Depression Counseling in Woodbridge, NJ.

When you are depressed, you lack energy and motivation, and want to isolate, which is one of the worst things you can do. Negative thinking drags you further into a hole, and staying alone with your thoughts can make the depression worse. I will help you evaluate your thoughts and your situation more objectively, and give you ideas about how to begin to pull yourself out of the darkness. Trying to do it alone can just prolong it. Sometimes you just need a hand to pull you up. I can do that.

Are you struggling with feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, having trouble sleeping or feeling as if all you want to do is sleep? Well chances are you may be suffering from depression. Our therapist use a variation of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), mindfulness and meditation, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and interpersonal therapy techniques to help relieve your depressive symptoms. If you think you may be depressed you don't have to suffer in silence, contact us for a free consultation.

I work with many people with depression whether as individuals, or in the context of couples therapy. I help people to become aware of their thoughts, feelings, and the experience they have in their bodies around their depression. I work cognitively and behaviorally to help them understand distorted thinking. I also work to "externalize" the feeling of depression, and help people understand that, "you are not your thoughts." Depression may be visiting you, but you are not depression. Mindfulness is a tool I use with depression to help people understand what is happening to them in the moment, and to begin to open to emotions that may be blocked.

Depression doesn't always look the way people expect. Sometimes it's not sadness so much as numbness, disconnection, or just going through the motions. I work with clients experiencing depression using CBT, EMDR, and interpersonal therapy to help you understand what's driving it, shift the thought patterns keeping you stuck, and build coping skills that actually hold up. We'll also look at the relational pieces, because depression rarely exists in a vacuum. This isn't about putting a positive spin on things. It's about doing the real work so you can start feeling like yourself again.

I will help you explore the roots of your depression, whether it stems from relationship issues, low self-esteem, biochemistry, or some combination of them. We will formulate an individualized plan of action to help you address the sources of your unhappiness so that you can shed what no longer works for you and begin living a more authentic and fulfilling life.

Depression is exhausting and isolating, but it’s also highly treatable with effective psychotherapy. My approach is collaborative and gentle, and I believe that healing happens when we feel connected and supported. I integrate a variety of therapeutic techniques including CBT, mindfulness and insight oriented interventions. I help my clients alter thoughts and behaviors that exacerbate depression, improve their relationships, and address underlying and unresolved feelings that lead to depressed mood. Together, we can help you through and out of your depression to live a balanced and happy life.

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.

Our credentialed music therapists tailor sessions to each individual, utilizing personalized music exercises and interventions to address each person's unique symptoms of depression. Our music therapists work with each client using musical elements like songwriting, processing, and guided imagery to help clients find their own voice and learn new coping skills to help manage depression of any severity.

Depression is very difficult to address on ones own. Often clients don't know its depression as their thoughts and feelings almost begin to feel normal. They forget about how life once was and need a help in climbing out of the dark hole that they feel there in. I will use few different approaches including referrals for medication when a client feels they are ready or request it.

Depression is often controlled by our unconscious feelings, thoughts, memories, and dreams. Drawing on Positive Psychology and other therapeutic models, I help clients to understand how we relive early experiences unconsciously, and I coach them on behavioral techniques they can use to overcome the vicious cycle of negativity and change their present. These include a blend of empirically based techniques clients can use at work or at home to overcome depression, end self-sabotage, and get unstuck.