Depression Counseling in River Edge, NJ.

I will determine the severity of depression and the need for medication. We will figure out if depression is an acute response to a crisis or situation. We will look at the causes, your experience of depression, what are triggers for depression, and ways to cope with it and give you better control of it. If it is a recurrent depression we will find ways for you to cope, and develop good support networks if you don't have them.

Someone once said that depression "can't hit a moving target". Unfortunately, it also makes you so tired you can't move! Your experience of depression, and the solution is likely as unique as you are. Often treatment includes exploring patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving that may be holding you back. There is life after depression. Together we will gently explore the cause of your experience, and discover the best approach for you. I am trained and certified in several evidence based practices to treat depression.

Depression is a mood disorder that can cause a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest that can interfere with daily functioning. Reaching out for help is a step towards wellness. Symptoms of depression can vary from person to person, but it is a very treatable condition. Therapy for depression helps you overcome the feelings of hopelessness and despair and to gain control of your life.

I help my clients learn how to let go of their depression and replace it with acceptance and joy. Depression often occurs when we take situations and others' behavior personally. When we think they mean something about our self-worth. You can learn how to define your own self-worth and not allow anything outside yourself to determine your mood. I can help you learn how to take better care of yourself by learning to heal the deeper feelings underneath your depression like sadness, helplessness and loneliness.

Sometimes depression happens because you have experienced a loss: perhaps a loved one died, or a relationship has ended, or you have lost a job or an opportunity. When these and other events happen, you may feel depleted of energy as if there is no reason to go move on, you may lose sleep or sleep more, you may lose weight or gain more. I will help you understand what you are feeling, and together we will find ways to replenish your inner energy so that you are able to be a peace with what has happened and move forward in a direction that brings a sense of fulfillment in life.

You did not choose depression, and it is not something that can simply be “shaken off.” Depression is real, life-altering, and can convince you that happiness or peace will never return. Yet depression does not define you. Together, we can acknowledge its weight while also challenging the painful story it tells. My role is to walk with you through the heaviness, to hold space for the difficulty, and to help you discover that hope and healing are possible. You do not have to face this alone.

My approach attacks depression by quickly focusing in on the primary cause of depression. I show people how their current beliefs about their adversities, past and present, are the primary cause of depression. I teach people how it is well within their power to adopt, without delay, alternative beliefs that help them cope with and prevail over these adversities. I also show my patient how to feel worthwhile and adequate even if she is depressed and performing poorly in life. Often self-downing goes with feelings of depression and makes for depression over being depressed. REBT tackles the rut of depression by attacking both the original and the secondary feelings of depression.

Children and adolescents who act out due to symptoms of AD/HD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Autistic Spectrum Disorders, and School Underachievement constantly receive negative feedback from parents, teachers, and peers. This results in underlying feelings of helplessness and hopelessness leading to depression. I motivate such children to develop self-control which leads to improved academic and social skills. This leads to social acceptance and academic achievement and self-esteem rises. Helplessness and hopelessness dissipate and depression and anxiety lessen.

Depression can be a challenge in the day to day functions of our lives but together we will bring your strengths to the surface and use evidenced based therapies to assist with improving your mood, increase motivation, increase energy, and find a sense of fulfillment in your life. Therapy will include both CBT and DBT techniques as well as others.

If you have a pulse and a heart, you have been sad. Using the science of happiness rather than standard interventions for depression we focus on increasing positive emotion, engagement, and meaning rather than directly targeting depressive symptoms. In using these interventions with clients I have noted the effects of these interventions in a variety of settings. In informal and clinical settings these interventions have commonly been reported to me and referred to as “life-changing.”

Depression often occurs when when we are only able to imagine a future governed by our past. The depression is held in place by memories, and beliefs acquired in the past that have been misfiled in projections of our future. Therapy, properly conducted, helps us place the past where it belongs leaving plenty of empty space and freedom in which to imagine invigorating possibilities for the future. Medication may or may not be needed to get the process started. When one gains the ability to imagine engagement in that which beckoned but seemed impossible, depression dissipates.

Audrey believes deeply in approaching depression holistically. Using a "here and now" disposition, Audrey will focus more on the present as opposed to digging through your past. We will identify patterns in your thinking and actions that do not serve you and help to reframe and restructure the belief system them supports your unhealthy behaviors. This will be paired with consistent check-ins regarding your overall health such as food, sleep, sunlight, work life etc.... to maximize overall joy in your life.

Our enriched, multi-modal approach is effective for clients who consult us regarding depression and mood-modulation issues. Often the combination of cognitive-behavioral, supportive and psychodynamic-ego-enhancing approaches help moderately depressed clients within a relatively short time--usually within a few months. Our approachability, empathic listening skills and pragmatic conflict-resolution expertise are most useful for clients suffering from the debilitating effects of depression. We also stress a holistic approaches that integrate medical and nutritional needs, as well as incorporating stress reduction, physical exercise and meditation work. Our clients often benefit greatly.