Depression Counseling in Merrick, NY.

Depression can range from sad to debilitating. It can come as a reaction to a trauma or painful event or creep up on you from a buildup of years of unhappiness. When given attention, depression can help you learn about what may be missing in your life, what you want to achieve, pain that needs healing, or how to become more empowered. Depression can be used for strength and positive. Experience how!

Hal helps clients understand depression and better cope with the nasty and persistent erosion of hope. Hal encourages his clients to understand the reason(s) for their depression and unique ways to climb out of it. He also encourages clients to connect to, express, even write about their depression. Hal believes that only by facing it head are we able to effectively disarm depression, while increasing self-esteem.

In my approach to depression counseling and treatment, I provide a compassionate and holistic perspective, tailoring my interventions to the unique needs of each client. Drawing upon my 8 years of experience as a Board-Certified adult psychiatrist and specialization in Reproductive Psychiatry and Integrative Women's Mental Health, I offer evidence-based therapies and medication management.

Clients who come to me feeling sad, low, depressed will get understanding, caring, and help in understanding what might be behind what they are feeling, and practical strategies, steps, and techniques to understand and support themselves and learn how to begin to think, feel and function healthier, stronger, and better with more energy, focus and motivation.

Depression can range from being draining to being completely debilitating. Wherever you land on that spectrum, so much of depression involves negative thinking of oneself, others, and the world. Talk therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy are research-backed successful tools in providing support for those experiencing depression. I use talk therapy to provide a space for clients to share their feelings and things that either lead to or are affected by their feelings of depression. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps identify and shift negative thinking patterns as well as behaviors, which ultimately creates a more positive cycle in ones life and decreases symptoms of depression.

Psychotherapy has been found to be an effective and valuable treatment approach for depression. We will work together to create a tailored treatment plan that addresses your specific needs and concerns. During therapy sessions we will identify life events that contribute to your distress and find ways to resolve them or adapt better to your circumstances. We will identify unhealthy thoughts and behaviors that contribute to your sadness. You will learn skills that will enable you to function at your best. The benefits of psychotherapy can have an enduring effect as you will continue to use your coping skills after therapy ends.

It can often seem like society expects us to be happy and positive at all times, that any admission of sadness or a loss of motivation, energy, or engagement with life is a personal failure. But Depression isn't a personal failure, and it is also more than just "feeling sad". If you find yourself down in the hole of disconnection, surrounded by a fog that is interfering with your life and relationships, you need a hand to help you climb out. A trained therapist understands the mechanics of depression and can help you understand it and find strategies to make your way up and out of it, and back into the light. Please contact me so we can begin to work on this process together.