4975 Austin Bluffs Pkwy, Colorado Springs, CO 80918 & 6655 W Jewell Ave, Lakewood, CO 80232 | (719) 506-2070
Helping people become firmly rooted and established in a healthy connection to self and others
Depression Therapy
Is Depression Casting A Shadow Over Your Life?
-
Do you vacillate between feelings of sadness, irritability, and hopelessness?
-
Is your concentration impaired, making it difficult for you to complete even simple tasks?
-
Are you ready to turn the page on depression and get the help you may have been putting off?
Depression can descend upon you like a dark cloud causing you to feel helpless to escape. Without feeling in control of your mood, you might struggle to find any joy or purpose in life. Even the activities that usually interest you lose their appeal. Your motivation may evaporate seemingly overnight—trying to get anything done feels like you’re moving through quicksand. When you feel this low, thoughts of suicide might creep into your head.
Depression Affects Both Body And Mind
Not only does depression affect you emotionally, but you might also experience debilitating physical symptoms that impair your ability to function normally. Your sleep habits may become irregular, from difficulty getting up in the morning to restlessness, insomnia, or sleeping most of the day. Similarly, your appetite may be impacted, either by overeating or losing normal hunger cues. As a result, you may become increasingly fatigued, which only exacerbates your listlessness and lack of concentration.
When you feel depressed, you might isolate yourself and stop reaching out to friends and loved ones. Even though you realize on an intellectual level that cutting yourself from others will only make you feel worse, perhaps you’re not capable of making a different choice. If only there were a way to feel more positive and productive, you could get back to living life on your own terms.
The good news is that with therapy, you can walk out from underneath the shadow that depression casts over you. Through greater self-awareness and self-compassion, you can better understand how depression affects all aspects of your life and learn how to employ helpful coping strategies to combat its symptoms.
Depression Is One Of The Most Common Mental Health Disorders In The United States*
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), “In 2020, an estimated 21.0 million adults in the United States had at least one major depressive episode. This number represented 8.4 percent of all U.S. adults.” **
Depression doesn’t discriminate—it can affect anyone of any age, gender, ethnicity, or socio-economic level. Furthermore, there is no single cause of depression. It’s thought that biological processes, psychological factors, major life events, and circumstances can all play a role. Some examples of the many causes of depression include:
-
Genetics
-
Unresolved trauma or emotional problems
-
Stress in all its forms—work, familial, social, environmental, and political
-
Medical conditions—such as cancer, stroke, heart attack, or an underactive thyroid
-
The side effects of some medications
-
Substance abuse
-
Lack of sunlight
-
Neurotransmitter and hormonal imbalances
-
Nutrition deficiencies
Many People Don’t Seek Treatment
Sadly, despite having a high success rate, nearly two out of three people suffering from depression do not actively seek nor receive proper treatment. *** Many of us struggle with lifelong depression because we are too afraid or embarrassed to get help. After all, identifying and addressing the underlying issues that make us depressed can feel daunting, especially when we are actively in the grips of depression and lack motivation
The good news is that you are reading this page which indicates a desire on your part to address your depression in therapy. Once you get counseling underway, you will realize that all it takes to move away from depression is putting one foot in front of the other.
Therapy Is An Effective Way To Treat Depression
If you have battled depression for far too long and feel ready to make positive changes in your life, therapy is an effective way to find relief from the symptoms that keep you stuck. With counseling, you can learn how to process the emotions that cause depression, which can help reduce its debilitating physical symptoms.
Therapy provides you with a safe and non-judgmental space where you can be completely honest with yourself about what is happening internally. By confiding what you have been experiencing with your therapist, you will cultivate an understanding and empathic relationship with someone who works with treating depression. This therapeutic human connection is often the first step in improving your mood and allowing deeper work to take place.
What To Expect In Sessions
Your counselor will help you develop an expanded vocabulary to better describe your symptoms, identify cues and situations that may trigger or exacerbate low moods, and discover what underlying issues your depression is caused by. Through supportive exploration, you will examine the previous and current methods you use to adapt to stress and trauma and evaluate the pros and cons of these behaviors.
In therapy, you will be encouraged to explore all experiences, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that contribute to your distress. Taking inventory in this way allows you to find better, more helpful means of emotional expression that inspire positivity.
The Modalities We Use For Depression Treatment
Emotional connection—to others as well as yourself—is an essential component of happiness and well-being. Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) are both effective modalities for treating depression that your counselor may utilize throughout sessions. IFS, also known as parts therapy, can help you connect more deeply to yourself from a stance of curiosity and compassion.
Becoming better acquainted with the different aspects of yourself that are prone to depression will help you understand and accept these parts without judgment or shame.
In AEDP, your therapist will work collaboratively with you on a journey of self-exploration, allowing you to address painful emotions as they arise that have been buried deep inside and underlie your sadness. Connecting through the therapeutic relationship will address any sense of loneliness you may have and open you up to the possibility of deeper, more satisfying relationships.
With counseling, you never have to suffer alone with your depression. Getting help unlocks the door to new possibilities for engaging in life and enjoying the beauty that surrounds you.
But Maybe You’re Not Sure If Depression Therapy Is Right For You…
Because I’ve always suffered from depression and anxiety, I doubt counseling can help me.
When depression has been your constant companion throughout life, it’s understandable to think its dark cloud is inescapable. Despite what you may think, it is possible to feel differently than you do right now. Although it takes a willingness to be vulnerable and explore new ways of being in the world, clinical depression therapy can help you identify coping strategies that can reduce your symptoms. It’s never too late to seek help and make changes to benefit your emotional well-being.
Will part of depression treatment require that I take medication?
Taking medication is not right for everyone. Although some people choose to incorporate medication into their depression treatment alongside counseling, it is not always necessary or helpful. The choice is up to each individual as to whether they want to explore medication as an additional option. Your therapist will help you weigh the risks and benefits of medication alongside depression therapy so you can make an informed decision.
I worry that talking about my depression in therapy will make me feel worse.
Counseling is a process—it will not be a quick fix that magically makes all of your negative feelings and experiences disappear within one session. However, the process of self-examination and self-discovery can be a powerful experience that brings about significant transformation. Tapping into the underlying—and oftentimes, unresolved—emotional pain that fuels depression is how you can eventually change how you feel. Rather than shying away from its root causes, confronting what they are is how you can heal.
Are You Ready To Make Positive Changes In Your Life?
Let us partner with you on your journey to a brighter future. If you would like to find out more about depression disorder therapy with us, you may visit our contact page or call
719-506-2070 to schedule a free 15-minute call.
Recent Posts
