You’re here because you are living with depression that has not responded to treatment in the way you hoped.
Depression therapy in Alexandria, Virginia for when depression hasn't improved with previous treatment.
Why does depression keep coming back?
It can be deeply discouraging when depression keeps returning, especially after you've worked hard in therapy, tried medication, or made meaningful changes. One possibility is that this is a signal that internal emotional patterns may be contributing to keeping you stuck. Sometimes emotional patterns operate outside of our awareness, but when active can leave us hopeless, turning anger back on ourselves, or withdrawing from other people.
Why have I tried everything and still feel stuck?
Often when your prior treatments have not given you the results you need, it can create the sense that you are defective or hopeless.
People often conclude: "Maybe I'm just broken."
I don’t find that is the most useful way to understand what is happening.
I think it is more helpful to get specific about the particular emotional patterns that are keeping you stuck. This specificity lets us target treatment for you, rather than taking a more generalized approach.
For example, if your prior treatment focused on behavioral activation, but intense internal criticism blocked you when you even start to consider doing something good for yourself by going out the door, you never got the chance to benefit from the treatment. So we need to understand what triggers the internal criticism and then work with that pattern, because that is what is driving your specific experience of depression.
Why do I know what I should do, but I can’t do it?
You already know going for a walk would probably help.
Calling your friend might help.
Eating something might help.
Getting out of bed might help.
And yet something inside you says no.
What you're describing is a conflict in all of us between our healthy self - the part of us that wants good things, health, connection, emotional freedom, that led you to read this website, and our resistance - which has learned that keeping us safe means blocking thoughts and feelings that were unsafe in the past. When we are depressed, the resistance is taking up too much space.
In therapy we will slow down and make room for your healthy self to get some air, so you can make more conscious decisions about what role your resistance should play, now in your present reality.
Can people actually change?
Change is hard. You know that or you would not be reading this page. But a part of you believes that people can change, or at least wants to believe that, or you would not be reading this page.
See more about how change unfolds in therapy.
What is depression therapy like?
Therapy for depression focuses on understanding the specific emotional patterns contributing to your depression rather than applying the same approach to everyone. Along with understanding your patterns, therapy also creates opportunities to experience yourself and your relationships differently. Those new experiences can become the basis of lasting change.
Learn more about what therapy is actually like.
If this way of thinking about depression resonates with you, I'd be glad to talk with you about your particular experience and whether working together makes sense.
