Explore Treatments for Depression & Grief
Identify Triggers, Challenge Thinking & Develop Coping Skills
Depression Counseling
What is depression?
Symptoms of depression include, but are not limited to, feeling sad, angry, irritable, increased, or decreased appetite, decreased energy, loss of interest in pleasurable activities, difficulty making decisions and difficulty concentrating.
When does sadness become depression?
When sadness lasts more than two weeks and the individual has lost interest in things they would typically enjoy.
How can counseling improve my depression?
In counseling depression, we can explore options for treatment, identify depression triggers, challenge thinking and develop healthy coping skills. Knowing the signs of your depression and how to respond can help you to feel more in control of your mood. Setting intentions and purposeful action in maintaining your baseline mental health is one way to do this. Self-care is not optional; it is a need!
Depression counseling also asks us to adapt our self-expectations. All too often we expect too much of ourselves when all we can really muster are the basics in life. This is okay! Give yourself grace! Episodes are just that, periods of time for which our mood has declined. Each step taken is another step toward mental wellness.
Reduce the frequency and intensity of depressive episodes. By developing coping mechanisms, you can find relief, contentedness, and neutral thinking. Then you will be able to have increased energy, better sleep patterns, concentration, and pleasure in activities.
Sometimes individuals decide to seek medication treatment for their depression. While we cannot prescribe medication, we do have relationships with psychiatrists in the area that we can refer clients.
what should i do if i’m experiencing Suicidal thoughts?
If you are experiencing thoughts about suicide, please seek assistance immediately by telling someone else you are having thoughts or by calling a local crisis response team:
Allegheny County: ReSolve, 412-796-8226
Westmoreland County: Excela’s Crisis Response Center, 724-832-4465
Washington County: Washington County Crisis Line, (877) 225-3567
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255
National Hopeline Network, 1-800-784-2433
Grief Counseling
What is Grief?
Grief is a complicated feeling, and the journey to healing is an individual experience. Grief occurs due to a loss. The form of that loss can take many shapes. Commonly we think about grief as a response to the death of a loved one, human or pet, or the end of a relationship. Grief can also occur in response to stage of life changes, like the declining health of parents, job changes, economic changes, acquiring a medical diagnosis, and having to adapt to physical challenges or disabilities. No one will be able to tell you how to or when you should be ready to heal. Each of us must relearn the world, integrating this loss into our new reality. To find mental wellness we will slowly integrate this loss into our autobiography.
What are the stages of grief?
Shock and Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
Keep in mind that stages are helpful for identifying where we are in your journey, but stages are fluid. You will experience them at different rates, and it is normal to experience them again. Just because you feel like you have moved past bargaining right now, does not mean that you will not revisit it again.
Frequently, people seek out counseling for grief and depression around the holidays, memorable dates, and significant life event anniversaries. As we incorporate the loss into our life, we build our life around the loss not despite it. We will help you explore your journey.
What does grief counseling look like?
Share your favorite memories or cherished characteristics of the person, pet, place, or ability.
Develop a concrete place or way to keep memories such as a scrapbook, collage, poems, or cards.
Explore how to continue our relationship even though we may not receive a reciprocal response, such as still “calling” that person on that usual day and time.
Create positive triggers that remind you of that person, animal, place, or thing, through music, media, art, movement, or writing.
Process the difference between mourning and grieving.
Cultivate a support system where you can be vulnerable and share your feelings when you need support.
Identify and express the kaleidoscope of emotions that come with grief.
These are only a few forms in which grief counseling may take place. We are ready to listen and be present with you.