Therapy For Depression
It Doesn’t Always Look Like Sadness
Depression isn’t always the person crying. Sometimes it does look like sadness and tearfulness, but just as often, it can be numbness or little interest in doing things. Do you feel like you are going through the motions of your life without actually being present? You are doing everything you are supposed to such as showing up for your job, taking care of your family, and texting back friends, but it is all accompanied by a sense of numbness and it feels like nothing matters.
Depression can look like a heaviness and exhaustion that sleep doesn’t fix. You may have difficulties staying asleep or you sleep far more than you would like. Even if you sleep a lot, you never seem to have enough energy. Depression has a way of making you feel like this is who you are, and this is your baseline. You feel bad about yourself, or that you are a failure.
Depression is much more than a mood. It affects how you think, how you physically feel, how you related to others, and how you view the future. It touches all aspects of life, much more than a feeling of sadness. Depression also frequently overlaps with anxiety. The two come together and feed off of each other, making the voices of negative self-talk even louder.
At Perspectiva Counseling, we offer online depression therapy for adults in New Jersey. This is the space to talk about what is going on underneath it all, where you don’t have to hide behind “feeling fine.” If you’ve been dealing with low mood and constant worry, therapy can address both.
Signs You May Be Experiencing Depression
-
Everything feels harder than it used to
Things that used to be easy, spending time with friends, hobbies, making plans, now seem almost impossible. You have little interest in doing things that used to bring you joy. It’s almost as if you have to push yourself just to make it through the day. Every decision, every task, takes an incredible amount of mental energy that it feels like you just don’t have. You feel stuck, unmotivated, or like you are moving through a fog.
-
Your thoughts feel heavy
You feel the invisible weight of every thought, and it never feels like you are doing enough. The voice inside your head has become your biggest critic, and it feels like you can never do anything right. You’ve lost the confidence you once had, and your self-esteem is at its lowest. You know that you should speak kindly to yourself, but you don’t understand where to begin.
-
You don't feel like yourself
You feel disconnected, numb, or flat. It’s almost as if you are drifting through life. Things don’t seem to matter anymore, and it’s hard to find happiness or hope. You wonder, “what’s wrong with me” and you feel alone. On the outside, it seems like you have it together because you don’t want to be a burden and share how you are feeling. It’s easy to minimize what you are going through, even though you are not the same person you once were.
-
You're going through the motions
You are showing up physically, but mentally you are somewhere else. You feel emotionally drained and just want to rest. You find yourself sleeping more often, but even then you struggle to find the energy. It feels like everyday is a chore, and you are just trying to figure out how to survive.
How Therapy For Depression Can Help
Depression can quietly take your energy, motivation and sense of self. Therapy can help restore these symptoms by providing a safe space where you can be honest about how you are feeling, and not be judged. Here at Perspectiva Counseling, we use a humanistic approach with CBT informed elements to treat depression.
Therapy with a humanistic approach centers counseling on you and your experiences. We meet you exactly where you are. Depression frequently comes with feelings of not being understood or having to hide your experiences from others. In our sessions, there is no pressure to feel better or “think happier thoughts.” There is no judgment about what you are struggling with. We meet you with compassion and a genuine understanding of what is going on in your life.
CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) provides practical tools to work through negative thinking patterns and self-criticism. Depression often comes with thoughts that things are hopeless, it will forever be this way, and that you have “failed.” CBT helps you notice these cognitive distortions and question them. You will be able to build a more accurate and compassionate view of yourself. It also helps when depression drains your motivation. We will work on small, manageable ways to rebuild your life that don’t feel impossible. Therapy will help you feel more like yourself again.
Therapy for depression can look like:
Challenging your inner critic. We will work on questioning the voice in your head that tells you you aren’t good enough or that you are a failure.
Understanding what is underneath the surface. We will gently explore experiences that impact your mood and functioning.
Work with grief and loss. Depression and grief frequently pair with each other. We will explore grief whether it’s the loss of a person, pet, relationship, or the vision you had for yourself.
Addressing burnout. Depression can come if you feel like you are constantly giving, and have nothing to take from. We will explore setting boundaries to allow yourself to heal.
You Don’t Have to Have a “Good Enough Reason” to Feel This Way
One of the things we hear from clients is the fear that they will be judged for not feeling “bad enough” or not having a “good enough” reason to be depressed. They believe their pain isn’t serious because they compare it to others. They feel like they should be grateful for what they have, and others have it worse.
Depression doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t require a traumatic event or a tragedy to be real. As we love to say here at Perspectiva Counseling, this is not the mental health olympics. We don’t hand out medals for being “better” or “worse” than others. We want you to show up as you are, and feel comfortable getting help for your true authentic self. There is no need to justify how you feel to anyone. Your feelings are worth exploring, and if you’ve been feeling this way for a while, you deserve to feel different.
Online Depression Therapy
When you are depressed, the logisitics required to access traditional in-person counseling can feel like an enormous barrier. You have to get dressed, drive, make it through traffic and parking, and sit in a waiting room with others. This can feel almost impossible when you are already running on empty.
Online therapy removes most of the barriers. You can show up from your couch or your bed, with your teeth unbrushed, in whatever you are wearing from anywhere in New Jersey. The appointment comes to you, rather than you going to your therapist.
We offer a consistent structure to scheduling and sessions, because knowing that someone is going to be there can be helpful when everything else feels uncertain. We believe that you deserve the best care even when you aren’t feeling your best.
All sessions are fully virtual, and HIPAA compliant. Any adult (18+) in the state of New Jersey, including South Jersey, Camden County, Cherry Hill, Collingswood, Haddonfield, Marlton, Voorhees, and beyond is able to access help at Perspectiva Counseling.
A Note on Crisis Situations and Suicide
Perspectiva Counseling provides outpatient therapy for adults experiencing depression. While we care deeply about your wellbeing, this practice is not able to provide crisis or emergency services.
If you’re having thoughts of suicide or self-harm, please reach out to emergency services. You can contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by texting or calling 988, available 24/7. For emergencies, call 911 or go to your local Emergency Room.
Ready to start?
If you are feeling stuck, exhausted, or depressed, you are not a alone. Perspectiva Counseling serves South Jersey, North Jersey, Central Jersey, and more. If you are a New Jersey resident, click below to get started with online therapy for depression.