Depression Counseling in Totowa, NJ.

Children and adolescents who act out due to symptoms of AD/HD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Autistic Spectrum Disorders, and School Underachievement constantly receive negative feedback from parents, teachers, and peers. This results in underlying feelings of helplessness and hopelessness leading to depression. I motivate such children to develop self-control which leads to improved academic and social skills. This leads to social acceptance and academic achievement and self-esteem rises. Helplessness and hopelessness dissipate and depression and anxiety lessen.

Depression is very difficult to address on ones own. Often clients don't know its depression as their thoughts and feelings almost begin to feel normal. They forget about how life once was and need a help in climbing out of the dark hole that they feel there in. I will use few different approaches including referrals for medication when a client feels they are ready or request it.

I believe that depression is nature’s way of shutting us down when there is some element in our life or our past that overwhelms and burdens us. It is often something experienced that our usual ways of coping cannot remedy. A client experiencing depression is often ‘turning off’, ‘shutting down’ and going inward in response to something in their life or in their relationships that is just too much to bear. I help depressed clients discover what it is in their life that is overwhelming them and help them find the strength and power to directly face the matter that is causing the turn inward and the shutting down.