Depression Counselling in Welland, ON.

The quagmire of depression can feel impossible to escape. Getting started is the hardest. In counselling we first explore ways you might change the situation. Initially you may not succeed. But even the effort will energize you and may lead to other actions, other arenas where you have more options. You will learn something new. Best of all you will feel more alive, more involved with other people and with daily life. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy & it's offshoots are well-tested approaches to changing depression by altering your actions or expanding your thoughts. Another approach, Mindfulness, can give a broader perspective. Counselling helps you explore and discover what works for you.

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.

When I work with people who are weighed down with symptoms of depression, I find that it is important to remember two things: go slowly, and go together. Employing a trauma informed, family systems and somatic lens to what you are experiencing can help provide insight into how to move through and manage it. Journeying with clients through their depression is a great honour, and is something I take very seriously. I find that for many people, holding onto hope that things could be different, is something that can seem too much. Part of my commitment to working through depression is that, until you are ready, I will hold onto hope for both us.

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.

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.

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!

When working to treat depression, I like to focus on a holistic approach, targeting all aspects of healing from the physical to the mental to the spiritual. Depression manifests differently for everyone so we will work together to target your triggers, your motivators, and a balance between responsibilities and fun, creating a life worth living for you.

Depression can be mild moderate or severe. It need not be severe in order to ask for help. Wherever your depression is along the continuum of severity, we can work together to develop strategies to help you work toward rediscovering motivation, increase energy levels, let go of the tendency to dwell on negative thoughts and feel more connected in your life and your relationships.

Depression can make your body feel heavy and tired. You are likely unmotivated, sad most of the time, and see little hope. I want to hear your story and what led you to this point. Let's start there. Then we can start creating a path forward. There is always a path, no matter how hopeless it may seem. As a reminder, you are not broken and there is nothing wrong with you. Healing and freedom are just around the corner.