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Marriage Counseling & Psychotherapy
Beverly Hills and Woodland Hills, CA
David Gorton, Ph.D.
Counseling Help for Depression
Frequently when people call me, depression and anxiety (which often accompanies depression), is the reason for their call.
It is important to understand that depression is not a negative label... it is not a sign of weakness. We all (and I am including myself) experience it at times in our lives. In fact it is estimated that as many as 19 million Americans are affected by depression.
What I offer is help with depression. I am a caring person who wants to understand what you are experiencing and I know how to effectively deal with this important dynamic.
If you or a family member or friend experience any of the following symptoms of depression for two weeks or more you are describing symptoms of clinical depression. It would be wise of you to call me for a free confidential telephone consultation:
- loss of interest in things that used to bring enjoyment
- sleep difficulties (depression sleep) : trouble going to sleep or staying asleep, excessive sleeping difficulty getting up in the morning
- often angry
- feelings of guilt or worthlessness
- shame
- feelings of hopelessness
- difficulty making decisions, procrastination
- wanting to isolate from others
- lack of motivation to do things you want or need to do
- thoughts of death
- difficulty making decisions
- physical symptoms of depression including fatigue, frequent headaches, vague aches and pains, significant weight changes
Treating Depression
When treating clients with depression I am careful to distinguish where their depression is coming from... From outside events and situations (situational depression) or from internal thoughts and beliefs about ourselves. What I see frequently is that we have learned to create our own misery internally without realizing it.
It is my job to pinpoint the cause of depression and help you change the cause so that you can overcome depression and regain control of your life.
I do this by paying close attention to your thoughts and emotional processes and to the physical aspects of depression such as bodily tension, shallow breathing and lack of attention to your sensory functioning.
I have a unique approach to dealing with depression which I have found makes the treatment more successful by taking the mystery out of what depression actually is.
I don't see depression as a "feeling" but rather, as the word implies, we are literally depressing or pushing down something... and that "something" is most often unwanted emotions.
I came to this realization by looking at the true meaning of the words: to depress means to push down and the word emotion means literally exiting motion. Therefore the opposite of depression is an expression... and it is this expression which frees us up to be who we really are and who we were meant to be.
My most effective treatment for depression is to help my clients get in touch with the reasons, in our minds, we depress or hold ourselves in and how we do this physically, in our bodies.
The reasons are in our mind... we imagine the dangers that could befall us if we express ourselves. These reasons are often rooted in our childhood experiences, when expressions of anger, sadness or fear were discouraged or not tolerated. How many men heard, at an early age," big boys don't cry"... or "don't cry or I'll give you something to cry about"... or "don't cry, everything will be alright"?
Or how many of us, when we had a bad dream or saw ghosts in the shadows in our bedrooms, were told "there is nothing to be afraid of" and were sent back to our bedroom?
These experiences teach us to depress our true feelings and then we feel hopeless.
As we examine these reasons together we can begin to see the possibility that these feelings can actually be accepted by our loved ones and friends.
I also help my clients get in touch with how they use their bodies to suppress their feelings and vitality. Tightness in our chests produces shallow breathing, reducing the amount of oxygen we receive which reduces our vitality. Tightness in our throats or jaw holds back the expression of feelings as does tightness in our shoulder and neck.
It is amazing and heartening to see my clients change their beliefs and let go of body tension to become free to be more vibrant, alive and happier human beings.
If you would like help in dealing with depression, please call me today for a confidential, free phone consultation at (818) 347-2633.
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Dr. David Gorton, Ph.D.
Psychotherapist & Marriage and Family Therapist
Lic. No. MFC7027
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