Are You Struggling to Get Through the Day?

When you feel down, unmotivated, or too drained to face ordinary, day-to-day challenges you know that something is not right. Everything seems like an uphill battle. Things that you used to do with confidence may now seem like big obstacles that leave you emotionally and physically exhausted. Yet your efforts at recapturing the sparkle of life, energy, and enthusiasm that you once felt have not paid off as you had hoped. You may tell yourself you should be able to “do more” or “feel happier,” but reasoning or taking stock of the many reasons why you should be more content hasn’t helped to lift the heaviness of a depressed soul.

You may be unclear about what triggered your feelings of sadness, or even emptiness at times—it may seem as if, over time, life just lost some of its color. Alternatively, it may be that your symptoms of depression are a consequence of a clear-cut event. Regardless of what has triggered your signs of depression, it is clear that things are not what they used to be. You may feel less engaged or fulfilled in your relationships. Maybe you no longer have the same focus and energy when you try to immerse yourself in work or school related activities. Racing thoughts and distressing emotions can make it hard to sleep at night or feel motivated in the morning. Your desire to eat may have diminished, or you may find yourself relying on food for temporary relief.

You want to believe that you can feel better, yet not having found a way out of this pervasive sadness has taken a toll on your life and perhaps left you with less hope and more confusion about what exactly is going on and what can be done about it. Depression, however, need not be a life sentence. A greater feeling of aliveness, engagement, and connection with yourself and others is possible and within reach.

Many People Struggle With Debilitating Depression Symptoms

Uncomfortable or distressing physical and emotional depression symptoms are among the most common reasons people seek therapy. Our genetic predisposition and our circumstances—as well as our experience of external events—have an impact on how we feel. And for some of us, a certain combination of these factors can result in feelings of depression. 

It often happens that who we truly are, our “true self,” gets buried under the many layers of pressure that we feel to be the person others want us to be. We may, unconsciously perhaps, try to adapt to advice from well-meaning family members, peers, role-models, or mentors. The problem, however, is that those well-intentioned ideas may not align with who you are and who you intend to be.  For some of us this brings about a sense of stagnation and decreased hope that may lead to feelings of depression.

We all go through challenges in life. In some cases, we may feel like we are able to adapt relatively easily. Other times, however, depending on our personality, our life experiences, and the severity of the matter, we may have a more difficult time adapting or bouncing back. Whether your feelings of depression are a reaction to a specific event, such as a loss, or they are an emotional “place” that you find yourself in more and more often, therapy can provide a pathway to better understand and effectively manage your depression symptoms. Knowing how many people have found relief from depression in the safe, confidential, and protected space of therapy infuses me with hope that therapy can offer you the conditions needed for healing to unfold.

Depression Therapy Can Help You Reconnect With Your True Self

Psychotherapy is, at its core, an invitation to take part in a potentially life-changing journey. Working with a depression therapist offers you the opportunity to understand, at an emotional level, the enduring patterns in which you relate to yourself and others, providing a forum to reflect on whether the ways you have learned to deal with distressing thoughts or emotions may be contributing to your current challenges. Equipped with increased knowledge and greater self-awareness, you can feel more empowered to question old beliefs and thought patterns and choose how you want to live your life. This greater insight and clarity can allow you to better manage and over time reduce feelings of sadness, loneliness, and disconnection, offering you the opportunity to contemplate new possibilities for yourself and your life.

Sometimes we need to grieve first (go “through” the pain) before we can gradually begin to contemplate new possibilities. Regardless of what you need to heal from, therapy can provide a structure that supports you through this journey. As a depression therapist, I am extremely respectful of where you are emotionally, and place a strong emphasis in being emotionally present, witnessing and being a part of your journey without “imposing” an agenda. My work reminds me over and over that one of the best things I can do is to foster the conditions in which you can reconnect with your inner wisdom. I foster a safe, non-judgmental environment by empathically and receptively listening both to what you say with your words and what, perhaps, is left unsaid. Together, we can explore the potential relationship between your present circumstances, past experiences, and our therapeutic relationship—a process that, in my experience, is both illuminating and impactful.

Even if you are pretty sure depression counseling has a lot to offer, you may still have questions. . .

How is depression different from common sadness?

Depression is different from “common” sadness in several ways. When depressed, you may experience a decreased interest in activities you used to enjoy or changes in your sleep, appetite, and/or energy level. You might feel guilty for struggling to handle difficult emotional states on your own, and a sense of uncertainty or self-doubt can make it hard to feel confident and focused at work or at home. A helpful way to distinguish between “common” sadness and a more charged set of emotions is to look at the intensity of the feelings, their frequency, and how much they are interfering with your ability to function optimally in school, at work, and/or in your relationships. If your efforts to address distressing thoughts and emotions have not worked in the past, depression treatment can be a fruitful avenue to identify and attend to any emotion that may be interfering with your ability to live the life you envisioned.

My depression is the natural response to something sad that has happened. No one can change that.

You are right. Our feelings, at least in part, are often triggered by something that has happened in our environment. The loss of a loved one, a divorce or separation, a work-related setback, retirement, an illness, our kids deciding to take a different path than we would want for them, a dream that has not come true… the list is virtually endless. When some external event triggers feelings of depression, it may be helpful to make a deliberate space where you can process difficult feelings and grieve about what has been lost. 

It is also true that, internally, we all process what happens to us differently. And there is probably a reason why we respond in the ways we do. In other words, the way we relate to our experience also plays a role in how we feel. When how you habitually feel is far from how you want to feel, therapy can help you better understand how the way you are relating to your experience may relate to your pain.

You Can Feel More Confident and Empowered

If you are ready to take the first step to foster peace and confidence in your life, please do not hesitate to schedule a time to talk by clicking below. I’d be honored to listen to your particular concerns and look forward to being able to support you in the ways that you need.

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Testimonial

“Dr. Perolini is a highly skilled, insightful and gifted psychologist. Her warm and caring style creates a safe environment that allows her clients to comfortably explore and resolve their issues and concerns.  Her expertise in the areas of depression, anxiety, and interpersonal relationships, as well as self-growth helps those she works with to fulfill their true potential. Her natural ability to empathize and connect with her clients is truly remarkable. Dr. Perolini is an outstanding psychologist dedicated to her clients’ success. I highly and with no reservation recommend Dr. Perolini to anyone interested in engaging in the process of psychotherapy.”

- Dr. Jonathan Cohen, 
Licensed Psychologist, Miami FL