Depression therapy in Byron Bay

What is depression?

No joy.
No meaning.
No energy.
No words.
A dull, leaden pain.
The effort of showing up for others when there’s no one in you to show up.
A deep longing for sleep.

But what causes it?

One or more of the following.

You talk to yourself like a critical parent berating a bad child
And why do you do that?
Probably because that’s how others have spoken to you, and now their voices are in your head.

You don’t allow yourself to be angry with others
So where does that anger-energy go?
Well, if you don’t direct outward, it must go inward.
That heavy, stuck, toxic sludge that’s in you—it’s trapped anger.

Failure to launch
For one reason or another, you haven’t learnt the skills and put in the effort and taken the risks to live the life you want to be living.

Failure to adjust
Something bad happened that was out of your control.
Or maybe it was in your control, but there’s nothing you can do about it now.
This new world you find yourself in—
You do not accept it.
You don’t know how to accommodate yourself to it.

Biochemical mishap
If none of the above applies to you, it may be broken biochemistry.

How therapy helps

It helps you to identify what’s causing your depression
This tells you what you need to do to free yourself from your depression.

It helps you to be aware of how you’re talking to yourself, and how you’re acting
This makes it possible for you to start talking and acting differently.

It supports you to explore how you’re feeling, to become aware of what you’re feeling, and to give voice to how you’re feeling
This frees your locked-up emotional-energy, which in turn gives you energy.

It supports you to observe your depression thoughts and feelings, rather than being lost in them, completely caught up in them
This robs your depression thoughts and feelings of their power, and gives you agency.

It supports you to identify what you would be doing if you were living the life you wish you were living
This makes it possible for you to start doing the things that will give you a sense of engagement and satisfaction.

What therapy looks like

My style

We chat. If you need help to talk, I help. When you’re talking, I listen. Along the way, I make observations. And ask questions you might not have asked yourself. I invite you to try things out in the session. If you feel up to it, you try them out.

Ideally, each session I support you to come up with a mission task. Some small thing that you can do over the following days, and that will count as a step in the direction of living the life you eventually want to be living.

I move at your pace. Slow, fast, it’s all fine with me.

My general orientation is Gestalt psychotherapy, and I teach the ACT model.

How long are sessions?

50 minutes.

Where?

In person at my Byron Bay practice or by video link.

How many sessions will I need? How often will I need to go?

Good questions. I answer them here.