Depression Treatment
Does life feel overwhelming right now?
Are you having a hard time with your mood and motivation? Is depression creeping into your life - or has it been hanging around for a while? Maybe you’ve been trying really hard to feel better, but nothing sticks. How about the following thoughts - do any resonate? I’m either irritable, tearful, or just dead inside. I feel like I’m white-knuckling it all the time. I’m simply not excited about the life I’m living. There must be more to life than this.
Depression can happen to anyone. Your feelings are valid and you are worthy of getting help.
Let us tell you a quick story.
This is not about a real person because we hold our clients’ personal details in confidence. But here is what a possible client - we'll name her “Claire” - experiences when she comes to Four Corners Counseling & Well-Being for help with depression.
When Claire first reached out to us and had her initial consultation session with a depression therapist, she was feeling heavy, overwhelmed and like she wanted to run away from her life - and that was on a good day. At her worst, she felt shut down and hopeless and struggled to get out of bed in the morning. She described it as a numb and empty feeling, “like I was at the bottom of a deep well with no way out.” It felt like all of her energy was taken up by dealing with depression, and she felt so alone with it all.
Claire began to work with one of our skilled practitioners to create a depression treatment plan that would address her depression symptoms holistically. That word, ‘holistic’, is thrown around a lot, so let me explain what I mean. Depression and anxiety (which often go hand in hand) impact one’s whole life – their body, mind, spirit, and relationships. And so the treatment needs to benefit a person’s whole life, too. We work collaboratively with you to design a plan of action that both helps you feel better now, and leads to a full and satisfying life in the long-term. That’s what happened with Claire.
After a few sessions of depression counseling, Claire reported that she was beginning to have more energy and that her thoughts weren’t as dark. She began to reach out to friends again - just by text at first, and eventually by meeting up for a walk or scheduling a phone call. She started “caring about my life” more, she said and being kinder to herself.
Through the process of depression therapy, Claire began to identify her negative thought cycles and notice them sooner, so that she could take action to get out of her head and back into her life. Claire also courageously processed some painful experiences from her childhood that had been traumatic for her. While she did go through some strong feelings from time to time in therapy, her therapist taught her how to manage those feelings without getting overwhelmed by them. At the end of her course of depression counseling, Claire reported feeling capable of responding to her life challenges and having a new sense of hope and curiosity about what the future holds for her.
Feeling better and more capable to handle whatever comes your way is possible for you too, and you don’t have to figure it out alone. Together, we can help you address the source of your depression, develop tools and skills to manage your mood, and learn to live with curiosity and self-compassion.
Depression Treatment with Four Corners Counseling & Well-Being can help you calm your inner critic and strengthen your sense of Self.
Depression is a whole-body response to intense stressors in life. While it can feel like depression is keeping us from living a full life to the fullest, sometimes the ways we try to suppress or avoid our depressive symptoms can get in the way of returning to a full and vibrant life. What is your deepest desire for yourself? We can help you get there; your life and your focus can shift from problems to possibilities.
Our entire team is here to support those suffering from anxiety and depression. Through practical tools and evidence-based therapy based on the most current understandings of the body and mind, we help you gain a clear sense of how your mood state shifts into depression and why. You will learn and practice specific behaviors and techniques you can use each day to minimize triggers and increase your positive experiences. You will establish long-lasting ways to reduce your suffering and build resilience and well-being. Once you learn these simple yet profound concepts and skills, your relationship with yourself and with your depression will fundamentally shift.
You may have some questions and concerns about depression treatment...
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Dealing with depression often means having a lot of uncomfortable feelings like sadness, irritability, self-doubt and self-criticism. These feelings can be caused by situations, relationship problems, or major life events. Some people find that they have physical and physiological issues causing depression symptoms. Chronic stress and immune or endocrine system issues can have major impacts on mood.
It is important to not only treat the symptoms, including the emotions, but to also identify and treat the underlying causes of these issues in order to reclaim a sense of well-being. Our caring and experienced therapists are here to help. Whatever you are feeling, we will support you as you learn to respond to your feelings, rather than react. You will learn to “ride the wave” of your feelings and work with your emotions instead of suppressing or avoiding them. It feels good to know that you are capable of managing your emotions with self-compassion and skill, and we will help you get there.
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One of the challenges of treating depression is that many people don’t realize that they can feel a whole lot better with depression therapy. While some people may not meet the clinical definitions of anxiety or major depressive disorder, they may experience a chronic, low-grade worry or angst that undermines their everyday well-being.
You may experience short depressive episodes, or sense that you are not living the life you’re meant to be living, or generally not feel good about your life. Perhaps you’re feeling heavy, burdened, overwhelmed, and stressed. And you probably feel alone with all of this a lot of the time, am I right?
If you feel that way, it makes sense. Life can be really hard sometimes, and even harder to manage when you don’t have energy or support. And here’s the thing: you can have support!
Coping with depression when you don’t have support can become a vicious cycle of feeling bad about yourself because you feel bad. With the help of depression counseling, you can get out of the cycle of self-criticism and blame and get back to living the life you want to live. We can help you move from problems to possibilities.
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It can be sad, angering, and overwhelming to see a friend or loved one suffering with anxiety or depression, especially if you don’t know how to help. If someone close to you is dealing with anxiety or depression, we encourage you to seek therapy to explore how to be a supportive presence without sacrificing your own boundaries and well-being.
Ready to get Started?
Call us at 301-960-8960 for a short chat with our Client Care Coordinator, who is available weekdays from 9 AM to 5 PM. You can also fill out the contact form and we will get back to you.
Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.
- Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican cleric, theologian and human rights activist.
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Here are additional ways we can work with you when you’re dealing with depression:
We teach and use proven mindfulness tools to help clients find relief. Don’t worry, no experience is necessary! We will talk you through it every step of the way.
With Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, you will develop a strong sense of Self and learn how to have a healthy internal relationship with your thoughts, feelings, memories, beliefs and impulses (your “parts”). This will lead to healthier relationships on the outside, too.
Through The Polyvagal Theory, we will teach about your nervous system and how it responds to cues of safety or danger, including stress and trauma.
We are happy to work alongside your primary care doctor or psychiatrist to ensure you receive all the care you need. We also often collaborate with complementary providers, such as acupuncturists and chiropractors.
Our team will not push medication, but we will help you make an informed decision about whether to use medication as part of a comprehensive and personalized treatment plan for you.
We want you to thrive in all areas of your life. Our team will help you work through whatever is causing you distress and help you go from just dealing with life to true healing and growth - so that you can live the life that is waiting for you!