Depression

* If you are experiencing a mental health emergency including suicidal thoughts & intent or if you have a plan in place, call 855-CRISIS-1 (855-274-7471) or text “TN” to 741-741. Help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

* You can also call 911, go to the nearest Emergency Room or call/text 988 for the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

You may feel like you don’t recognize yourself anymore. Your motivation has disappeared, you’re struggling to sleep or find it nearly impossible to get out of bed. Hopelessness, negative thinking, and mood swings have become your reality. There is help available! 

• Loss of interest & pleasure, discontentedness, sadness, hopelessness
• Sleep difficulties, insomnia, restlessness, or excessive sleeping
• Appetite changes leading to weight gain or loss.
• Mood swings, loss of concentration, brain fog, physical pain
• Loss of self-confidence
• Thoughts of suicide

Recovery from depression is possible. The right therapist experienced in effective, evidence-based interventions is essential to your healing. It is also important to fill your toolbox with practical ways to interrupt old behavior patterns such as DBT, Brainspotting, and EFT (see below for details). We are all wounded in different ways. Exploring your past in therapy, building a community-based support system and regular skills practice are early recovery behaviors that can lead to lasting change. 

I can help you heal from depression by working with feelings of sadness, loss of motivation, and replaying negative thoughts. Over time, as you heal and gain coping skills interest in life’s possibilities returns. Medication may be one part of your treatment along with therapy, self-care practices, and stress reduction. Medication management for depression should be monitored by a Psychiatrist or Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. 

 Treatment Options for Depression:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps to identify negative thought patterns that lead to correlating negative behaviors & feelings. 
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a skills-based therapy that teaches practical exercises to help you with core mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and relationship effectiveness. 
• Brainspotting is an integrative body-based psychotherapy approach especially designed to facilitate healing from divorce, grief, and trauma that could be contributing to depressive symptoms.
• Emotional Freedom Technique (Tapping) is a skills-based intervention to reduce negative feelings, thoughts, and beliefs. 
• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) & Mindfulness Training helps reduce the impact of anxiety.  Mindfulness is an important tool when in treatment for mental health. It helps you connect with yourself which strengthens inner awareness, the ability to observe your thoughts & behaviors, and builds resilience. 
• Essential wellness activities including regular exercise, a nutrient-dense diet, stress management, mindfulness and/or spiritual practices, journaling, building supportive connections, and play. Exercise is an essential part of depression recovery. Research supports its effectiveness either alone or as part of medication assisted recovery. Learn More

Finding the right depression therapist is very important. Be sure to consider training, experience, and whether you feel comfortable & safe with the clinician. Contact me for a free consultation. 

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