Depression Therapy and Counseling

It’s normal to feel down from time to time, but when those feelings persist, they can negatively impact your physical and mental health. Depression affects nearly 17 million adults in the U.S. each year. Your depression might lead to difficulty with personal and professional relationships, trigger unhealthy weight gain or loss, and it can even introduce thoughts of self-harm and suicide.

If you experience depressive symptoms that persist for two or more weeks, you might want to consider seeking help from a therapist who specializes in depression therapy. Most people who get therapy for depression report that once their symptoms started to interfere with their ability to function on a daily basis, they realized it was time to seek professional support.

Depression isn’t something you can simply get over — it’s a complex, potentially life-threatening condition that can stem from a variety of causes. Depression is rarely cured with a single treatment method, such as prescription medications. While some people can manage their depression independently, a therapist for depression near you can provide invaluable insights and offer a range of innovative, personalized treatment options that often lead to far better outcomes than their patients could achieve without assistance.

Therapy can help you recognize what’s causing your depression. Therapists who specialize in depression use various safe, noninvasive techniques to help you process thoughts, feelings, and experiences that may be linked to your symptoms. Therapists also explore physiological issues that can trigger depressive symptoms, and psychiatrists may prescribe antidepressant medications for use in conjunction with talk therapy.

For therapy to be effective, you need to feel comfortable with your therapist. Therapy involves a great deal of talking about your thoughts, feelings, and life experiences, and it’s important to find a therapist you can trust.

Think about what your ideal therapist looks like. This might mean choosing a therapist who is the same age as you, or you might feel more comfortable working with someone slightly older. You’ll also want to consider if you’d like to work with a therapist who shares your ethnicity, spiritual values, or gender identity.

As with all types of therapists, those who offer therapy to treat your depression should hold a valid license issued by a trusted regulatory body. Some therapists offer general therapy services that include working with patients with depression, while other professionals opt to focus on one or two conditions such as depression.

In general, therapists charge on a per-session basis, and most therapy sessions last about 50 minutes. The cost of therapy includes the time you spend with your therapist, as well as the time it takes your therapist to maintain your confidential records, make referrals to other professionals, and complete any other tasks related to your care. The cost of depression therapy is covered through many insurance plans, and therapists often offer a sliding-scale payment plan for those who can’t afford the regular therapy rates.

Therapy is a treatment option for individuals living with mild, moderate, or severe depression. There are several types of depression, including:

• Major depression: Persistent feelings of sadness, worthlessness, and an overall lack of interest in activities, relationships, and goals, may also involve suicidal thoughts or ideations.
• Bipolar disorder: Formerly known as manic-depression, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression).
• Persistent depressive disorder: An ongoing feeling of being down that lasts two years or more, and can be accompanied by sleep disturbances, fatigue, and low self-esteem.
• Seasonal affective disorder: Known as SAD, a seasonal form of depression that coincides with the reduction in natural sunlight during the autumn and winter months.

Therapy can also help with two gender-specific forms of depression triggered by hormonal changes in women:

• Postpartum depression: Also called perinatal depression, a common form of minor and major depression that occurs during pregnancy and within the 12 months following childbirth.
• Premenstrual depressive disorder: Known as PMDD, a type of depression that presents between ovulation and the start of monthly menstruation.

You can prepare for your first therapy session by making notes for your therapist. Describe the symptoms you’ve been experiencing, how long you’ve had these symptoms, and anything you’ve noticed that makes your symptoms worse or better. Write down how depression impacts your life and what you hope to achieve by working with a depression therapist near you. Also, be sure to jot down any questions you might have for your therapist.

Depression impacts your physical, emotional, spiritual and mental health, so depression therapy treatments often involve a personalized mix of talk therapy, self-care tasks, and for some patients, prescription medications. Learn more about the most common depression therapy treatments:

Besides seeking professional help from a therapist near you, simple lifestyle changes may provide you with some relief from your symptoms. Consuming a healthy, balanced diet, restricting your use of tobacco, alcohol, and recreational drugs, getting plenty of exercise, limiting your exposure to stress, and maintaining relationships with supportive friends and family members can promote mental wellness.

Want more information about depression? Take a look at our sources that include studies on the common signs and symptoms of depression, how depression presents differently in men and women, and the latest research into depression treatments.

• NIHN: Major Depression: Understand the prevalence of depression in the United States.
• MentalHealth.gov: Depression: A plain-language overview of common depressive signs and symptoms.
• NIHM: Men and Depression: Learn how depression impacts men differently than women.
• CDC: Depression Treatment for Women: Find out how to seek help for depression.
• CDC: Identifying Maternal Depression: Learn the important signals of postpartum depression.
• American Academy of Family Physicians: Mental Health Therapy and Counselling: An overview of mental health therapy, including depression therapy.
• NIMH: Psychotherapies: Find out about psychotherapies and other mental health treatments.
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: A 24/7 nationwide helpline for those experiencing emotional distress, including thoughts of self-harm and suicide.

Whether you are in need of traditional counseling, life coaching, couples counseling, or hypnotherapy, finding counseling near me just got a whole lot easier. Get started now!