Depression

Depression can be debilitating, and it can affect anyone. It doesn't discriminate by age, background, or how put-together your life looks from the outside. Sometimes there's a clear trigger, like a loss, a major life change, or a relationship falling apart. Sometimes it arrives with no obvious cause at all, which can make it even more disorienting. You might find yourself wondering what you even have to be depressed about, which tends to make things worse rather than better.

One of the cruelest parts of depression is that it works against the very thing that would help. It pulls you inward, makes reaching out feel pointless or like too much effort, and convinces you that nothing is going to change anyway. That's the depression talking. Help is out there, and recovery is possible.

Depression Symptoms

Depression looks and feels different from person to person, which is part of why it can be so hard to recognize in yourself. It might feel like heavy, relentless exhaustion - the kind where getting out of bed feels like a genuine accomplishment. Motivation can disappear almost entirely, making it hard to do even the things you normally enjoy or the things you know you need to do. It might feel like numbness, like your emotions have gone quiet or flatlined. Things you used to look forward to stop feeling interesting. Food loses its appeal, or it might become something you turn to constantly. Sleep changes, too, whether that means you can't get enough of it or you can't get any at all.

Persistent sadness is common, as is a low-grade sense of hopelessness that's hard to articulate. Crying spells can happen without an obvious reason, which can feel unsettling. Concentration gets harder. Reading, following a conversation, or finishing a task can all require more effort than they used to. You might feel irritable or on edge in ways that don't feel like you. Some people feel a pervasive sense of worthlessness, or find themselves convinced that they're a burden to the people around them. Sometimes depression brings darker thoughts, like a feeling that things would somehow be easier if you weren't here.

If any of that sounds familiar, what you're experiencing is real and it's treatable. You don't have to keep pushing through it alone.

Depression Therapy

Therapy is a good first step when you're struggling with depression. Having a consistent space to talk, with someone who is both objective and invested in how you're doing, makes it easier to identify what's driving how you feel and what might actually help. The structure of showing up somewhere and having specific skills to work on between sessions can itself be a meaningful part of getting better.

If your depression is tied to your circumstances, such as a difficult relationship, a loss, a major life transition, or a job that's draining you, therapy gives you a way to actually process what's happening rather than just try to push past it. Sometimes naming and working through the source of the depression is what helps things get better.

For clients whose depression is rooted in trauma, Brainspotting can be a particularly effective tool. Brainspotting works at a neurological level to access and process experiences that talk therapy alone doesn't always reach. If negative core beliefs are part of the picture, like long-held ideas about yourself such as "I'm not good enough" or "I don't deserve good things," Brainspotting can help address those, too, rather than just working around them.

Anxiety and depression frequently show up together, and if that's true for you, we'll address both. The same is true if there are other things going on alongside the depression that are worth exploring.

I've worked with people dealing with depression throughout my career, across a wide range of causes and circumstances. There's no single path through it, and we'll figure out together what approach makes the most sense for where you are right now.