Depression and Mental Health Therapy in Mountain Brook, AL
What is Depression?
Depression is a serious psychiatric disorder that afflicts millions of people. For many, depression makes getting through each day a difficult process. For others, however, it can be completely debilitating. Whether it’s mild or severe, it can significantly reduce your quality of life.
Fortunately, depression is also one of the most treatable disorders. While medication can help rebalance brain chemicals that help regulate mood, psychotherapy for depression is generally the most effective way to attain lasting benefits.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy in Birmingham, AL
As the name implies, solution focused brief therapy helps you focus on finding solutions for bipolar depression, manic depression, and other mental health issues. The solutions that you discover during therapy in the Birmingham area will improve your mood and help you develop new skills. SFBT is often used in conjunction with other types of therapy as part of a comprehensive treatment program. This helps to reduce the impact that symptoms of depression may have on your overall treatment. Although it is sometimes called “solution focused therapy”, the word “brief” is usually included in the name. This is because it’s a very short-term type of therapy, typically lasting only 12 to 16 sessions—our office is also conveniently located in Mountain Brook, AL. In some cases, it may even be used for a single session.
How SFBT Works for Depression Therapy
When SFBT is used to treat depression, your therapist in Mountain Brook will help you set goals that will help you achieve the future that you imagine. Your therapist will begin by asking a series of questions. These questions will help you determine what is truly important to you that you’ll be motivated to work towards achieving it.
For example, your therapist in Mountain Brook may ask you, “If you start your life free of depression on Monday morning, how will things be different?” Your response to that question will help the therapist determine appropriate goals for you, as well as what matters to you enough to motivate you to be successful. Your response may be something simple, but it seems unattainable to you. If you’re like many individuals, it will be something that you’ve had or felt in the past – before your depression interfered with your ability to participate in normal everyday activities or to gain joy from your experiences.
This process will also make you realize that there are actually positive things in your life – things that you might not be aware of. You see, when you suffer from depression it’s very easy to focus on all the negative things in your life – all the things that are wrong with it. You may feel insecure and incompetent, and have little hope of ever enjoying a future free from your depression.
However, just like everyone, you have had some successes in your life even though you may not realize it right now. Solutions focused therapy will help you have those “aha” moments when you being to recognize these successes. As a result, you’ll start to gain confidence and feel even more motivated (and confident) to move forward. Once you begin to recognize the many positive things in your life, you can use them to help you attain future goals.
Depression Therapist in Mountain Brook, AL
The CLR Group provides depression and anxiety therapy, as well as counseling for mental health issues like PTSD in Mountain Brook, AL. We serve the greater Birmingham area, including Hoover, Homewood, and Vestavia Hills. Our practice works with adults, as well as students from UAB, Tuscaloosa (i.e. University of Alabama), and more.