Depression and Life Changes
When energy fades and life feels heavy
It doesn't have to be something dramatic. Sometimes low mood creeps in without you really knowing why. You wake up without energy, things that used to feel meaningful no longer spark anything, and the inner voice is harsh and critical in a way that's hard to switch off.
Other times it's clearer — a separation, a bereavement, an illness, losing your job or realising that life hasn't turned out the way you imagined. Major life changes can shake the very foundations of how we understand ourselves and where we are heading.
Whether you find yourself in a long stretch of grey everyday life or in the middle of an acute crisis, it is possible to find a way forward. And you don't have to do it alone.
What can we work on?
Low mood and depression — low energy, hopelessness, difficulty feeling joy, negative thoughts about yourself and the future. Depression is one of the conditions where CBT has the strongest scientific support.
Exhaustion and stress-related ill health — when you have given more than you had for a long time and your body and mind have finally pushed back. Exhaustion is rarely just about resting — it's about understanding the patterns that led there and changing them.
Life changes and major transitions — separation, loss, illness, career change or the feeling of having lost direction. Such periods often raise deep questions about who you are and what you want.
Grief — having lost someone or something significant and navigating the strong, sometimes conflicting emotions that come with it.
Low self-esteem and harsh self-criticism — a pervasive sense of not being good enough, of constantly needing to perform in order to deserve your place, or of being harder on yourself than on anyone else.
How we work together
We explore what keeps you stuck
We begin by understanding what contributes to how you feel — not just the symptoms, but the patterns and contexts that maintain them. Often there are thoughts that feel like facts: "it will never get better", "I'm a burden to others", "I should be able to handle this on my own." Thoughts repeated so often that they have stopped being questioned.
At a safe and respectful pace, you get the opportunity to understand what is happening inside you — and why. Often a sense of relief emerges when what previously felt confusing or shameful starts to become understandable. Change that grows from that understanding is more stable than change that is forced.
From insight to concrete change
For low mood and depression, behavioural activation is often used — a tool that breaks the downward spiral where we feel bad, do less, lose energy and feel even worse. It is not about forcing positive feelings, but about gradually reintroducing activities that matter to you, even when motivation is absent. The movement creates the feeling, not the other way around.
On the thought side, we work on identifying and challenging the automatic thoughts that keep the low mood alive. You receive concrete tools to use in everyday life — not just insights to carry with you, but ways to actually do something different when the heavy thoughts appear.
Towards a more meaningful life
Drawing on ACT, we also work with values — what truly matters to you, beyond achievements and expectations. During periods of low mood and major life changes, values can serve as a compass when the sense of meaning and direction is gone.
The goal is not to remove what is painful. Life will always contain challenges. The goal is to help you live in the direction of what matters to you — relationships, engagement, security, growth — even when it is hard.
What can you expect?
Treatment typically spans 10 to 20 sessions. We always begin by understanding your situation in depth before setting goals and direction. Many clients describe noticing fairly early that the negative thoughts take up less space, that energy slowly returns, or that they begin doing things they have long avoided. The change is rarely dramatic — but it is real and it lasts.
Thinking about reaching out?
An assessment call is a first, no-obligation conversation — a chance for you to share what you're experiencing and for us to listen. No commitment, no pressure. Just a calm conversation about how you're feeling and what might suit you.
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