Depression Therapy
Depression Therapy in Kansas City & greater Missouri
In-person and online depression counseling to help you get motivated and back in touch with the people, places, and activities that light you up and bring you joy.
“Everything feels pointless...”
“I just feel so down all the time…”
If you’ve experienced depression you know that it’s so much more than just sadness. It’s a fog that seeps in and slowly permeates every corner of your life. It may start as sadness. But as it creeps in, it begins to inhibit your energy, your happiness, your motivation. Before you’re even fully aware of it, you find yourself struggling to get out of bed in the mornings, get your work done, or take care of errands and chores. You may want to sleep all the time or find some way to escape from the world. Nothing seems to bring you joy or make you happy anymore. Even eating or taking a shower feels like a chore. Everything starts to feel just kind of grey.
Some common struggles related to depression
Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless
Crying spells or “crying all the time”
Fatigue, no energy, or feeling sort of “numbed out”
Loss of pleasure in activities
Anger or irritability over seemingly small matters, having “no patience”
Wanting to sleep “all the time” or sometimes having a hard time getting to sleep
Drinking more alcohol or eating more “just to feel something”
Feeling very restless or agitated
Trouble thinking, concentrating, or feeling like your “brain is in a fog”
Frequent thoughts about death, suicide, or just wishing you could fall asleep and not wake up
History of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) or Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD)
My approach to Depression Therapy
If you’re feeling down, depressed, or hopeless, know that your life doesn’t have to feel this way. There is a way back to participating in and enjoying your life. When I help you work through your depression we will often do the following:
We often start by looking at the root causes of the depression. If there is a specific event or trauma that the depression stems from, it can be helpful to make meaning of this event. We will work to incorporate this event into your story and learn ways to cope with it, so that you don’t have to stay stuck there.
While we are tackling this, we will also work on practical skills to help you slowly find your way out of the dark place that you’re in. Often this looks like making incremental adjustments to the ways you engage with life including setting and achieving small goals, challenging unhelpful thoughts and self-talk, identifying people/places/things that bring you pleasure, and exploring healthy routine changes.
There is no quick fix for depression, but small changes can gradually help you reconnect with your life. Together, we’ll work toward having more energy, motivation, connection, and enjoyment in the things that matter to you.
