Depression Counselling in Mississippi Mills, ON.

In any given year, depression will be present in 4 – 5 % of the Canadian population, and between 7.9 and 8.6% will experience depression during their lifetimes. (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2002) Despite its prevalence, there remains a stigma around depression. Untreated, depression can wreak havoc in a person's life, but with the right supports, (medication, if needed, and psychotherapy) depression can be managed and people can lived productive and meaningful lives. I provide a safe place for my clients factors which may be affecting their mood , and work with my clients to bring about necessary lifestyle changes and to move greater emotional health.

Can we transform emotional pain into personal growth and find hope? I can help you become aware of how certain negative automatic thoughts, beliefs and expectations contribute to feelings of anxiety and sadness. Often these automatic negative thought patterns are developed as a result of a past painful and difficult experience. They determine how we deal with loss, change, conflict and social interactions. Supporting you in identifying and understanding these thought patterns, can help resolve problems in maintaining relationships and establish a stronger sense of self-worth. Schedule a free consultation with me to see if we are a good fit for therapy.

Depression is an insidious companion, and can creep its way in without us realizing for some time. Shifting a depressed mindset can be extremely difficult but neuroimaging studies have shown that by practicing mindfulness we can begin to alter those well-trodden neural pathways and shift our neurochemistry by promoting the production of neurotransmitters linked to feelings of happiness. Psychotherapy can help you identify mindfulness activities and other tools that can help to promote the production of these neurotransmitters and deliver results rooted in neuroscience. I can offer an alternative perspective and act as the catalyst you need to begin making the shift out of depression.

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.

Depression is often associated with symptoms such as fatigue, loss of motivation, loss of pleasure, withdrawal, and feelings of sadness. Often, when individuals feel depressed, they stop engaging in activities they enjoy which can perpetuate depressive symptoms. There are a variety of evidence-based approaches to explore depression. Together, we will decide which approach is best for you. Please contact me to schedule a free 15-minute consultation to determine if we are a good fit.

Our emotions work to provide us with information about a situation, environment, or relationship. When we experience depression, it is typically because we have experienced many disappointments in our life, or believe that we have let important others down. Our coping strategies become overwhelmed and we experience feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. Together, we can explore the circumstances surrounding your depression symptoms to develop an understanding of them. This will assist us in identifying new ways of reducing and managing these emotions, to improve your daily functioning and overall quality of life.