Online Depression therapists in United Kingdom

I offer a compassionate space to explore the complexities of this emotional state. Using a Psychosynthesis approach, we examine the emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual dimensions that underlie depressive symptoms. This holistic viewpoint allows for a nuanced understanding of depression, including how it may interact with other facets of your life such as relationships or work. The goal of our sessions will be to help you gain deeper self-insight and practical coping skills, allowing you to navigate through life's ups and downs with greater emotional resilience. In this way, our work together aims to bring about a meaningful shift towards a more balanced state of well-being.  

Feelings of low mood and depression can strongly impact the way a person feels about themselves, the people around them and the world in general. Like anxiety, depression can be extremely debilitating. I specialise in treating these experiences by first attempting to make sense of where the distressing feelings come from.  

If you are feeling low, or depressed I can help you by integrating behavioural, cognitive and interpersonal approaches with relaxation, visualisation and guided imagery techniques. Contact me for a free consultation to feel more motivated, with a clear plan how to begin to solve your problems. Contrary to common belief, depression is not primarily a biological illness, inherited through the genes. Nor is it the setbacks, crises or tragedies in our lives that cause depression. It is our response to adverse events that determines whether we get depressed or not. Research shows that people most likely to suffer depression are those who react to adversity by taking it personally, seeing all areas of their lives as blighted by it, and the misery as going on forever. Depression is always a second and unnecessary problem, and just makes problematic circumstances worse. This is good to know because it means that, instead of feeling helpless or hopeless, people can learn to take back control over their lives. They may not be able to change certain circumstances but they always have options about how they react to them. The symptoms of depression include low mood, loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities, loss of appetite and energy, sleep disturbance, feeling agitated or lethargic, worthless or guilty, difficulty in thinking straight and having repeated thoughts about suicide. Antidepressant drugs may help some people because they lift levels of a ‘feel-good’ chemical in the brain; unfortunately, they do nothing to change the underlying circumstances or thinking patterns that led to the depression. Depression is always related to unmet essential emotional needs and that is why the human givens approach, which focuses on helping people in distress find healthy ways to meet their emotional needs, is so successful. Depressed people may seem deflated and flat but, in actual fact, they have raised levels of a stress hormone called cortisol, which means that they are in a state of constant high emotional arousal. When our emotions are aroused we can’t think rationally, so this is why people deep in the grip of depression can’t concentrate well or even make simple decisions. Learning simple relaxation techniques to calm themselves down will start reducing those cortisol levels. The main reason that depressed people are so emotionally aroused is that they spend a vast amount of time worrying about the future or beating themselves up about past events. Perhaps they still feel guilty about something that happened recently – or years ago; perhaps they are frightening themselves with dire ‘what if?’ scenarios (likely or unlikely), in which loved ones encounter dangers or they themselves lose their jobs or their homes; perhaps they feel beaten down by chronic pain or anger (“Why did this have to happen to me?” “How could he have been so cruel?”); or maybe they experience a combination. They also have a huge tendency towards negative thinking – “I’ll never be good enough”; “I’ll never cope”; “nothing ever goes right”; “the pain will only get worse”. All this kind of negative imagining and thinking saps an enormous amount of energy – and makes people utterly miserable. Far from feeling more refreshed after a night’s sleep, most people with depression wake up next day still exhausted and feeling totally unmotivated. It is hard for them to get out of bed and do anything at all. We now know why this happens. Psychologist and co-founder of the human givens approach Joe Griffin carried out research over many years which showed that, when we dream at night, we are discharging unexpressed emotional arousals from the previous day. If earlier we were upset about something our spouse did or didn’t do, but kept it to ourselves, we would later dream that out, perhaps in the form of getting angry with someone else (dream content is never straightforward); that would have the desired effect of lowering our levels of emotional arousal, so that we can start next day afresh, even though we are unlikely to remember we had the dream. (If we did express our feelings with our spouse at the time, we wouldn’t need to dream about it. And, of course, if we wake up and remember what our spouse did or didn’t do, we may get emotionally aroused about it all over again, requiring more dream discharge that night, if we still don’t resolve it.)  

Embark on a transformative journey to break free from the grips of depression with my client-centred approach that acknowledges both the chemical and behavioural dimensions of this relentless mental health challenge. In my over two decades of experience, encompassing more than 17,000 hours of direct client contact, I have dedicated myself to unravelling the complexities of depression. I firmly believe that the roots of depression often lie in the soil of childhood neglect and trauma, making it imperative to identify its origins for effective healing. Guiding my clients to develop insight is just the beginning; we then traverse the path of acquiring new skills to address the unmet needs at the core of their struggle. As clients learn to meet these needs, the shackles of depression gradually loosen, and the joy of living is rekindled. I infuse the therapeutic process with friendliness and entertainment, fostering an environment that promotes faster and more positive results. If this resonates with you, I extend an invitation to a consultation. It would be an honour to explore the possibility of collaborating on your personal journey of healing and growth. Together, let's navigate the terrain of depression and rediscover the vibrant life that awaits beyond its shadow.  

In dealing with depression, first of all, I help my clients to manage their physical symptoms of depression. When you are depressed, you have no energy to do anything, but the only way to deal with depression is to try to stay active. Not just active, but also relaxed. We will start slowly, step by step increasing your activity, improving your motivation and identifying automatic negative thoughts.  

Everyone has times when they feel low. But when you feel this way for weeks or months at a time and it affects your ability to get on with and enjoy your life, then perhaps you are experiencing depression. You are not alone. As well as low mood, depression symptoms can include feeling very tearful, irritable or angry, losing interest in things you previously enjoyed or feeling tired and having less energy. You may also lose concentration, self-confidence, appetite and motivation. Counselling can help you explore the cause of these feelings, understand them and work though them, helping you manage and move through depression.  

Depression is like looking at life through grey-tinted glasses rather than rose-tinted glasses. I can help you to build up your energy again and tackle the sense of hopelessness and lethargy that often pulls us down.  

I provide Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, ACT and person-centred counselling, which are recommended psychological therapies for depression. I have experience of supporting clients who have been feeling depressed for a long time, clients who have had multiple separate episodes of depression, and young people who have been depressed since their teenage years. Often my clients have another area of mental health concern, such as social anxiety, panic attacks, traumas, PTSD, or a physical health condition. I’m experienced in supporting clients who have found previous counselling, psychotherapy or medication to be ineffective or unhelpful.  

Therapy can help you to work with your feelings, thoughts, perceptions, and internal or external conflict. It gives you the opportunity to reflect on what is happening within your life and yourself; reduce confusion; consider alternative ways of doing things, make positive changes and to move forward into the life you want.  

We will focus on finding hope and purpose  

We will provide you with Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy and Hypnotherapy for Depression, as well as tools and techniques cope better in in the future.  

Depression is one of the most common mental health difficulties people experience nowadays. Having worked therapeutically with people for over 14 years, I have come to witness how there could be various causes, as well as manifestations of depression. I offer a psychotherapeutic space where we can start thinking about your personal experiences, in order to make better sense of why you have come to a point of feeling depressed and what is preventing you from moving forward.  

The Black Dog is what Winston Churchill called it. A disorder that causes immense suffering. The scientific evidence is that talking therapy is as good at treating depression as medication. The difference is of course that you don't have side-effects and the gains you make in therapy last you a lifetime. With medication when you stop taking it, the effect obviously stops too. I would like to meet with you to see what can be done to help you. This will enable us to get to know each other and see if we can work together. It’s important for you to work with someone you trust and feel safe with.  

For the past 15 years I have worked in the NHS and within the charity sector. I have extensive experience working with people struggling with issues such as depression, sadness, grief and anxiety. Counselling provides a space for you to explore your experiences and feelings in a respectful and confidential space. The focus of the conversation is to understand your experience and provide support to explore the ways in which you can introduce change into your life.  

Experienced and knowledgeable in working with Depression.  

I have worked throughout my career to help individuals (children, adolescents, and adults) manage aspects of depression that are significantly impacting their functioning and well-being. I further help them identify strengths and skills that can help them best manage their depression. This sometimes involves referral to and/or collaboration with a medication prescriber for comprehensive care and maximization of management of symptoms.  

I work with your depression to understand why it's there and how you're feeling about yourself in your life. I find depression is often linked with having a strong critical voice which doesn't truly help us. We can work together to create a more compassionate and encouraging voice towards yourself that drives you more to live the life that you want.  

I provide a supportive environment for clients dealing with depression, focusing on identifying triggers and developing coping strategies. Treatment may include cognitive-behavioral techniques, mindfulness, and exercises to foster a positive self-image and outlook. Embark on your journey to manage depression by scheduling a complimentary 15-minute consultation, where we'll discuss personalized treatment strategies.  

All of our Clinical Psychologists at ComposurePsychology are very experienced in helping people understand, manage and overcome low mood, overwhelm, a sense of being stuck and depression. We draw from evidence based therapies including; CBT, ACT, CFT, SFT, DBT, EMDR, systemic, narrative, psychodynamic and others.  

'Depression' can be our starting point but generally does not tell us much about what is going on at an internal emotional level. We will work to understand what the emotional dynamics are that are getting you depressed or keeping you there, and then work together to free you from unhelpful patterns and coping mechanisms so you can regain your vitality and purpose in life.