Tag: depression
-
The Beachball Analogy On The Power Of Letting Go: Acceptance And Commitment Therapy
Many people often think of acceptance as the same as giving up or staying stagnant in our lives. They view acceptance as bad and the enemy of change. However, there is a lot of power in acceptance. In fact, acceptance has formed the core of more recent ‘third wave’ therapies, such as acceptance and commitment…
-
What Maintains Low Mood? Perpetuating Factors Of Depression
In life, feeling sad from time to time is a totally normal experience. When we experience loss, we feel sad and grieve – whether it’s a loss of a loved one, a relationship, or an opportunity (like not getting a job that you wanted). However, when sadness turns into prolonged episodes of depression, that is…
-
5 Common Therapy Goals For Anxiety And How To Work On Them
Anxiety is a common problem that people come into therapy to treat. However, what exactly are folks hoping to change by coming into treatment? This post discusses five goals for anxiety commonly discussed in therapy. The first four relate to overarching goals that most folks with anxiety problems could probably benefit from improving. The final…
-
Treatment Goals For Depression For Patients Starting Therapy
Introduction Depression is a very common psychological problem that many people endure at some point in their lives. The symptoms of depression can be very distressing and impact important areas of our lives. For example, work, school, family, social connections, and our interests and hobbies. Symptoms of depression include: Importantly, depression is different from normal…
-
What To Expect In Group Therapy
In many hospital-settings, group therapy tends to be the norm for folks wanting to receive therapy. This is because of the high demand for mental health services and limited resources in these healthcare settings. As a result, individual therapy is more rare compared to group-based therapy. When people think about group-based therapy, there can be…
-
Therapy Goals for Generalized Anxiety Disorder
People with generalized anxiety disorder tend to worry about a number of different themes in their lives. For example, family, friends, health, the future, being late to appointments – all the way down to what they need to talk about in therapy. This might resonate with you. For example, you might be worried about what…
-
Evidence-Based Strategies For Relapse Prevention In Depression
Introduction The best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour. Paul Meehl This saying holds true in most aspects of life. It also holds true in depression. In fact, research indicates that the best predictor of future depression is past depression (Rudolph et al., 2009). People who have experienced prior depression may be particularly vulnerable…
-
How To Use SMART Goals When Feeling Depressed
Introduction People who are depressed often hear advice from their family and peers such as “go do something active – like jogging”, “do meditation”, or “spend some more time with friends”. Although these recommendations seem like simple and reasonable advice, what is not recognized is how much of a hurdle these suggestions can become when…
-
The Difference Between Grief and Depression
Grief and Depression We tend to use the term ‘depression’ as a catch-all word for times we feel lower than our usual selves. However, depression in psychology is typically used as part of major depression – a psychological disorder. What differentiates depression and regular sadness is depression is something we feel beyond what people typically…
-
Mindfulness for Depression Relapse Prevention
“Don’t mind the thought itself; instead, seek to change your relationship with the thought” random psychology student, aka me A Primer in Mindfulness Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, a founding father of mindfulness, defined the term as “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally”. Mindfulness is therefore: 1) intentional (purposive); 2)…
Simply mental health 