Depression

The Short Version

Depression can feel like exhaustion that never fully lifts, a fog that dulls everything, or a weight that makes even simple tasks seem overwhelming. It affects thoughts, emotions, and energy levels, making it difficult to engage with the world in the way you once could.

It often distorts perspective, reinforcing feelings of failure or hopelessness, even when those thoughts don’t reflect reality. Many people blame themselves for struggling, but depression is not a personal failing—it’s a pattern that takes hold over time.

Therapy helps break that pattern. We work together to understand the forces shaping your experience, recognize the strengths you still have, and create new ways to move forward. While no single approach works for everyone, healing happens step by step.

The Long Version

What is Depression?

Depression reshapes how people experience the world. It dulls excitement, drains motivation, and amplifies self-criticism. Some describe it as an absence of feeling, while others experience it as a steady undercurrent of sadness or frustration. It can be a response to loss or hardship, but it can also emerge gradually, without a clear cause.

For many, depression lingers because it creates cycles that reinforce themselves. Fatigue and hopelessness lead to withdrawing from life, which in turn deepens the sense of isolation and disconnection. The brain also begins to filter out positive experiences, making it difficult to recognize progress.

Breaking out of these cycles requires intention, support, and sometimes an outside perspective to identify where movement is possible.

Signs of Depression

A person experiencing depression may notice:

  • A loss of interest in activities that once felt meaningful

  • A persistent low mood or sense of emptiness

  • A tendency to dwell on regrets or self-criticism

  • Difficulty concentrating or making decisions

  • Physical fatigue, even after rest

  • Changes in appetite or sleep patterns

  • A sense that time is passing differently—days feeling unbearably long or strangely fast

  • A growing disconnection from relationships

Some people describe depression as feeling slowed down, while others experience restlessness and agitation. It often exists alongside anxiety, making it hard to determine where one ends and the other begins.

How Depression Shapes Thinking

One of the most frustrating parts of depression is how it warps self-perception. The same situation that might once have felt manageable can start to seem impossible, not because anything external has changed, but because depression alters the way problems are interpreted.

Common thought patterns include:

  • Overgeneralization: “This always happens to me.”

  • Filtering out the positive: “Sure, I did that, but it doesn’t really count.”

  • Personalization: “If I feel like a burden, I must be one.”

  • All-or-nothing thinking: “If I can’t do it perfectly, it’s not worth doing.”

These patterns don’t develop overnight, and they rarely disappear instantly, but therapy helps loosen their grip by introducing new ways to evaluate experiences.

How I Work with Depression

1. Making Sense of Your Experience

One of the hardest parts of depression is the belief that struggling means failing. Many people with depression hold themselves to impossible standards, assuming they should “just push through” or “be stronger.” Part of therapy is examining where those beliefs come from and replacing shame with a more compassionate, realistic understanding of what’s happening.

2. Building Momentum

Depression often makes motivation feel out of reach. The mind suggests waiting until energy returns before taking action, but in reality, action is what generates energy. Instead of trying to force large changes, we focus on small, deliberate movements that shift the cycle—practices that reconnect you to experiences of agency and competence.

This could include:

  • Creating gentle, flexible routines that provide structure without feeling overwhelming

  • Using behavioral activation to reintroduce meaningful activities in ways that feel doable

  • Exploring ways to engage with the world even when motivation is low

3. Reshaping Thought Patterns

While depression affects the body and emotions, much of its power comes from the way it directs attention. Therapy helps train the mind to identify and step outside of depressive narratives, so thoughts don’t feel like absolute truths.

This might mean:

  • Recognizing moments of success that depression filters out

  • Practicing self-talk that is realistic rather than self-defeating

  • Learning to interpret setbacks without reinforcing negative cycles

4. Addressing Emotional Wounds

For some, depression is closely tied to past experiences—loss, rejection, or long-standing stress. Therapy provides a space to acknowledge and process these experiences in a way that allows healing, rather than suppression, to take place.

Therapeutic Approaches for Depression

My work draws from multiple frameworks, depending on the person:

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Helping recognize and shift depressive thought patterns

  • Trauma-Centered Therapy: Addressing the emotional impact of past experiences

  • Solution-Focused Therapy: Identifying existing strengths and pathways forward

  • Experiential Therapy: Engaging creativity, movement, or imagination when words alone feel insufficient

Each approach contributes to a larger goal: helping you develop a way of relating to yourself that allows for growth, even in difficult moments.

What Helps Depression?

Therapy is a core part of treatment, but other practices can also support progress:

  • Movement: Even a few minutes of stretching or walking can disrupt stagnation.

  • Sunlight & Nature: Time outdoors can have noticeable effects on mood.

  • Social Connection: Depression pushes people toward isolation, but small acts of reaching out—sending a message, attending an event, even just sitting in a space with others—can help rebuild a sense of belonging.

  • Creative Expression: Writing, music, or any form of expression can serve as an outlet when words feel limiting.

  • Developing a Relationship with Time: Depression distorts perception of time, making the past feel inescapable and the future feel unreachable. Practices that ground you in the present—whether through breath, routine, or sensory awareness—help stabilize that experience.

Final Thoughts

Depression makes it seem like nothing will change, but change is always happening. The right conditions allow the mind and body to shift in ways that bring relief, connection, and clarity.

Therapy is not about forcing positivity or denying struggles. It’s about creating space for a fuller, more flexible experience of yourself—one that includes pain, but is not defined by it.

If this resonates with you, I invite you to reach out. Together, we can explore the next steps forward.