Dissolving Depression: Effective Experiential Psychotherapy

Many people will experience a period of time in life where persistent depression and unhappiness takes hold as their day-to-day “normal”. I have seen periods of depression like this appear for people of all ages – from adolescence to middle age – and it often comes and goes for months or even years.

This depression can also stay present regardless of how our life appears on the outside – excellent grades, well-paying jobs and even long-established relationships with friends and family have little effect in changing how we feel. In many cases, people may have devoted a great deal of effort in trying yoga, mindfulness practices or meditation only to feel “stumped again” when a lasting change doesn’t occur. Needless to say, anyone who relates to this knows just how tiresome, hopeless and scary it can be to live this way.

Because this depression is so persistent, people develop methods to cope or temporarily alleviate the suffering – by now we all know these common symptoms and coping methods – using alcohol or marijuana to escape, sacrificing sleep to be online, purposeless dating or repeated superficial relationships and sometimes even our exercise habits – these can all be “used” as ways to “hang in there” or hide depression. The trouble with these coping mechanisms is that they actually act as pillars that keep the depression standing.

Much of my own personal growth has been discovering how to dissolve persistent depression, as I have described it above. I have also seen many other brave souls go through their own work against depression during this healing journey. It is this real lived experience that I bring with me into my work as a counsellor.

Now, as my life’s work, I have the privilege of assisting my clients in finding a lasting way out of their own depression. For people who relate to the type of depression and unhappiness I have described here, I believe that experiential personal therapy is an undeniably powerful tool to begin a major shift in your life experience.

The premise of experiential therapy, as I practice it, is that unlike interview-based styles, it integrates your thoughts, sensations and emotions to “imprint” new, preferred experiences that will override previous ones that have brought depression into your life. These new impressions “go with you” into your life outside of therapy and, little-by-little, they help guide your path away from the patterns of depression.    

These experiential practices are conducted gently, with skillful facilitation on my part to ensure that there is no “re-traumatization”. It is often said that in experiential therapy we re-experience the past in the present – leaving you, the participant, with a qualitatively different moment of life that helps you turn towards your preferred future.

A significant part of why experiential therapy is so impactful is the aspect of being “witnessed” or seen by another – we humans are relational beings, and often need the presence of a trusted “other” to initiate our growth. Our body / mind / heart do not care whether an experience occurs in “real” life or in a counsellor’s office – if the experience is authentically “felt”, it will be remembered. This is why experiential therapy is so powerful.

Although it may feel like persistent depression may never end, think for a moment what it would be like to say or feel something that you might have been holding in for years? Perhaps it is the experience of standing up for a past version of yourself in moments when you were treated wrongly by another? What will it be like to experience courage and allow sadness to be released and witnessed as it deserves to be? These powerful experiences could all be part of your journey and they can be facilitated in a safe and caring environment.  

For those interested in specific experiential styles – I can facilitate in-depth Inner Child work and Inner Family Systems therapy. My experiential practice is also influenced by Gestalt therapy, guided imagery / meditation and somatic therapy approaches.

Please connect with me if you have any questions or would like to set up an appointment.