Treatment For Depression In Sydney

Everyone can feel sad, lethargic and irritable every now and then.  These kinds of occasional mood swings are normal from time to time.  Constant feelings of sadness and isolation, however, are not and such symptoms can be a sign that you or a loved one is suffering from depression,

Depression can express itself in many different ways and is not always easy to identify.  It includes such symptoms as -

·         A lack of enthusiasm and disinterest in things that previously interested you

·         Brief periods of extreme hyperactivity (called mania) followed by long bouts of exhaustion and lethargy

·         Difficulty concentrating , memory related problems and lack of decisiveness

·         Feelings of loneliness and overwhelming feelings of helplessness

·         Irritability and/or a lack of patience

·         Persistent and pervasive feelings of “emptiness”

My  intention in therapy it to work together with you to identify and assess the factors that are contributing to your depression.  As in the treatment of anxiety, this will include identifying and understanding current day stressors, difficult childhood (or other) experiences, as well as your ability manage your emotional life (essentially feel your feelings). Based on the assessment I will focus on helping you to building increased capacity to know, think about and express your feelings.

When necessary, I will work along with your prescribing physician or help you find one if that is required.

I have expertise in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy hypnosis, EMDR and Somatic Experiencing and draw on each of these modalities as they fit the particular client with whom I’m working.

Psychotherapy and psychoanalysis are talk therapies that some people refer to as “top-down” therapies.  That means they operate from the idea that if a person thinks the right way, or reflects on their experience, they will be able to sort out their problems.   This can indeed be a very effective way of helping someone move through whatever difficulties they are having.  But I have found that sometimes and for some people this is not enough. “Bottom-up therapies” (like hypnosis, EMDR and Somatic Experiencing) can also be an alternative way to help people begin to feel more comfortably emotionally.  These kinds of therapies operate from the general premise that our emotions are regulated not so much by thinking, but instead through unconscious processes that occur in the body.  If we pay more attention to what is going on in the body we can have a more positive treatment outcome. 

I think that generally a mixture of bottom up and top down approaches is the most effective course of treatment.