Depression Counselling in Hamilton, ON.

Whenever I have worked with clients during the past 10 years who have experienced depressive symptoms, I have found that they have found that both a client-centred and Cognitive Behavioural Theoretical approach seems to be appreciated by them. Within the CBT model, I also have relied on Dialectical Behavioural Theory also to gain understanding and to move on towards coping strategies. I think this therapeutic pattern has been helpful to many of my past clients, as they have said that need to be heard first, gain understanding to their struggles, and then find solutions to alleviate the symptoms which they are experiencing.

With proven strategies and creative, unique approaches, I can assist you with alleviating your depression. If you struggle with incorporating practices to manage your depression, I can offer attractive and practical ways that are easy to use. I also provide encouragement and practical advice when you struggle in relationships because of your depression.

While we all have days where we feel sad and 'depressed', if it goes on day after day so that negative thoughts make us feel exhausted, powerless, empty, discouraged and hopeless, then we need help. Leaving depression untreated can lead to several physical and mental complications and even suicide. Fortunately, trained counsellors can assist us in retraining our mind and teach us new skills to challenge depressive thinking so that we can lead a confidently depression free life.

Depression is a sadness that accompanies us wherever we go stealing our experience of happiness and joy. Others often do not understand that depression has changed our vision of a colorful, vibrant world to one of varying shades of gray. Depression can make tasks that were once completed without much thought like taking a shower, brushing one's teeth, or even getting out of bed, feel like an overwhelming challenge. Activities and people that we once enjoyed, no longer bring pleasure. "Why can't I just snap out of it?!" I use an integrative approach to therapy providing an empathetic, supportive dynamic to empower you to change your emotional experience of life.

One of the most well known aspects of mental health, depression, often gets confused with “being sad”. Depression can zap an individual’s energy, while also leaving them with a sense of hopelessness and helplessness. Unchecked, depression can be very dangerous, sometimes leading to individuals to consider suicide. Luckily, depression can also be countered through counselling, where an individual can identify and counter the various thought patterns that contribute to their depression, while also fostering hope.

It takes courage to come to therapy for the symptoms of depression, and I don’t take lightly the invitation to walk with someone through their struggles in this area. Together we look at how your thoughts impact your feelings as well as your life story to consider areas of healing from the past as well as solutions for the future. We also consider areas of your thought life that keep you stuck and hinder your forward movement in life.

My approach includes using empathy and being non-judgmental during interactions with clients, in addition to meeting the client where they are at in their journey. Clients will benefit from depression counselling as they will have a safe environment to share and will be reminded that that with ongoing support they will be able to feel better because they are deserving of living a happy and healthy life.

Treatment for depression obliges a therapeutic approach that is nonjudgmental and compassionate. Whether long-standing or mediated by situational factors, many of us find ourselves struggling with such feelings in our life-time–affecting changes in our sleep, concentration, decision-making, patience, energy, appetite, motivation and more – ultimately interfering with living our lives fully. I am experienced with working with adults suffering symptoms of depression, working together with their family and treating clinicians, as needed, in an effort to guide them toward systematic recovery, discovery, and to sustain good habits moving forward.

Depression hurts and is becoming epidemic in our society. However, depression is a treatable condition and there are effective approaches that can help you break the cycle of chronic unhappiness so you can keep moving forward, learn how to face life’s challenges with greater resilience and regain a sense of well-being. I work from the best evidence- based therapies for depression: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Interpersonal therapy (IPT), Solution Focused Therapy and Art Therapy to help you overcome the mental habits leading to despair, rumination, and self-blame so you can repossess the sense of hope, joy and life balance.

Getting to the root of one's depression, why it occurs, and how it presents itself is imperative in understanding how one can remedy it. By working with clients to explore and comprehensively understand their depression, we will be able to better manage, mitigate, or eliminate the cognitions, behaviours, and feelings tied to our depression. How we became depressed is only the first step in ones work on depression; figuring out how to create change, support, and maintain change is the bulk of it.

I combine therapeutic art making with multiple therapeutic techniques and talking therapy based on my client’s need. Clients may be required to create directed pieces of art to gauge their moods and work through things and/or thought patterns that they are struggling with. I guide my clients to focus on their hidden strengths or things that are going well in their lives. This may be difficult to achieve at first, but as my clients work through the process they learn or rediscover things about themselves that may have not been known or lost to them. My clients learn to recognize what they are feeling, identify their triggers, and ways to manage these feelings and care for themselves.

Negative commentary colours the experiences of individual’s living with depression. Negative thoughts, maladaptive attitudes, and perceptions of despair often are characteristic of people’s experiences with depression. Through Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), these individual thought-processes can be altered in favour of ones which facilitate emotions and behaviours more advantageous and functional to an individual’s daily life. As a practitioner of CBT, an awareness of how an individual’s beliefs may be maintaining symptoms of depression as well as the requisite skills provided to facilitate more adaptive ways of thinking to overcome it will be taught.

Can we transform emotional pain into personal growth and find hope? I can help you become aware of how certain negative automatic thoughts, beliefs and expectations contribute to feelings of anxiety and sadness. Often these automatic negative thought patterns are developed as a result of a past painful and difficult experience. They determine how we deal with loss, change, conflict and social interactions. Supporting you in identifying and understanding these thought patterns, can help resolve problems in maintaining relationships and establish a stronger sense of self-worth. Schedule a free consultation with me to see if we are a good fit for therapy.

Mood problems affect and thoughts about ourselves, others and impacts the way we see the world. Depression is a very common disorder and can be disabling to the person as well as those with whom you interact. Depression can be caused from many factors: genetics, situational crises, and unmet interpersonal needs. The good news is that depression is treatable. Through counseling and sometimes with the use of medication prescribed by your doctor, one can gain the tools to help you throughout the rest of your life.

While we all have days where we feel sad and 'depressed', if it goes on day after day so that negative thoughts make us feel exhausted, powerless, empty, discouraged and hopeless, then we need help. Leaving depression untreated can lead to several physical and mental complications and even suicide. Fortunately, trained counsellors can assist us in retraining our mind and teach us new skills to challenge depressive thinking so that we can lead a confidently depression free life.

Depression stinks. Its ability to emotionally cripple you is frustrating and the way it can hold you back from being the person you were made to be is tragic. Fortunately, depression does not have to own your life. It can be overcome, and you deserve better than what it offers. You deserve happiness and together we will help you find a new way of living that will unleash your true potential and show the world how great you really are.

Depression can leave us feeling empty, emotionally low, and unmotivated. When we can understand our experiences of depression, we can cultivate different responses. In therapy, you can learn how to challenge depressive thought patterns, develop self-compassion, and understand the root causes of the depression you are experiencing. Book a free consultation to explore if we are a good fit for therapy.