Therapy For Depression

Therapy for Depression In Hythe and Folkestone

If you’re suffering from depression and looking for a counsellor in hythe or Folkestone, I’d like you to know that seeking therapy for depression is a very common thing. I’ve gathered together some information on how depression starts, and how we might work together to make you feel better.

When you are feeling depressed, it can be a huge effort to even think about therapy, so well done on making it this far!

What causes depression?

Depression often starts when something goes wrong in our lives. This might be one big incident, like losing a job or a loved one, or it can be a number of smaller incidents.

You might get a new boss, who you find hard to work with, suffer a knee injury which means that you can’t indulge in your favourite exercise, running. On top of this, your child may start having difficulties at school, or a friend suddenly becomes a bit cooler with you. Now, you have a number of things going on. Each one of them could be small, but together they add up.

We call these “activating incidents” and they often result in worry, stress and rumination. This will affect your sleep. Specifically, you will have more REM sleep, and less refreshing deep sleep. The result is that you wake up feeling tired and lacking in motivation, even if you’ve had a lot of sleep.

The cycle of depression

Feeling tired, unmotivated and perhaps a little listless, you then decide to give social occasions a miss, or drop your daily walking routine because you just don’t feel bothered. The result: you soon start to feel even worse.

This is the cycle of depression. The good news is that now we know this, we can break you out of it.

How we work together to cure your depression

We will be working on a number of levels, one of which is tweaking your behaviours. This will involve small tasks or experiments between sessions that will help you feel more engaged with life, and address anxiety if that is also an issue.

We will also be looking at what might have triggered off your depression. Sometimes, those events may be in the past – your knee has healed, you are getting on with your boss, and your child is back on track at school – but you’re still left feeling down.

Sometimes, we can tie it back to a specific event that still needs a solution. This will be part of our work together. If there is trauma there, I work with a really useful and safe tool called Rewind. This allows us to process trauma without you having to go back into it and recall upsetting details.

Signs of depression

You don’t have to have a medical diagnosis to come to me for therapy for depression. Whether you have been diagnosed clinically depressed, or you are unable to pull yourself out of this sad or down mood, feeling better is a priority.

Here are some of the warning signs that you might be feeling depressed. If you have at least two of these in the last two weeks, especially one of the first two, you might like to consider therapy.

• A feeling of sadness that won’t shift
• Losing interest in things you’ve previously enjoyed
• Isolating or pulling yourself away from other people
• Changes in your sleep or hunger (e.g. sleeping less or more, or wanting to eat more or less than usual)
• Lacking in energy or motivation
• Feeling restless and agitated
• Tearful for no reason
• A loss of interest in life: it has no meaning any more
• Suicidal thoughts

What about medication?

I don’t precribe medication. That can only be done by a GP or psychiatrist.

Many of my clients are on anti-depressants and there is no pressure to come off them. We work with what your GP has prescribed, and they can be life savers for many people. if you do want to come off them, we can work to that too, with your GPs input.

However, studies have shown that both exercise and meditation can be as effective for depression as anti-depressants, so it’s likely that our work together will involve one of these.

Feeling suicidal

I don’t offer an emergency service. If you are feeling suicidal right now please contact your GP, or The Samiritans.

Why it’s important to work on your depression

Despression creates a downward spiral of isolation, and withdrawal from life. Sometimes, you can come out of it naturally. One day you’ll feel that it’s lifted. However, you may need help to speed that up, and this is where I come in.

Our work is about learning and trying out tools that will not only help you get out of depression, but help ward it off in future. They are also helpful to have up your sleeve to share with family and friends who are having a hard time. Depression can happen to anyone.

Booking Therapy for depression in Hythe and Folkestone

You can book an introductory session with me here, or email me to discuss.  I see people online, and in Hythe and Folkestone.