On Depression and My Therapeutic Approach

When creating my website, I had the most difficulty with the services page. Particularly, the section in which I had to describe my specialties. It’s one thing to list these specialties in a few bullet points, but defining each one in detail was quite the challenge. That’s primarily because these issues can present in dramatically different ways for each individual. 

Take depression, for example: More often than not, people tend to believe that depression is a persistent state of sadness. They may visualize an individual that can’t get out of bed or tend to their hygienic needs; it may be assumed that a depressed individual is self-harming or experiencing suicidal ideation. While these are indeed some of the features of depression, depressed individuals are not guaranteed to present with these specific symptoms. 

I chose my specialties, because these are struggles that I am personally familiar with. For me, depression looks more like persistent discontentedness. Not heavy enough to be described as sadness, but rather frequent annoyance, disinterest, lack of motivation or enthusiasm, a more negative internal dialogue, and a general sense of my internal light dimming so I feel more disconnected from the world and others. I’ve almost always been able to function at a normal level while in a depressive state, just not quite at my highest level. 

Several clients that I’ve worked with report feeling lost or stuck. They may doubt themselves or the decisions they’ve made, even though they were once so certain that the path that they selected was the right one for them. They sometimes find themselves making unwise decisions that they know they’ll end up regretting, but they yearn for some semblance of relief, so they choose temporary comforts and instant gratification. Making the “right” choices or doing the things they know are good for them just seems so damn exhausting. 

How was I to define something so complex in a simple paragraph? Beyond that, how could I possibly do justice to my therapeutic style in just a few sentences? My approach isn’t a one size fits all situation; it’s intuitive, based on each individual's personal presentation, needs, and values. With that being said, I invite individuals that are curious about my specialties and therapeutic approach to schedule a complimentary consultation with me. It is only by hearing the specifics of a case that I can affirm my level of understanding, as well as my level of competency to support the individual through their struggles.