Depression Counselling in Burlington, ON.

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 can be very painful, but I believe there is hope and that people do not need to stay this way. Along with medical reasons, I believe that depression is the result of certain thought patterns. I help people take a look at their automatic thought patterns, assumptions, and schemas (core beliefs about themselves), and empower them to see that they can chose to think differently. When people are able to change their negative thought patterns for more realistic ones, their emotions and behaviours begin to improve as well.

Depression can be debiltating often affecting many aspects of ones life. Individuals can feel hopeless, helpless and even emotionally paralysed. Fortunately due to the prevelence of depression in North America, there have been a number of strategies to help individuals regain their emotional strength and find their way back. Cognitive Behavioural and Dialectical Behavioural Therapies provide individuals with a number of tools to turn life around and regain control.

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.

In working with individuals who struggle with depression, I primarily use a cognitive behavioural therapeutic (CBT) approach. The principal aim of this approach is to increase awareness that thoughts and behaviours drive emotion. In addition, the goal is to increase consciousness of distorted perceptions. That is, often individuals who struggle with depression do not think accurately, and if their thoughts are not accurate, than they cannot be trusted. The purpose of CBT is to bring awareness to cognitive distortions and then teach individuals how to rebalance their thoughts to be more accurate.

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.

Booo depression!!! 👎👎 But also, yay depression!??? 🤔 Depression is one of the most insidious of mental health challenges because it can rob you of the very things needed to counteract it. It can also be an important gauge that something in your life needs a tune-up! Like, today! Our first steps forward will be to make it crystal clear that, You Are Not Your Depression. Together we will identify the tactics and tricks its being using in order to maintain its presence in your life. We'll also discover just what it's doing there in the first place and why it's been sticking around. Together we'll begin to shine a light on something that would much rather prefer you remained in the dark!

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.

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.

The term depression has become a quite “popular” in the lexicon of people, almost synonymous to being “moody”. However, depression should be taken seriously because it can have dire consequences and can indeed kill. It kills your joy, your interests, your energy, your workability, your relationship and possibly literally you. If you have been moody for weeks, do not delay in seeking care and get professional help. Depression is not easy to treat. It is difficult to overcome on your own, but together we can find your way out of it and resources to get better over time.

Depression is a result of non-processed grief, which itself comes from a sense of loss. It is the mechanism through which the mind tries to “take it easy” and focus on the loss. However, in today’s society, we do our best to avoid it or even deny it. Sometimes, we take the easy way of medication so that we do not face this darkness inside. A successfully therapy accompanies the client through this journey of introspection and creates supportive environment in which the client faces the loss. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to see if we are a good fit.

Depression is the most frequent reason that people seek help through psychotherapy. It is estimated that 30% of people will have one episode of clinical depression in their lifetime. Many people don’t realize that depression has many faces. It’s certainly not just “feeling down” for a few days. It doesn’t always involve crying a lot – sometimes it’s more like feeling numb. It might look like not sleeping and feeling agitated and anxious and angry. It might look like just not wanting to do anything anymore and sleeping and eating too much. It might look like fatigue and body aches. Clinical depression is a real illness that effects so many facets of your life – physically, mentally,

Depression can be one of the most difficult experiences a person can experience! It affects one in five of us. It travels in families. It feels like you are living under an ominous dark cloud. While it can make life difficult, it also can effect our concentration, our physical health, our relationships, our career and our self-esteem. Like cancer the early detection and treatment is in direct correlation to successful treatment. . I have journeyed with hundreds over the years. I am happy to help you through this!

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.

I have seen many clients who have either given up or whom are on the verge giving up on, what many claim is ‘everything’…. Nothing seems to be of interest to them. Nothing really is happening in life that they want to talk about. But the persistent sadness and lack of personal drive becomes a constant burden and the constant persistence of everyone telling them to get out of their ‘funk’ is starting to take its toll. Using Dialectic Behavioural Therapy, guided meditation, mindfulness, and other strategies we work to successfully get clients “out of this rutt” and truly realize their potential.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based approach to depression. CBT elects not to focus much on the past and instead focuses on identifying negative thoughts and recognizing healthier and more realistic ones. When a change in attitude occurs, it leads to a change in behavior. As we identify these negative thoughts, we will work together to create treatment goals such as a change to negative behaviors. When we identify these negative thoughts and behaviors, we will practice techniques in a safe, controlled environment that will help you to respond successfully in situations where these become present.