The Best Types Of Therapy To Help Deal With Depression

By Marie Miguel

Chronic depression is hard for many to understand. Even if everything is going well for you, depression can strike at any time and bring you down. You can lose all motivation and be distant from the ones you love. To an outsider, you should just be happy, since it seems like all is well, but it obviously is easier said than done.

There are ways to treat depression and reduce the amount of episodes you have, or recover from them faster. Some may look to an antidepressant to fix a chemical imbalance; some may seek therapy to learn ways to cope. Others tackle depression through a combination of both types of treatment. In this post, we’ll look at anti depression therapy that can help with managing depression.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Has someone ever told you that you just need to think more positively? They might have a point. Many who have depression tend to be swarmed by negative thoughts that bring them down. However, one can’t simply change the way they think overnight. Cognitive behavioral therapy can help. A cognitive therapist will teach you ways to change your thinking from negative to positive, and identify things like thought distortions. This can reduce or lower the severity of the depressive episodes you have.

Interpersonal Therapy

Interpersonal therapy looks at the relationships you have with your friends, family, and other people your life, and looks at them critically. Sometimes, your depression may be due to someone else, and you may not know it. That person may be causing you stress, intentionally or accidentially, and interpersonal therapy is designed to improve communication between both parties.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Psychodynamic therapy is a form of therapy that concentrates on the unconscious. Your depression could be caused by unconscious thoughts or memories that you may otherwise be unaware of. This form of therapy is designed to bring these deep-seated thoughts to the front of your mind and make you more aware of them, and help treat any issues you may have.

Behavior Therapy

Sometimes, your depression could be caused by your behavior and things that you do, rather than your thoughts. Behavior therapy is designed to identify any behaviors that could be a problem, and make steps to improve them. Like your thinking, your behavior isn’t easily changed, but a good behavioral therapist you improve using specific techniques and helping establish goals.

Online Therapy

One emerging form of therapy is online therapy. Online therapy involves communicating with a therapist through text, voice, or video chat, and while many are skeptical of it, it has helped many who have depression.

Online therapy can incorporate the other types of therapy listed above. What is appealing about online therapy is the fact that you can talk to a therapist almost anywhere. In person, you may not have a depressive episode that you are currently experiencing. If you do have one, talking to an online therapist can be quite beneficial, and help can be more immediate. You can be treated faster, and it can give the therapist some detailed insight into how you behave when you’re stressed or depressed. If you have trouble speaking, you can use text chat to express your emotions. If you have a physical disability, you can talk to a therapist from the comfort of your own home.

While therapy won’t magically cure your depression, regular therapy sessions can help reduce its severity and teach you how to manage it when it strikes. If you try therapy and it doesn’t work, it might be worth it to try another style of therapy. Some people react well to cognitive behavioral therapy, while others may be suited for psychodynamic therapy. It all depends on the person, and a good therapist will try many techniques to treat you.

Marie Miguel has been a writing and research expert for nearly a decade, covering a variety of health-related topics. Currently, she is contributing to the expansion and growth of a free online mental health resource with BetterHelp.com. With an interest and dedication to addressing stigmas associated with mental health, she continues to specifically target subjects related to anxiety and depression.