closely listen to your story, and assist you in identifying what is contributing to your depression. Then I will recommend helpful resources to use, and begin to equip you with skills that will improve your mood and foster a growing sense of well-being.

Depression is something most people struggle with at one point in their lives. However, sometimes the depression becomes unmanageable and begins to bleed into our daily lives causing stress, strained relationships, and change in personality to the point that we no longer recognize who we are. My approach is to start where my clients are currently in their depression, creating small obtainable goals that they can meet, and providing encouragement and understanding during the treatment process. I teach skills like mindfulness and emotion regulation to help my clients manage their symptoms outside of the therapeutic environment.

Depression can cause you to feel flat, unmotivated, and stuck. There are proven tools to relieve these symptoms so you can feel like yourself again. I utilize an integrative approach with each client to help you find relief and feel well again. Starting with our therapeutic relationship, we can work together to utilize tools that you can incorporate into your daily life to help you find relief and begin to heal on your journey to wellness.

Sometimes people feel depresed and can atribute it to stressful events that have occured, other times people can't quite put their finger on why they feel depressed, they just know they're not happy, feel unmotivated, and in some cases hopeless and helpless. What we now know about neuroscience helps us understand how and why depression occurs. I will help you determine whether your depression can be improved through talk therapy combined with some changes to your daily routine or whether a clinical depression has set in that may respond well to medication too. I have a wonderful, caring Doctor I work with who will assess clinical depression and offer recommendaitons if necessary.

Symptoms of Depression: Withdrawal, inappropriate guilt, overwhelming self-doubt, unwarranted pessimism, inappropriate irritability, unwarranted weight gain or weight loss, dysfunctional use of drugs or alcohol, over-sleeping or under-sleeping, inappropriate deficiency in energy, excessive lethargy and abnormally unpleasant mood. Depression Treatment: Re-structuring of psychological perspective, cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectal behavior therapy, drama-response extinction, re-framing of catastrophic predictions, anti-depressants, narrative therapy and state-of-the-art self-hypnosis. Benefits of Treatment: Rapid enhancement of mood, increased optimism, more energy, reduced fatigue.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been identified as the treatment of choice for depression. Whether you are on medication or not, CBT strategies can offer relief from the heavy weight of depressive symptoms. Kari's clients gain an understanding of what makes someone vulnerable to depression, how to increase motivation, energy, and positive mood. They will learn how to react to difficult situations with control and composure and better combat depressive tendencies in the future. Because teens display depression differently than adults, parents are often unsure about their son/daughter. Kari will provide an assessment and if necessary, a plan for effective treatment.

Karen’s approach in assisting people suffering from depression varies with each person. She initially searches for the reasons causing the depression, and together she and the client will pursue the changes needed to alleviate the symptoms. Karen uses the word picture with her clients of viewing depression as being down in a valley, and by putting the accepted interventions into practice, she can assist them in climbing out of the valley. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a well researched therapy that has been shown to be effective in treating people suffering from depression, and this is the intervention Karen most often uses along with other accepted techniques.