Depression and Anxiety

How can depression and anxiety impact us?

In a state of depression, we may feel sad and unmotivated. We might not have the energy even to go about our daily activities. We might avoid socialization or feel like crying. Depression can also affect our eating and sleeping patterns. Consequently, as we experience these symptoms our familial or professional relationships can be impacted. 

While experiencing anxiety we could feel worried, become uncertain about the future, find it difficult to concentrate or feel the need to control things. For some of us anxiety presents in our bodies: we experience sweating, breathing difficulty, increase in heart rate, or trembling. Other ways anxiety can impact are as a specific phobia or a social anxiety. If we do not have proper coping skills, we might avoid the anxiety provoking situation to cope with our anxiety.

How can therapy help?

 In therapy we discuss these symptoms and how they are impacting your life. In doing so, we gain insight and understanding of the roots of these symptoms.We also develop ways to better manage anxiety and depression, and ease the stress in life. Specifically, we develop healthy coping skills to deal with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Ultimately, we work towards improving social relationships, developing problems-solving skills, and achieving a balance in life to prevent the relapse of these symptoms.

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Trauma

What kind of experiences are identified as trauma?

We consider all experiences that have a lasting and adverse impact as trauma. That would include experiences associated with being a refugee or immigrant, discrimination and oppression of marginalized identities, trauma passed down generations, relational conflicts that have adverse and invidious long-term impact, and unwanted sexual experiences.

How does therapy help one in dealing with trauma?

Trauma presents differently in people. Recognizing all the dimensions and impact of trauma is a slow journey. Sometimes, embarking on this journey can be overwhelming to even consider. However, the process of helping you make meaning of distressing experiences and recognizing the intricacy of their impact can provide some relief and increase a sense of emotional connection. While traumatic experiences can feel disempowering, therapy can be a space from which to move slowly towards restoring agency, defining and reframing your story on terms that feel congruent to you.

Irrespective of how you make sense of and name your experiences, examining them at your own pace with someone you trust can help create distance from the disempowering cruelty of trauma and allow you to focus on developing ways to care for yourself while re-evaluating your story on more empowering terms.

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Relationships

Is there a pattern by which we form relationships?

Yes. Childhood relationships create a framework through which we navigate all future relationships and understand our presence and worth in the world. Also, the way we connect to others is informed by family values, communication styles and cultural norms.

Is it possible to change the pattern by which we form relationships?

Although our early relationships inform our patterns it is possible, through therapy, to recreate patterns, enabling you to understand and express yourself on your own terms.

Relationships and attachments can be addressed in different ways in therapy. One way is by attending to the dynamics between you and your therapist. Through the relationship with your therapist you can explore your feelings as they occur in session, map the history of similar emotional content in childhood, and find connections. Your therapist can also guide you through managing haunting feeling states, thereby freeing you to have an increased capacity to speak through feelings that occur in current relationships. By the same means you can develop awareness of the way you communicate with others and can build skills to express your needs effectively.

Challenges in several relationships can be attended to in therapy. These include family of origin, in-laws, partners’ relationships, and colleagues.  You learn to hone communication skills, master emotions and thoughts and identify personal needs. The disruptions you face in any of your relationships may re-occur in therapy and can be disentangled and examined.

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Acculturation

What is acculturation?

Acculturation is a process of cultural transition.

How can this process impact my well-being?

Acculturation can impact your mood, motivation, concentration, stress, sleep, your relationship with yourself and your family, as well as at your place of work.

What is the nature of adjustments likely during the process of acculturation?

Adjustments can vary, depending on several factors, including your social support, financial stability, access to resources, physical location, and privileged or marginalized identities.

How can therapy help one in dealing with adjustment?

A few examples: by guiding you in grieving the past, or helping you understand disappointment or compare differences in expectations or value systems. These perceptions can give you clarity and create room to understand and validate your own experiences. Moreover, they may also help you think through how you want to connect with the world around you.

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Parenthood

How can therapy help persons experiencing difficulties in the role of parenthood?

Our social and family roles inform our relationships. Being a parent or a guardian requires us to have multiple roles and wear different hats. Sometimes, traditional expectations, pressure from the work place, the impostor syndrome, experiences of sexism or stigma associated with single parenthood absorb our energy and limit our ability to live freely. Therapy can be used to navigate convoluted and limiting expectations, clarify values and priorities and redefine parenthood as best suits you.

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