Sean Heneghan BSc Hons, LicAc, MBAcC, HPD, DipCHyp, MBACP

Counsellor, Acupuncturist
& Cognitive Hypnotherapist

With extensive training and a range of
therapeutic experience, I can help
people with a range of physical and
emotional problems.

Counselling for Depression in Berkhamsted: What is Depression and how can counselling for depression help?

 

Depression is much more common than people realise and a major cause of suffering for people all over the world from all walks of life. It affects young and old, men and women and it’s unfortunate that it’s not talked about more publicly given how common the experience is.

The World Health Organization states that 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression and that depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Depression is quite simply part of the human experience, although it affects us all in different ways and to different extents. Depression is a complex condition with no singular cause. It’s likely a mixture of our brain chemistry, the experiences we’ve been through in our lives and how we’ve adapted to those, and how we deal with the complex world of what happens inside ourselves. 

It’s only in recent years that emotional health has been something that’s more openly talked about, but for the generations that preceded us, painful emotions, vulnerability, life’s difficulties were often just not talked about at all. The result of this means we’ve often come from family environments and backgrounds that haven’t supported dealing with difficult feelings - because our parents, their parents and the long line of parents before them came from environments that were similarly unsupportive. In an ideal world, learning how to experience, feel and live with difficult feelings would be part of the conversation at home, at school and in the culture, but this is not how it’s been for many people. Where depression is concerned this is all significant since our conditioning around our feelings governs what we do with them; and whether we even allow ourselves to experience them at all. Sometimes depression builds because difficult unacknowledged feelings accumulate to the point where it’s difficult to function.

 

It’s sometimes useful to think about Depression as a literal term. Depression can describe the state when various different painful feelings have been literally squashed, locked away and pressed down - ‘de-pressed’. Often this can happen unconsciously, we can often be focussed on surviving life without realising what sort of feelings are accumulating inside just through the process of living. People often think depression is about feeling sad, and while it certainly can be depression can be more complicated and nuanced than that. Depression can involve all sorts of feelings like frustration and pent up anger, disappointment, hurt, loss, the pain of unfulfilled desires or unfulfilled expectations. Depression often involves a sense of hopelessness and not being able to see a way out or create much needed change in our experience. This can create a repetitive kind of stuckness in which the joyfulness disappears from life. Whatever unique mix it might be for you or anybody else suffering with Depression, what always materialises in the process of counselling is that there are good reasons to feel the way you do, even if you’re not conscious of what they are. It’s normal for people to begin the process of counselling knowing that they don’t feel good but to also not know why. This can often give people the sense that there is something wrong with them, which in itself is deeply distressing. The experience and process of counselling is often an enlightening experience where you become aware of all sorts of feelings and thoughts you didn’t realise you had. It can help you make connections between different parts of your life and your experience. Often this process of unravelling and opening up can help turn a stuck, stagnant, emotional state of de-pression back into an inner emotional life with movement, change and hope as old feelings begin to surface, be experienced and be relieved. All of this can then make the space for something new.

If you’re suffering with depression and you'd like a counsellor or you’re looking for counselling in berkhamsted please feel free to get in touch with any questions you have.

 


Make an Enquiry

If you would like to discuss your treatment with Sean prior to booking an appointment, please contact him directly on 07717 515 013 or complete this enquiry form.

Thank you.
We will be in touch shortly...

Clinic Location

Berkhamsted Chiropractic Clinic,
69 High Street, Berkhamsted, HP4 2DE

Visit Clinic Website

Contact Information

Email Sean

07717 515013

Website Information

© Copyright Sean Heneghan 2024

Terms & Conditions  |  Privacy Policy

Website Design by