Counselling Psychotherapy for Dysphoria
People often use the word "depression" when they really mean they are feeling unhappy or stuck. When someone says, "I'm so depressed," they often mean, "I'm unhappy with my life," or "I'm upset because things aren't going the way I want."
It can take courage to start counseling for these feelings. There isn’t a quick fix, but it also doesn’t have to take years of therapy to feel better. Sometimes, all it takes is a new way of seeing things and a fresh approach to get unstuck and moving forward again.
It can be tough to begin therapy when you’re feeling down and have lost interest in things, especially when you just want to stay on the couch all day. Depression is a medical condition with a set of symptoms, and it can be mild or very serious. Dysphoria — feeling uncomfortable or unhappy — can feel just as upsetting but is not considered a mental illness.
The real problems behind dysphoria often go deeper than what medication can fix. Anti-depressants might help you feel better for a while, but they don’t actually solve the problems underneath. While medication can help with symptoms, experts say real healing usually comes from understanding and working through the root causes, not from masking them.
In psychiatry, it’s common to treat depression with medication that affects how your brain works. While this can help with symptoms, it usually doesn’t make unhappiness go away forever. To truly feel better, you need to work through the deeper issues causing the unhappiness. In serious cases of depression, medication might be needed first. But if your symptoms aren’t severe, starting with talk therapy might be a better first step toward feeling like yourself again.
Dialectic Therapy
My approach to working through dysphoria is to see it as a process rather than an illness. The symptoms of dysphoria include fatigue, isolation, loneliness, endless second-guessing, grieving, mind-chatter, anxiety, etc., but this collection of symptoms stems from the root cause of depression.
Dealing with the underlying issues provides resilience and a permanent new approach. Dealing with the root causes allows you to emerge stronger and with a new foundation, in reality, to build your life on.
"This is a huge change from my old life... it feels wonderful to live like this...
I wish everyone could know what this feels like!!"
Rochelle F.
Healing Response
I consider depression and dysphoria, in most cases, a healing response of our minds rather than a medical condition. For example, I have worked with people with depression after having been on pills for 15 years! After a few weeks of work, they began to feel better about themselves, their outlook and their life. They truly started to engage themselves in life again.
Using Dialectic Therapy Approach
In the sessions, we work with a three-pronged approach to free yourself from depression: Understand, Embody, Relate.
Every week we progress through cumulative breakthroughs, self-discovery and sometimes some easy exercises that lead to understanding ourselves in the world around us in a new way. Soon thereafter, we transition to the following two phases, wherein you discover the key tools to your happiness and create within your life and universe.
Come and talk.
* If you were prescribed medication, please ensure you take the medication as prescribed by your physician. While this work may be beneficial to you, it is not recommended to alter the dose or timing of your medication without consulting a medical professional. Many clients work with their medical professionals to reduce or end their medication. Please do not make such decisions without medical advice.