Depression Therapy

Do You Struggle to Find Joy in Life

• Do you feel lonely or disconnected from other people?

• Has fatigue or lack of motivation become an overwhelming obstacle?

• Have you stopped doing things you used to enjoy?

• Does all of this leave you feeling hopeless, wondering if it’s ever going to get better?

Living with depression like this can feel paralyzing, often negatively impacting multiple areas of your life such as your career, friendships, and intimate relationships. You may be a harsh critic of yourself too, blaming yourself for not being successful or skilled enough to navigate your problems.

The Depression Cycle

The problem with depression is that it can take on a life of its own. When our thinking is negative and our motivation is low, we tend to isolate and stop doing the things we previously enjoyed. This then worsens the depression and becomes a circular dynamic that can be hard to break.  It’s like wearing cloudy glasses and viewing life through those lenses. When things look hazy, you feel down. When you feel down, it’s hard to muster energy. The less you do, the worse you feel. That’s the depression cycle. You might even feel hopeless that things could ever be different.  

But things can get better. With the help of depression counseling, you can learn how to break out of this cycle and reconnect with the person you once were or the person you hope to be.

Sadness is a Natural Response to Difficult Situations

Everyone feels sadness at times. It’s a normal human emotion and can be a healthy reaction to painful situations or loss. In fact, we can’t have joy without sadness. It all falls along the same spectrum and give us perspective so we’re able to measure the intensity of the positive emotions. But sometimes the sadness lingers and is no longer simply a reaction to a specific situation or event. This type of chronic sadness is called depression.

You might even say there’s been an epidemic of depression over the past few years because of the toxic political climate, social media, and the 24/7 news cycle. It’s like we’re inundated with reasons to feel depressed. In fact, it’s so common that nearly 1 in 5 adults will be diagnosed with depression at least once in their lifetime (Lee et al. 2020). And that doesn’t include people who suffer in silence.

The DC area has its own set of challenges as well. It’s a hard-working and competitive metro area which can make it challenging to find a healthy work/life balance. And the cost-of-living is high which only adds to the pressure to succeed. 

There are obviously many factors that contribute to the pervasiveness of depression, but just because it’s common, doesn’t mean it’s something you have to accept. With an experienced therapist, you can learn how to manage your depression and build motivation and satisfaction with your life and future.

View Yourself and the World More Clearly

The type of therapy I use for depression is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). It’s an evidenced-based therapy that’s often considered the gold-standard treatment for depression. As I mentioned earlier, what happens with depression is that we tend to see ourselves and the world around us through cloudy lenses. Everything we experience gets filtered through this cloud and leaves us feeling tired and hopeless. We then behave in ways that reinforce this cloudy view, such as isolating from others. But this just worsens our depression. CBT teaches people how to clean those lenses so we can see ourselves and the world around us more clearly. And it helps us reconnect to the people and activities that are most important to us.

What to Expect from Sessions

One of the first things we’ll work on is understanding what’s important to you and how you’d like things to be different. Was there a time in your life when you weren’t depressed? Would you like to find that person again? Or, has depression always been a part of your life and there’s a person you’d like to be that you’ve always struggled to find? We’ll discover who that person is and what you need to overcome in order to move you closer to that life you value.  This will help us formulate measurable goals to track your progress over time.

Because people with depression can often feel hopeless or directionless, our therapy together will be fairly structured. We’ll collaboratively build agendas that align with your priorities, and we’ll direct our discussions to make efficient use of your time so that you leave therapy with practical skills that you can immediately apply outside of our sessions. This means there will be therapy homework (action steps) for you to practice on your own that will move you closer to your goals and help you build life-long skills to manage your depression, so you don’t need to be in therapy forever.

Two Primary Components of Depression Therapy

There are two primary components of CBT treatment for depression. First, we’ll work on building connections to the people and activities that bring you pleasure. It might seem challenging to think about increasing your activity, particularly if you’re struggling with motivation. When it comes to depression though, just about anything is better than doing nothing. This is the behavior part of CBT.

The second primary component of CBT treatment for depression will focus on your thinking. We all have that “voice in our head” that comments on just about every aspect of our existence. Having the voice is a normal and unavoidable aspect of being human, so the voice isn’t the problem. It’s believing the voice that causes us problems. We’ll teach you how to both disengage from that voice and to talk back to it in ways that are more accurate and helpful for you. Think of this as cleaning those cloudy lenses so you’re able to view yourself and the world around you more accurately. That’s the cognitive part of CBT.

While those are just two components of CBT for depression, there are many other tools we’ll use that I’ve learned from over 25 years of experience as a clinical social worker helping people with problems just like yours.

You Might be Questioning if You’re Ready to Take the Next Step…

What if therapy doesn’t help me?

CBT is considered a gold-standard form of counseling for depression and countless people have benefited from it. We’ll be measuring your symptom severities and progress on goals throughout the course of therapy. While most people progress well, if we get stuck, we’ll adjust. There are many tools to work with, but I’m also part of a large therapist community. If we simply don’t progress enough, I’ll work with you to find an alternative therapy or therapist that better meets your needs.

What if there’s nothing wrong with my thinking and I already am seeing things clearly?

Depression is almost always connected to some sort of error in our thinking. But that doesn’t mean everything you’re seeing is getting distorted through the lens of depression. There may be some truth in how you’re viewing yourself or the world around you. For example, you may have suffered a job loss in a field with limited opportunity and are depressed about your career. Instead of working on thoughts, we might work on acceptance and problem-solving to improve your situation. There are many options for working with depression, even when the thoughts aren’t the primary problem.

CBT sounds like a lot of work. How am I going to do that when I’m already so overwhelmed?

It’s true that therapy will require work on your part. Simply attending a weekly session won’t be enough. Depending upon where your motivation is, you might take big steps or very small ones. The action steps you take outside of sessions will be things that you value, find helpful, and feel confident you’ll be able to accomplish. The goal is to set you up for success, not failure. You’ll likely find that each small step you take builds your motivation enough to take another. Like a wind-up car, it can require several turns, but eventually you’ll be able to drive it on your own.

You Can Get Your Life Back

Schedule a 20-minute video consultation to discuss depression therapy options and see if I might be a good fit for you. You can also email or call me with questions, and I’ll do my best to respond within 24 hours.

Benjamin Lee, MPH, et al, “National, State-Level, and County-Level Prevalence Estimates of Adults Aged ≥18 Years Self-Reporting a Lifetime Diagnosis of Depression — United States, 2020,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. June 16, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7224a1.htm