Depression, Anxiety, Anger, and other Emotion Concerns

We all know that some emotions are enjoyable while others are unpleasant. It’s tempting to think of these as positive and negative; in fact, all our emotions are helpful…under the right circumstances. We find it problematic when emotions become overwhelming, confusing, or when they appear louder or quieter than the circumstances call for. If a minor inconvenience results in an outburst of anger, if sadness evolves into crippling depression, or if daily tasks provoke immobilizing anxiety, it’s time for some help.

Depression

There’s sadness…and then, there’s depression. If sadness is emotional weather, then depression is the emotional climate: persisting beyond the day-to-day and affecting every part of life. When depression takes hold, the sadness feels inescapable and often difficult to explain or rationalize. Depression is frequently characterized by sleep disturbances(too much, too little, poor quality, or undesirable timing), low or disturbed appetite, minimal motivation and energy, isolation, difficulty enjoying activities, irritability, or other symptoms.

The biggest challenge in addressing depression is how it feeds on itself…you feel bad, so you don’t want to do anything, so you think less of yourself, so you feel worse, repeating, and repeating, and repeating.

Together, we can work to understand how to interrupt this cycle and begin finding your way out of the dark cave depression puts you in. Moreover, we can work to reveal what parts of your story explain your depression, and we can do the healing necessary to change your emotional climate so you can feel the sun again.

Anxiety

There’s worry…and then, there’s anxiety. We all get concerned about the potential for unpleasant events. Worry about a bad grade, a lab result, or rain on your wedding day can lead anyone to emotional or physical manifestation such as butterflies in the stomach. For some, though, it’s different: anxiety can cause intense and protracted focus on unpleasant circumstances occurring, regardless of their likelihood. Frequently, these concerns also center around how we are perceived by others (“…if I go to the party, no one will want to talk to me”). Anxiety’s physical effects can move far beyond a fluttery stomach, including chronic inflammatory diseases and panic attacks.

Of course we want the anxiety to go away, but we don’t need to battle the part of us that’s sending it, because as long as we are fighting a battle with ourselves, we are fighting a losing (and exhausting) battle. Instead, we can work together to understand what’s going on inside you that’s using this intense fear to protect you from something scary. We chose curiosity, and we stay compassionate. When we do, we can heal.

Anger

Emotions are expressed in countless ways. Some are straightforward; for instance, we smile when we’re happy. Other emotions can feel difficult, or even dangerous to express. We can struggle to acknowledge our more challenging emotions in authentic ways. So what do we do instead? We express difficult emotions by camouflaging them as an emotion we’re more comfortable with. Anger is often that emotion.

I work with clients to take advantage of the calm and safety of the therapy session to explore their anger, inquire if it’s masking over something more difficult, and learn what those underlying emotions and beliefs are, where they come from, how they serve us, and how to express them more authentically. This allows us to reserve anger for the moments that truly call for it.

Grief

Everyone experiences loss. Some losses are profoundly painful. The natural human response to loss is a process called grieving. Under most circumstances, the grieving process happens naturally and, while every grief is unique, it usually follows some familiar patterns. There are times, though, when grief gets complicated and the natural progression can become stuck. This might be because the intensity of the grief is more than we can bear, because we feel our grief is not fully understood by others, because we carry a sense of shame or guilt associated with the loss, or because we feel we can’t be a part of the community that is grieving the same loss. It’s worth noting that, while the death of a loved one is at the center of many seasons of grief, other losses are just as important and, sometimes, even more difficult to work through.

When grieving isn’t happening in a healthy way, I can work with you to create the environment it needs to move through the process. The goal is never to “get over it;” rather, to “move through it.”