Depression Counselling in Penticton, BC.

There are many reasons people experience depression. Depression is a pervasive sadness often accompanied by a sense of powerlessness and is often related to past or current life experiences. Sadness is a normal, healthy response to loss, including a loss of power, but if it goes on too long, it becomes problematic. There are many approaches to treatment, including medication, which some people find helpful in addressing symptoms. However, it does not address root causes. Naming it, looking at underlying causes and exploring new ways of coping with its debilitating thought patterns and feelings can help you move on to reclaim your personal power and rediscover enjoyment in life.

When one is depressed the range of thoughts and feelings encompass a wide spectrum. Sadness and despair might be pervasive. One can feel as if they have fallen into a deep dark pit where everything is covered in negativity and hopelessness. In this state, one can feel inadequate, discouraged, unable or unwilling to make decisions. In addition, guilt, shame, profound low self-esteem and loss of interest in relationships, sex, career and even life itself are commonly found. A variety of evidence-based tools, specific to the needs of the individual, applied skillfully at the right time, can dramatically lift one out of that deep, dark pit and help avoid relapse.

When struggling with depressed moods, everything feels heavy and you lack a sense of meaning and purpose. Even the most simple tasks can feel impossible. If you find yourself turning to alcohol, substances, or other addictive behaviours to cope with depressed moods, there is a way out. I help clients with addictions overcome the depressed moods causing them to turn to substances or addictive behaviours to cope. Everyone is different, so I work with you to develop a plan that fits your unique situation. If you are unsure where to start, send me a message. If I'm not the right fit, I can connect you to resources that will allow you to start getting help today, without having to wait.

As someone who has a history of depression personally and intergenerationally, I am well aware of the great challenges and opportunities for growth that this experience can bring. For those struggling with depression, healing can feel elusive, as if nothing will ever work. It often requires a wider lens, an eye for patterns and a deeply supportive and holistic orientation to shift this dynamic. My approach comes from my years of experience moving through and finally out of my own depression and integrating the ancestral patterns that laid the foundation for it in my life. I now come to you with a wide-reaching tool kit to support you in your journey.

Depression is tricky. Depression causes a lowered mood, fatigue, and decreased motivation. Sometimes, Depression goes unnoticed by friends and family. It can appear like everything in your life should be fine, but inside, it's a struggle to get out of bed. I provide a non-judgmental space to explore the areas of your life impacted by depression. You will learn alternative coping mechanisms to help ease future symptoms of depression.

Whether you experience situational or chronic depression counselling and/or therapy can reduce symptoms. Sometimes medication is warrented and Sheila will work with your doctor if required to reduce symptoms of depression. Counselling can help you become aware of unconscious thoughts, feelings and habits and will increase your ability to create lasting change and experience reduction in all depressive symptoms.

Depression can pull you into the darkest places in your mind, to the place where you believe the illusion of total disconnection and loneliness. This is a response that your brain creates. Identifying the processes that triggered that response, we can climb our way up to our true selves and reach the long-lost stability we maybe once had. I can guide you through that darkness for you to reach it.

Depression is a condition that varies greatly between each presentation. It often is a downstream effect of other dynamics and relationships that takes a serious toll on the body, the nervous system, digestion, relationships and emotional well-being. My approach to treating depression begins with respect and understanding of the individual experience, their past, present, and concept of the future. I take that understanding of past experience, and beliefs of the future, pain in the present, and to provide safety, support, and strategy to improve your well-being and cultivate resilience through life's significant challenges. Depression can also look like anger, fatigue, isolation, etc.