Therapy is often the first line of treatment for those facing depression. It can help people unpack the reasons for their negative feelings, learn new coping skills, and identify interpersonal supports to help them get through difficult circumstances. Sometimes therapy is combined with medication for a comprehensive treatment plan.
Why Is Therapy an Important Part of Depression Treatment?
Depression often involves persistent negative thoughts, feelings of hopelessness, and low mood. A therapist is specifically trained to help people with depression investigate the reasons they have these thoughts and feelings and learn ways to cope and recover.
One of the most important factors for whether therapy will be successful is the relationship you have with your therapist. When you trust your therapist and have a good rapport, you’ll be more open and honest about how you’re really feeling, leading to better results.
Therapists can help people with depression:
- Determine the situations and factors that contribute to their symptoms and figure out if there are any changes that could be made
- Process past experiences that may have caused trauma and contributed to depression
- Identify negative thought patterns that could be furthering depressive symptoms, then counteract these thoughts with positive self-talk
- Learn new coping skills to regulate mood and prevent future depressive episodes
- Learn more about their feelings and how to feel more connected to a full spectrum of emotions
- Set realistic goals and break them down into achievable steps, helping create a positive upward spiral
Types of Therapy for Depression
Many approaches have proven to be helpful for dealing with depression symptoms, including cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, and interpersonal therapy. Often, therapists will use an “eclectic approach,” utilizing techniques from multiple modalities depending on the specific needs of the client.
Here are some of the types of therapy you might encounter when seeking depression treatment:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression involves investigating the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Identifying your core negative beliefs can help you start to change those beliefs, leading to healthier behaviors and ultimately boosting mood.
Or, sometimes, you need to change your behavior even when you don’t feel like it. A CBT therapist could help you think through some actions that you’ve been putting off due to depression, such as meeting up with a friend or taking daily walks. Doing these activities, even when you don’t feel like it, can make you feel better in the long run.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) is an outgrowth of CBT, with a specific focus on learning to hold two opposite truths at the same time. DBT helps people learn to change things within their control and accept what they can’t change. It’s an incredibly skills-based modality, with less emphasis on unpacking the past and more focus on building acceptance, mindfulness, and interpersonal skills.
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
Interpersonal therapy focuses on someone’s relationships and social supports to help improve depressive symptoms. Depression can often be isolating and make people feel hopeless, helpless, and like no one understands them. By building up interpersonal skills like perspective-taking and communication techniques, IPT therapists help people with depression bolster their relationships, helping them feel more supported. This, in turn, can improve functioning in other areas of their life.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is a group therapy program combining skills from CBT with traditional mindfulness practices. It was specifically designed to help people with long-term major depressive disorder prevent relapse.
MBCT helps people with depression become more aware of their thoughts, feelings, and sensations to change how they relate to these thoughts and feelings. Mindfulness helps create space between the person and their negative ruminations, promoting healthy detachment and a deeper, truer sense of self.
This mindfulness approach paired with techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy promotes whole-person healing.
Supportive Therapy
Supportive therapy isn’t focused on building skills or unpacking the past; instead, therapists simply listen to their client and offer support. This form of therapy is often the model used if someone starts therapy but isn’t ready to address their negative thought patterns or past traumas.
A therapist utilizing supportive therapy lets their client talk about their feelings regarding the people and situations in their life, then normalizes their feelings when appropriate. Depression often makes people feel isolated and helpless, so having a nonjudgmental listening ear can often be a balm against these feelings.
Helping someone feel understood and listened to is the core of most forms of therapy, so this practice on its own is often the starting point for people with depression who aren’t yet motivated to make changes.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Psychodynamic therapy is an outgrowth of the more formalized Freudian method of psychoanalysis. It focuses on unearthing subconscious thoughts that may be impacting someone’s underlying depressive symptoms. Sessions are typically less structured than skills-based modalities like CBT or DBT, offering time for free association and open-ended exploration.
How Will I Know Therapy for Depression Is Working?
When you’re depressed, don’t expect symptoms to dissipate overnight when first beginning treatment. However, you’ll notice that therapy is working when you start to challenge your negative thoughts or notice small shifts in your mood. You might notice concepts or strategies that you’ve talked about in therapy pop up naturally in your thought processes throughout the day, making it easier to cope with your emotions as they arise.
It’s also a good idea to have a few goals that you’ve set with your therapist. When you see yourself start to meet these goals, this can cause a positive upward spiral, boosting mood and lessening your depressive symptoms.1
Don’t expect a straight line of healing, though. Depression can be a long-term illness, with ups and downs depending on your life circumstances, relationships, and brain chemistry. You and your therapist will work together to determine how frequently you’ll meet; your needs may change over time as you learn more coping skills and start to feel better.
How Long Will I Be in Therapy for Depression?
The length of your time in therapy will depend on how intense your symptoms are and what else is contributing to your depression. That being said, most of the time, therapy for depression typically lasts anywhere from six months to a year.
For people with longer-term problems or complex trauma, the road to healing might be longer. However, those with situational depression related to a specific event (like moving or job loss) may only need a handful of sessions to learn appropriate coping strategies and start feeling better.
Therapy & Medication Can Work Together in Treating Depression
Therapy alone can often help people with mild to moderate depression symptoms recover. However, those with moderate to severe depression might need more support through medication before they start to feel better.
If you feel that therapy alone isn’t ameliorating symptoms, it could be time to talk to your care team about adding in medication for depression as well. Medication can boost neurotransmitters in the brain that regulate mood, such as serotonin and norepinephrine, while therapy can help you learn new ways to cope. This combination can be really effective for many people with depression.
For those still not seeing relief after trying multiple medications, there is still hope. Alternative, evidence-based treatments like TMS or Spravato® can quickly and effectively treat depression when other treatments haven’t worked.
Northeast Health Services Is Here for Depression Treatment in Massachusetts
Northeast Health Services is dedicated to providing compassionate, evidence-based care for our neighbors all across Massachusetts. Our clinics in Boston, Springfield, Cambridge, and across the state offer therapy, psychiatry, and alternative treatments, meaning you can get comprehensive depression treatment from one compassionate, collaborative team.
If you’re ready for depression treatment in Massachusetts, call 508.794.8711 to learn more or schedule your first appointment today.
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