Depression and Counselling    

How can coming to counselling help with depression? Counselling is actually a very effective form of treatment for depression. I use a form of counselling called Transactional Analysis (TA) which I have found to be very good at treating depression over a relatively short period of time.

How does it work? One of the characteristic features of depression is the feeling of low self esteem or feeling worthless; people tell you to “pull yourself together or worse “cheer up - it could be worse”. I believe that when a person is depressed they need to speak to someone who will understand that it’s not always that easy to just cheer up. I offer a sympathetic, non-judgemental space that will allow you to offload your thoughts and feelings and this can be hugely beneficial.

Another common feature that I have observed with depression is that the person seems to run a critical internal dialogue like a recording that constantly criticises and belittles the individual. Listening to the negative beliefs is not only self defeating but those thoughts can be insidious and often destructive sometimes leaving a person feeling suicidal. I work with the client using common TA theories to challenge the negative dialogue and help the individual replace that critic with a more nurturing message that generates a more positive attitude.