Depression Counselling in Stouffville, ON.

Depression can be a powerful force that can greatly impact our day to day. Depression can cause feelings of sadness, hopelessness, a lack of energy, or even numbness. You may feel stuck in previous patterns of behavior, or like you are running on ‘autopilot’. As a therapist, I know the impacts of these experiences, and I strive to work with you to better understand the depression, so that you can navigate it and develop the necessary tools to manage it. Connect with me today for a free consultation to begin your healing journey and move towards fulfillment, connection, and joy.

I will help you to uncover what is getting in the way of living your optimal life and to build new skills to manage it. Through the use of acceptance and mindfulness strategies, I help clients to be fully present in the moment and to accept otherwise negative emotions. Commitment and behavior change strategies help clients to change or persist in behaviors more in line with their own values. Used together these strategies increase client’s psychological flexibility.

When you feel hopeless, lost, down, or depressed, you need a space to express your feelings and build the skills to create more joy, balance, and hope for yourself. Through a personalized and empathetic combination of talk therapy, embodiment, and life skills, we will work through depression symptoms in a way that suits your unique body, brain, cultural background, and sense of self so that you can fully live your life.

Many years ago depression was called melancholia and was not considered so negatively as it is in our current "performance" focused culture. We are expected to be "up" continuously in today's busy life-styles, with work, children, relationships, and even in our playtime. The result of this sort of expectation can be debilitating and certainly can lead to long bouts of feeling out of control, unfulfilled, unmotivated and ultimately immobilized. Depression can certainly be dealt with through very effective therapeutic techniques. I work with clients to better understand the root cause of their sadness and help them to look at the possible meaning behind their depression and how to best cope.

Winnie's approach to depression draws primarily from Cognitive- Behavior Therapy. If you feel that you don't have the energy to do things, or even get up in the morning, then come in for counselling. Counselling can help you to explore what is the bothering you emotionally, understand yourself better, and learn how to see or understand the issues from a better perspective

During childhood and adolescent years, difficulties may arise with emotion regulation, distressing thoughts, and maladaptive behaviours that may contribute to social, emotional, academic, or familial challenges. Making the decision to seek help is not an easy one, and if you are reading this, congratulations on taking this important first step. My team and I provide support for depression in children and youth. We start with a thorough assessment to better understand the full picture and the factors contributing to low mood. We bring in evidence-based approaches to help guide and support each individual's journey to boosting mood and living in line with what is important.

At New Roots Therapy, we aim to understand depression in a way that is not pathologizing or failing. Depression can have both internal and external roots; many times, depression is an active response to something that is out of balance in one's life. Regardless of its cause, we ultimately believe that a person is not their depression, but a person can be influenced by depression. By the same token, we believe that people have the ability to be active in influencing the impact of depression on their lives and we hope to explore this with the people we meet.

As a psychotherapist, I approach the symptoms of depression—such as continuous low mood, feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, low self-esteem, irritability, and lack of motivation—with empathy and understanding. In our sessions, I create a safe space for clients to express their emotions, whether they’re feeling tearful or guilt-ridden. We explore these feelings collaboratively, identifying the thought patterns and behaviors that contribute to their sense of hopelessness. By employing techniques from Trauma-Informed Care and Client-Centered Therapy, I help clients challenge negative beliefs about themselves and regain a sense of agency.