Therapy for
Depression
I treated people with depression at every stage of their life.
Are the things that usually bring you joy no longer making you happy?
Are you struggling to find the energy to leave the house?
Are you feeling terrible about yourself, about others, or about the future in general?
Are you struggling to sleep despite feeling like you have no energy?
Are you feeling disconnected from your body?
Do you feel numb or hopeless most days?
Depression often does not appear as sadness alone and may not be attached to reality. On paper, everything in your life may look like it is going well, but secretly you feel worn down, burnt out, and like you are not good enough. Depression takes a physical toll on the body, leading to lower energy, lower motivation, and often insomnia or lower appetite.
Is depression making you feel stuck?
Nearly 1 in 5 adults experiences at least one episode of depression in their lifetimes. For some people, depression may stem from a significant period of stress, a time when things were just not going their way, or a time when they failed to live up to their own expectations. For others, depression may come from their own biology, with their bodies sending negative signals about themselves and the world.
Regardless of the source of your depression and whether this is your first episode or if this has happened your whole life, therapy can help. The way we perceive the world around us, our ability to connect with others, and our ability to engage in meaningful activities can help us better regulate during depressive episodes and even prevent future episodes from occurring.
Our goal with therapy for depression is to teach you to challenge the negative self-talk and change the actions you take when a depressive episode begins to help you get back to the life you want to lead.
How I Treat Depression
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
This is a skills-focused treatment that involves recognizing and challenging unhelpful, negative thought patterns and changing current responses to depression
Techniques used in CBT:
Behavioral activation: a key element of treatment is changing your current patterns of responding to depression. If your tendency is to isolate, avoid self-care, or cease engaging in hobbies, we focus on gradually resuming these activities and finding ways to make them easier to do when experiencing the exhaustion that accompanies depression.
Cognitive restructuring: learn to recognize and challenge unhelpful, negative thoughts about yourself, about others, or about the world/future. Depression often focuses solely on what is going wrong and we aim to shift focus to what is neutral, acceptable, or even going well.
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
This is a relationship-focused therapy that examines the quality of your current social connections and focuses on improving communication skills and social support. This treatment targets the idea that depression leads to isolation and avoidance of social contact, which then in turn leads to lower-quality social relationships. By changing the relationship patterns, we can reduce, manage, and eventually prevent symptoms of depression.
We first conduct an interpersonal inventory, in which we examine your current and past relationships to determine what may have changed and increased symptoms of depression.
We then engage in communication analyses and decision analyses to unpack dialogues from recent conversations you had and determine what went well and what can be improved on moving forward. We then practice these skills in role plays during sessions.
Therapy for Depression that Leads to Healing
Following therapy for depression, my clients often demonstrate experiencing:
Hopefulness for the future
Feeling more confident and speaking more kindly to themselves
Increased energy
Engaging in more activities and socializing more
Improved sleep
Feeling less detached and more connected to their bodies
About Kathryn
I have treated children, teens, and adults with depression throughout my career.
Depression often accompanies other physical and mental health conditions, including anxiety, trauma, and chronic pain. I work closely with clients to understand how their symptoms may be interacting and work to target the underlying beliefs and behaviors that may be reinforcing symptoms of depression and overall lower mental well-being.
Therapy with me is compassionate and goal-oriented. Depression takes a toll on your body and does not solely exist in your mind. I am conscientious about how hard it can be to push through that exhaustion, but will continue to motivate you to practice skills, challenge unhelpful thought patterns, and engage in more activities. By the end of treatment, my goal is for you to return to the hobbies you enjoy, to see the people you love more often, and to have daily routines that foster your self-confidence and continued growth.
Get Started in 4 Steps
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Click the link to request an appointment or consultation, and specify what you are looking for .
You will be contacted within 24 business hours. I respond to weekend messages on Monday mornings. -
After receiving your contact, options will be provided for having a free 15 minute phone consultation.
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Your first appointment will be a 1 hour long intake appointment. The goal of this appointment is to gather background information to develop a diagnosis and treatment plan.
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The pace and frequency of your appointments will be discussed and decided with your provider.