Therapy for Depression
“Do I have depression?”
Have you ever wondered this to yourself? We all go through periods of sadness, especially when dealing with grief and loss, big life transitions, or unexpected struggles. However, when these periods of sadness persist for longer than two weeks and begin to negatively impact your ability to function within your relationships, or at work or school - this would be more indicative of clinical depression. At Wildflower Therapy our skilled team of therapists is here to help answer this question.
Symptoms of Depression
Symptoms of Depression as defined by the DSM-5 (The Diagnostic Manual of Mental Illnesses) include:
Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day. For example, feeling sad, empty, or hopeless, or others observing that you appear tearful. Adolescents may exhibit an irritable mood.
Reduced interest or pleasure in most activities, most of the day, on an ongoing basis.
Decrease or increase in appetite, or weight loss or weight gain of at least 5% of body weight in a month, when not dieting or trying to lose or gain weight.
Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, restless sleep, or sleeping too much without feeling refreshed.
Psychomotor agitation or retardation, meaning a slowing down of cognitive functioning or speech, leading to difficulty carrying out normal daily tasks.
Fatigue or reduced energy nearly every day.
Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt.
Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness.
Recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.
“How can therapy for depression help?“
CBT Therapy
Therapy can be life-changing when it comes to depression. Treatment can include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which is a type of therapy that helps you to understand the connection between your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. CBT involves unearthing core beliefs that we may have held since childhood that keep us stuck. CBT also provides solutions for how to shake these core beliefs loose, and eventually change the way we think, feel, and behave.
DBT Therapy
Treatment for depression may also include Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). DBT is a type of therapy that also involves recognizing the connection between our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. It also incorporates a strong emphasis on being able to hold several truths at once (dialectics), and an emphasis on interpersonal effectiveness.
Working Through Issues From the Past
Treatment for depression may also include talking about and working through different past traumas, attachment issues, and childhood experiences.
At Wildflower Therapy, our therapists have extensive training and years and years of experience working with folks struggling with depression. We will work with you to determine the best type of therapy for you, and completely individualize the work that we do together. We recognize that you are the expert on you - so we like to collaborate and work together in a non-hierarchical way to create a plan of action.
“Do you have specific populations that you help?”
We have a great deal of experience working with all kinds of folks with depression. We have helped people of all ages (adolescents to adults), and folks from all walks of life with varying identities. Specifically, we have a huge amount of experience helping:
High school students with depression
College students with depression
People with co-morbid depression and eating disorders
People struggling with co-morbid substance misuse and depression
Perinatal depression
Depression related to infertility
Depression related to grief and loss
How Can Therapy for Depression in Philadelphia Help You?
If you are struggling with depression, and you find it hard to function daily, we would be honored to help you address those needs. Whether you prefer in-person therapy or virtual therapy, our therapists are available and ready to help. Below are some steps to follow if you feel overwhelmed and would like to ask for help:
Step One:
Visit our About page to get a better understanding of who we are and what we stand for!
Step Two:
We encourage you to get to know a little bit about our therapists, their specializations, and their credentials. Get to know our depression therapists here.
Step Three:
If you feel like we would be a good fit for you, please reach out to us to set up a free 30-minute consultation here. We look forward to hearing from you!
Step Four:
Begin your journey to self-healing and understanding!
Other Mental Health Services in Philadelphia, PA
Life is a unique journey for each of us and we all have our individual battles to fight. We know there is no one-size-fits-all approach to any of life’s difficulties and we offer many unique perspectives and approaches to help meet you where you are with our Philadelphia, PA Therapy services. In Addition, we offer services for body image counseling, and services for depression and anxiety, and have practitioners who specialize in LGBTQIA+ affirming care. We also offer specialized therapy for college students and athletes. There are even therapists who specialize in perinatal and postnatal support. Reaching out is often the most difficult step you can take to improve your mental health. And it is also the most important step you can take toward recovery. We look forward to helping you on this journey!
We are licensed to provide therapy to clients residing in PA, NJ, DE, FL, MA, VA, and VT, as well as students living in any of these states (even if your parents live elsewhere).