01 / Depressive disordersDepression Therapy in Iowa City
Depression doesn’t just mean sadness. Depression can show up as a heavy tax on the life you want to be living. Answering a text now costs far more than we know in our head it “should.” Showering costs more, getting out of bed costs more, and we feel like we have no resources to spend in the first place.
02 / what it can feel likeHow much is depression costing you?
Depression hides well. Depressed individuals are functioning as best as they can, and they are spending everything they have to keep the pilot light on. The gap between how hard it is to struggle with depression and how “fine” they may show to the world is its own kind of loneliness and struggle.
You may notice that things that used to yell out for your attention have gone quiet. The quiet is flat and numb. Music which used to do something positive for you does nothing now. Plans with friends you would once have looked forward to arrive as a weight so heavy you no longer want to go. Your friends and family usually read the flatness as a failure of their own, or disinterest. What it what it usually means is that you have been running on empty.
Self-talk tends to turn negative around the same time as all of the other challenges above. Depression is very good at arguing that the exhaustion you are experiencing is a character problem, that your friends or coworkers manage just fine, and that you should be able to just figure it out. The voice is shaming you, the voice is judging you, and you are too tired to push it away.
To recognize ourselves in a struggling state is acceptance that its real, and also, that it can change...03 / How i work with itFour main approaches
I use EMDR, NARM, DBT, and Ego-State Therapy to help you through the emotional difficulties you are experiencing. EMDR has a place when something specific sits underneath the flatness. A loss, a betrayal, or a stretch of years you have never healed properly. When a memory still carries a charge, processing it can lift the weight off a great deal of what grew on top of it. NARM works on the patterns underneath the symptoms, the long habits of self-abandonment and the strategies you built early in life to stay connected to your caregivers. Ego-State Therapy is for dissociation, and DBT gives you something to skillfully do on the hard days while the deeper work goes on. Skills for enduring an evening you cannot think your way through, and for catching the negative internal voice as just a voice that lies, rather than taking it as a fact.
04 / The logisticsWhat it costs and how long it takes
No insurance billing, which means no diagnosis is required on a claim form to get help, and no third party gets to decide how many sessions you deserve. A Good Faith Estimate can be provided under the No Surprises Act before we begin any clinical work, so always feel welcome to ask.
FreeFree Consultation
A relaxed, 15-minute conversation about what you are looking for and whether or not we are a good fit. Online or in person.
$185Therapy Sessions
Personalized, 53-minute sessions shaped around your specific needs, in Iowa City or via telehealth statewide.
FREE DOWNLOADNEWSLETTER05 / reach outA fifteen minute call, and no obligation afterwards
We talk about what has been going on, what you are hoping changes, and whether working together makes sense. If it does not, I will say so and point you somewhere better.