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Relationship/Couples
Therapy & Support
Counselling for couples in South Surrey and BC
Helping couples on a fertility journey and in the transition to parenthood
GROW TOGETHER
BE ON THE SAME TEAM
Investing into Your Relationship
INVESTING INTO YOU
"Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread;
remade all the time, made new"
- Ursula K. Le Guin -
When you're suffering from depression, energy and hope can be hard to come by. Getting through day-to-day activities can seem like an insurmountable task and you might move between feeling very sad and teary, to numbed-out. You know you want to feel better but simply can't "will" yourself to get there or don't even know where to start.
Depression can become it's own feedback wheel - bringing you to isolate and disconnect from the very connections you need in order to feel better.
Depression therapy can help you find the first step when you can't see the path.
Couples on a journey toward parenthood:
Stress:
-
physical symptoms: sleep difficulty, stomach and other pain, tension and headaches, restlessness, changes in appetite and digestion
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mental symptoms: racing thoughts, difficulty with concentration and memory
-
feeling anxious, depressed, irritable, overwhelmed
-
tends to alleviate when external stressor removed or resolved
-
behavioural fight or flight responses
Burnout:
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physical symptoms: low energy, fatigued even after sleep, immune difficulties, chronic health issues
-
Expecting couples:
Stress:
-
physical symptoms: sleep difficulty, stomach and other pain, tension and headaches, restlessness, changes in appetite and digestion
-
mental symptoms: racing thoughts, difficulty with concentration and memory
-
feeling anxious, depressed, irritable, overwhelmed
-
tends to alleviate when external stressor removed or resolved
-
behavioural fight or flight responses
Burnout:
-
physical symptoms: low energy, fatigued even after sleep, immune difficulties, chronic health issues
-
Couples with babies and young children:
Stress:
-
physical symptoms: sleep difficulty, stomach and other pain, tension and headaches, restlessness, changes in appetite and digestion
-
mental symptoms: racing thoughts, difficulty with concentration and memory
-
feeling anxious, depressed, irritable, overwhelmed
-
tends to alleviate when external stressor removed or resolved
-
behavioural fight or flight responses
Burnout:
-
physical symptoms: low energy, fatigued even after sleep, immune difficulties, chronic health issues
-
mental/cognitive - low motivation and lack of interest, compromised concentration, mental/emotional exhaustion, lack of a sense of accomplishment
-
feeling cynical, depleted, drained emotionally, apathetic, lack of pleasant emotions, mood swings, hopelessness
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behavioural responses such as isolation, withdrawal, lack of self-care activities, decreased performance
How Couples Therapy Can Help
Here are just a few of the ways therapy might help you to re-connect with yourself and your life again.
01
Provide authentic human connection
Isolation and loneliness play a large role in depression. Many people find it difficult to allow others to see them in a difficult, vulnerable place. It may be hard to be around others, let alone feel connected. Therapy offers you the opportunity to experience being in a genuine, safe, & non-judgemental connection - exactly as you are, in the moment. It may take some time to feel good - or feel any feelings again, but often a sense of being cared for makes room for more.
03
Find ease in your body & mind
Depression hurts - literally. Often people experiencing depression find they are physically, mentally and emotionally impacted. Pain may increase and tolerance decrease, along with a host of other ailments which may worsen with emotional intensity (or numbing). Using mind-body therapeutic approaches can assist you to develop increased nervous system regulation and opportunities to feel comfort, ease and safety in your body and mind.
05
Identify and understand vulnerabilities
For those interested in further understanding their experience or root causes of depression, therapy may involve taking a look at particularly impactful experiences. These experiences may have occurred at vulnerable times in our lives - or set up future vulnerabilities - depending on the supports that were available, age of occurrence and (often unintentional) lessons "learned." Sometimes taking "one step back" to allow for new meaning-making around old experiences can create "two steps forward."
02
Activate helpful habits/behaviours
As mentioned above, depression can create its own feedback loop, with thoughts, feelings, and behaviours all impacting and influencing each other. Thankfully, we are able to utilize this very interconnectedness to also skillfully create new kinds of feedback loops that work in your favour. Making small steady shifts in behavioural habits (also referred to as behavioural activation) in therapy can start to open up new possibilities in how you think and feel.
04
Better understand your inner world
So much happens inside of us that we often don't have the chance to explore. Often we have patterns of thinking, ways in which we speak to ourselves, and assumptions or perceptions that go unquestioned. Depression therapy often involves exploring and understanding what motivates you, what brings feelings of self-worth, what coping responses/strategies/stances you have developed along the way and how you can intentionally access self-compassion.
06
Put you in the driver's seat
Experiences of depression commonly lead people to be wary of future experiences of sadness. Therapy plays a strong role in helping you develop a skill set to distinguish feeling sad from depression, identify early warning signs, and have a plan in place to sustain your wellbeing in an ongoing manner. Feeling sadness is part of the human experience and at times when experienced with safety, even the paradoxical antidote to depression.
