Depression Counselling in Ottawa, ON.

My approach to depression therapy emphasizes embracing emotions and making purposeful choices. By fostering present-moment awareness, clients learn to manage their symptoms and find balance. Integrating physical, mental, and spiritual elements, my therapy helps clients uncover a deeper sense of meaning. This supportive and holistic strategy enables clients to feel valued and empowered, guiding them towards a hopeful and resilient recovery from depression.

Helping clients understand what depression is and ensuring that they are aware of what the various treatment options that are available to them (i.e therapy, traditional medicine, naturopathic medicine, etc). Helping clients determine what is at the root of it all and finding strategies that work for them to cope with the emotional roller coaster and other symptoms associated with depression. Normalizing client's experience and determining a treatment plan that aligns with the client's goals for therapy.

About 1/3 of the population eventually suffers from depression (CMHA). Only family doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists are qualified to diagnose depression. My first recommendation is likely to be for you to discuss your concerns with your family doctor. If a person’s feelings of depression are occurring “out of the blue” and believed to be of a chemical nature, family physicians or psychiatrists may recommend medication. Social workers (like me) provide talk therapy. I can help you take an honest look at what may be contributing to depressive feelings in terms of your thought patterns, current and past events and relationships in order to help you gain skills to decrease symptoms.

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.

Therapy can be a place where clients can explore the blocks they are experiencing to feeling ok. Sometimes such things as early childhood experiences, trauma [recent or historic], challenging work situations, feeling overwhelmed in life, and interpersonal and relationship struggles can contribute to feeling disempowered, hopeless, helpless, numb, exhausted, and disinterested in life. Being able to feel supported, to explore and come to understand what is happening, to explore the body's and the nervous system's role in how one is feeling, to speak freely can often help.

I use CBT to help improve depression symptoms. We explore: causes, triggers and symptoms to work on. I use behavioral activation to help make a list of enjoyable activities that you can begin with. Having someone to listen empathically is immensely useful. Helping to understand early signs of depression is also essential so that you can intervene to help yourself as early as possible.

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.

Depression can feel isolating and that every day tasks and social interactions require a lot of mental and physical effort. The approaches that will be used are cognitive behavioural therapy and narrative therapy. There will be a particular focus on a change in behaviour as it influences one's thoughts and therein offering an alternative decision-making process.

Depression is often a response to having experienced profound psychological pain. It is a way for us to retreat or numb ourselves from the overwhelming emotions of such stressful circumstances. It acts as a protective shield in a way. In therapy, we will work towards addressing the underlying sources that are contributing to feelings of deep sadness. This can be a difficult task and as such it can be helpful to include strategies alongside our reflective work which may include CBT, DBT, Mindfulness, and Behavioural Activation. Book a free 15-minute consultation with me to see if I’m the right fit for you.

Depression has the ability to severely impact our daily lives, often making small everyday tasks difficult. Those who are affected by depression may be left with lack of motivation, low self-esteem and disinterest in the things they used to enjoy the most. What they could once do effortlessly may become one of the greatest challenges. Navigating depression can feel really lonely and scary, but I am here to walk that journey with you and to help you reconnect with your passions and joys. Contact me today to book a free consultation.

When engulfed in the blackness of depression we loose site of the debilitating negative cloud casting despair over all aspects of our life. We come to see our lives solely through the depression lens rather than being able to construct an accurate map of our reality. With psychotherapy we can learn to once again access a more balanced vision of our living that better recognizes the goodness in our lives and provides direction to possibilities. Depending on the level of clinical depression, medication is often recommended temporarily in conjunction with psychotherapy to alleviate depression symptoms and help bring motivation for movement--the client can begin to help themselves

Depression is a sign that we are no longer able to adapt to the complex and stressful world we live in. Our biological bodies and brains were not designed for the financial, cultural, social, and relational stressors we live with today. We see depression as a pivotal moment in one's life - as a reminder to start listening to our body, mind, and spirit. If you are feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, sad, fearful, stuck or on autopilot, we can help you get at the root of these feelings and work through them to attain relief.

Depression can make a person feel as if the world has gone dark and nothing can bring them joy. Utilizing effective therapeutic methods, I can help you identify factors that contribute to depression and help you find ways to adapt to those situations. We will set realistic goals for the future, identify distorted thought processes or unhelpful behaviours that contribute to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness and develop skills to cope and prevent future episodes of depression.

Depression is all encompassing. It affects all aspects of our life including our physical health, our emotional state, our thinking patterns, our behaviours and reactions, and our relationships. We often lose interest in participating in life and this can lead to feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and worthlessness. Although we can feel like a lost cause at times, there is always hope! Working together in therapeutic relationship, we can can help you reconnect with your joy in a supportive and compassionate way. If you want to start feeling better, book a free consultation or book a session today! www.kaleidoscopecounsellingco.com

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.

Saint Paul University’s Counselling and Psychotherapy Centre welcomes a diverse clientele, for individual or couple’s therapy. Services are provided by counselling interns at the Master of Arts and Doctoral level in Counselling and Spirituality at Saint Paul University. *Services in French available

Sadness and Depression are often challenges we may encounter in our lifetime. Feelings, thoughts and behaviors associated with them can at times overwhelm and even paralyze us with their power. In a supportive and empathic environment I help clients understand these feelings, progress through their isolation with them, find a way through their tight hold and learn to live productively again.

Depression can leave you debilitated. The hopelessness, heaviness and anxiousness you feel can make everyday tasks feel impossible. It can impact your relationships and overall quality of life. Therapy with me means up-regulating you and your nervous system. I supported you with a mind-body approach to get you activated. Let's connect to get you back to feeling like yourself.

The combination of schema therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective approach to dealing with depression. The CBT aspect of the therapy provides insight into HOW depression affects our lives. The schema portion of the therapy addresses the question of WHY depression exists in our lives. The therapy is comprehensive and intense and I encourage you to give it a try.

Depression is problematic in several ways and can feel impossible to break out of. My goal for working with clients struggling with depression is to start imagining a better future. My interest lies in getting to know my clients specifically, because while there may be some general truths about depression treatment, the more specific we can tailor the healing, the more it will fit and sustain itself.

I provide compassionate, evidence-based counseling for depression and bipolar disorder, tailored to your unique needs. Using a person-centered, trauma-informed approach, I integrate CBT, DBT, Interpersonal Therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy to help manage depressive episodes, mania, and hypomania, build resilience, and regain stability. My goal is to create a safe, supportive space where you can explore your emotions, develop coping strategies, and work toward meaningful change. Whether you're struggling with persistent sadness, mood swings, or emotional dysregulation, I’m here to support your journey toward healing and growth.

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.

The lack of energy and interest that join depression can be debilitating. Not wanting to see family or friends, or even get out of bed is a reality for many with depression. How do we create a life worth living and spark up that fire of life? Let's work together to build a life for you that is worth living. Let's offer you a space to just be while we do so.