At Cultivation Counseling, we not only look at what the leading research has shown for the best type of therapeutic treatments for depression, we also take a holistic look at the person themselves. Their behaviors, cognition, interpersonal relationships, goals for the future, how they get their emotional needs met, and their emotional intelligence of how the connect to the world around them. Our approach looks at both overcoming depression if you have it now, and knowing exactly what depression is, so you can recognize the onset of future episodes, if they occur. We focus on the gaining of new skills, and having the ability to challenge depressive thoughts and behaviors as the begin. Adept depression therapy will aid you in these skills.
Symptoms of depression
A Continually sad mood, “feeling blue”
Feelings of hopelessness and a pessimistic view of the present and future
Feelings of guilt, feelings of worthlessness
A loss of a desire for intimacy
Insomnia, waking early in the morning, or oversleeping
Decrease or increase in appetite. Weight loss or gain
Loss of interest in hobbies and other social activities
Generally and continual fatigue, a decrease in ambition or energy
Thoughts of self harm or suicide
Continuing restlessness, general irritability
Having a hard time concentrating, remembering, or decision making
Occasionally physical symptoms, such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pains
Cultivation counseling focuses on therapy that is effective in overcoming depression:
How we think about things. (Cognitive therapy)
How others relate to us, and how we come to understand them (Interpersonal therapy)
How to set goals, and seeing our life as better in the future (Solution focused therapy)
What we do in our life that leads to our feeling depressed (Behavioral therapy)
Healthy methods of getting our emotional needs met
Health, nutrition, and fitness and how these things affect our mood
Finding solutions to you current problems, and recognizing which of these feelings and problems come from our feelings, and which are rational feelings
We put less focus on WHY you are depressed, or what went wrong in the past. These types of therapy, are far from overcoming depression, will tend to make it worse. A combination of the above methods have been shown to be the most successful for long term treatment of depression.
Our approach to cognitive therapy operates on the premise that all of our emotions come from thoughts. For example: If you continually process negative thoughts, regardless of how true they are, you experience negative emotions.
The idea behind cognitive therapy is learning the process of ‘filtering’ your thoughts and challenge them so you can change your immediate and overall emotional state. As well as recognizing what thoughts are rational, and based in reality, and which are irrational emotional responses.
Recent studies show that often times our brain experiences an emotional response to a situation before we have the ability to think about it logically, giving us a negative feeling before we have the ability to develop a reasonable response to a situation. With cognitive therapy, if applied skillfully, has had considerable success in preventing relapses of depression and avoiding negative irrational feelings.
Interpersonal Therapy for Depression
The Interpersonal approach focuses on the manner people relate with other people in their lives, and how they communicate and seek emotional validation. Assessing the individual’s type of communication, whether it is assertive, aggressive or timid or is seen as being ‘good’ social skills, is key in assisting in the individual’s perception of interpersonal situations.
It is extremely common for people suffering from depression to feel a void in various relationships: family, work, social. Feelings of depression can cause us to lose sight of the skills and desire to sustain these relationships in a healthy and successful manner.
Feelings of a want for isolation, not knowing what to say in social situations, or just feeling generally negative emotionally and not wanting to engage in regular ‘social” situations, all are commonly misunderstood as ‘poor social skills’ such as:
Being less assertive about your wants
Being less positive about situations
Exhibiting negative facial expressions and poor eye contact
Interacting less in social situations
This interpersonal therapy is practical, sensible and generally very helpful for people as communication skills can be taught.
Solution Therapy to Treat Depression
Solution based therapy emphasizes on finding more concrete solutions to current problems and focusing on present and future wellness rather than past pain. This approach does not ignore past feelings and events, but mainly emphasizes on teaching new skills, solving problems in irrational feelings, and future goals. This approach does much to add hopefulness and feelings of motivation in out clients lives.
Each of these types of therapy contributes greatly to overcoming depression.