‘sorrow is personal,

the universal somewhere else’

Nigel Hall

Depression

Depression is a commonly used term, often, although not always, linked to anxiety and can impact our confidence. The feelings of depression can serve to isolate us and make us feel alone. It can feel like we are down a black hole. Our energy levels may be very low and it may feel unimaginable to reach out for help.

Depression is frequently part of a coping strategy which turns us down or sometimes turns us off completely, in an attempt not to feel. However, we only have one control button, if we turn down our distress we also turn down other emotions, including joy, and our innate life-force.

How I Work with You

I work with you to try to understand the wisdom in your distress. This may sound like a strange statement when your symptoms may feel so unwelcome and overwhelming. However, if we gently befriend our distress we can often hear its’ call to do something differently in our life.

My style is relaxed and collaborative. I will encourage you to turn the volume up again. Your emotions will be encouraged rather than judged and met and understood with empathy. I offer you the opportunity to speak and explore your truth. We may uncover memories and emotions which surprise you, are shy or haven’t been given voice before. In their feeling and their expression they can be given life and, like an energetic current, move through your body.

In the movement and expression of our feelings we get unstuck. We are able to make sense of our experiences. We are able to challenge rigid and restrictive definitions and stories about ourselves. There is the possibility to arrive at a different understanding and experience of yourself, which ultimately eases your distress.

‘We all have a story we must repeat until we get it right, a story whose conveniences must be corrected and whose simplifications must be seen through before we are done with it, or it with us’

Kenji Yoshino