Your counsellor will focus on methods that are going to help you understand your depression and how to deal with it. Depending on your situation, your counsellor may employ one or multiple of the following methods:

• Psychotherapy is a broad term that encompasses numerous styles of therapy and employs verbal or nonverbal communication with a client to help treat psychiatric problems, behavioural issues, personality disorders, and various other types of emotional distress. This form of personal counselling is based on an interpersonal relationship, as opposed to the alternative chemical or physical forms of therapy. As the therapist creates dialogue, you are able to learn more about your moods, behaviour, feelings, and thoughts. Understanding these factors helps you to control your life and handle certain situations healthily.

• Attachment-based therapy is an approach to therapy that specifically targets those thoughts, feelings, communications, behaviors, and interpersonal exchanges that patients have learned either to suppress and avoid or to amplify and overemphasize because of early attachment experiences. Attachment-based therapy emerges from interpersonal theories that suggest depression and suicide can be precipitated, exacerbated, or buffered against by the quality of interpersonal relationships in early familial experiences. This type of therapy aims to repair attachment injuries and rebuild an internal sense of security and support the building of other healthy and secure relationships.

• Somatic therapy is an approach that views mind, body, spirit and emotions as related and connected to each other. Due to this interconnection, stress of past emotional and traumatic events affect the central nervous system and can cause changes in the body, in body language, in facial expressions, in posture and may lead to physical pain. Through developing awareness of the mind-body connection and using specific interventions, somatic therapy helps you to release the tension, anger, frustration and other emotions that remain in your body from these past negative experiences. The goal is to help free you from the stress and pain that is preventing you from fully engaging in your life.

• Mindfulness Therapy combines cognitive behaviour therapy with meditation techniques. It was originally used to treat depression, it has shown to be effective in the treatment of other conditions as well, such as addictions, and other mental health concerns. Clients use mindfulness techniques to interrupt thoughts and automatic body processes (sleep disturbances, for example). This type of therapy helps clients to see that their thoughts can become their reality and they are taught how to disengage from negative thoughts and thought patterns.

Those who receive the greatest benefit from depression counselling usually suffer from symptoms of depression for weeks or months at a time and/or are experiencing symptoms that impact their ability to effectively handle day-to-day tasks and activities.

These are some of the signs of depression to look out for:

• Depressed mood, sadness, or an “empty” feeling

• A loss of interest or enjoyment in activities you once found gratifying

• Weight loss or significant weight gain unrelated to changes in diet

• Insomnia or excessive sleeping

• Restlessness or irritation

• Feeling “heavy” or weighted down

• Fatigue or low energy

• Feelings of worthlessness

• Excessive, unsubstantiated guilt

• Difficulty making decisions – even simple ones like what to eat

• Difficulty thinking or concentrating

• Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide without a specific plan (“suicidal ideation”)

• Suicide attempt or specific plan for ending one’s life