Depression is one of the leading causes of disability. Depression isn’t rare. Depression isn’t shameful. Depression does not mean you are weak!

You are not alone. Many people hold a deep secret sadness within. But that sadness does not have to be a permanent resident. There are options to help. Treatment can help you feel better.

The gold standard for the treatment of Depression is Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). Consistently research has suggested there are self-defeating thought patterns that tend to be present with Depression and that treatment focusing on these self-defeating thoughts is effective. In therapy, a Psychologist helps increase awareness of these thought patterns and engages in specific strategies to help you challenge and shift these self-defeating thoughts into more helpful patterns. Shifting these self-defeating thought patterns changes how your brain works (Franklin, Carson & Welch, 2015).

Research has also found several other treatment approaches that significantly help reduce the symptoms you depression: Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), Behavioral Activation Therapy for Depression (BATD), Meditation and, sometimes, medication. Beyond formal treatment with a Psychologist, one exciting and consistent research finding in regards to Depression treatment is that physical activity can help significantly.

It can feel hard to decide which treatment will work best for you with all these available options. By consulting a mental health professional, you will not have to make this decision alone. A well-trained Psychologist using a CBT-based treatment protocol will adeptly borrow from all these strategies to help tailor your treatment to you and the specific way your depression came about, is increased, sustained, and maintained in your life.

You do not have to power through and keep pushing. Therapy can change how this sadness lives within you.