Depression Counselling in Niagara Falls, ON.

The quagmire of depression can feel impossible to escape. Getting started is the hardest. In counselling we first explore ways you might change the situation. Initially you may not succeed. But even the effort will energize you and may lead to other actions, other arenas where you have more options. You will learn something new. Best of all you will feel more alive, more involved with other people and with daily life. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy & it's offshoots are well-tested approaches to changing depression by altering your actions or expanding your thoughts. Another approach, Mindfulness, can give a broader perspective. Counselling helps you explore and discover what works for you.

Depression can be mild moderate or severe. It need not be severe in order to ask for help. Wherever your depression is along the continuum of severity, we can work together to develop strategies to help you work toward rediscovering motivation, increase energy levels, let go of the tendency to dwell on negative thoughts and feel more connected in your life and your relationships.

People suffering with depression can experience feelings of being overwhelmed, withdrawing and isolating, avoiding people or situation, negative thinking patterns, feeling hopelessness, and disturbed sleeping patterns. Depression can be caused by environmental, situational, genetic or biological factors. In therapy, our first goal is to properly assess the source of your depression. Once the source and the symptoms of the depression has been identified, a treatment plan for counselling is developed. This might include cognitive behavioural therapy, motivational interviewing or solution focus therapy. Counselling has proven to be an effective treatment and intervention for 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 often comes as a result of not feeling entitled to claim our life and set boundaries to create safety in our life. Instead of feelings like we can grow and become more of who we are, we get caught in the reverse, where we feel more and more that we should shrink and lose our aliveness. I will work with you in a process of recognizing your feelings and getting them to work for you rather than against you. Depression is about dis-empowerment, but we become empowered when we can make sense of our inner world and use our feelings to strengthen ourselves and make the changes we need to make in our life. No need to go it alone, let me guide you through this challenging terrain!

Depression can be devestating for the person who experiences it, however, when looked at through a slightly different lense it can also be an opportunity to make the changes your body, mind, emotions, and spirit are demanding of you. I have supported many clients to recover from depression and live their lives with a renewed sense of meaning and hope.

Grey Matters International, Inc. and the work of Kevin J. Fleming, Ph.D. handles depression and other emotional disorders in a very unique way. Most of therapy or counseling processes utilize validation, unconditional positive regard, and reframing as common techniques to get someone to heal from their depression. Though this can be helpful, it rarely fixes the core problem behind it and for tough cases we then refer them usually to a psychiatrist for medication which can have tons of side effects. Instead, why not try a natural and arguably more effective way to not just change your mind, but change the brain--where the depression is rooted. Contact us at kevin@kevinflemingphd.com.

Almost all of us go through “ups and downs” in our lives. However the normal experiences of life shouldn’t be confused with the medical condition known as depression. Depression is a state of mind that can leave a person in a sad or discontented mood. At The Family Enhancement Centre, we have a team of highly experienced therapists who are adept in various therapeutic approaches for depression counselling including mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and psycho-dynamic therapy. Contact us today to know how we can help you.