• Change is inevitable, but overcoming depression requires learning how to notice it and how to utilize the opportunities for positive change when they arise
• Symptoms often represent people’s best attempted solutions based on the absence of acceptable and available alternatives, but symptoms can resolve when better alternatives are discovered
• Clients almost always possess the internal and personal resources for positive change but need help developing them in carefully built up and gradual steps
• People’s most important resources often exist outside of our their immediate awareness: effective therapy involves helping people gain access to the resources they don’t know they already have
• People learn best when they encounter new experiences that naturally challenge them to expand their range of skills and put new problem-solving tools in their personal life skills “toolkits”
• The primary job of an effective therapist is to know how to access and utilize the naturally occurring  personal resources within each client and guide him or her on the path toward positive change

Applying our Therapeutic Approach with our Clients:

Sam’s* decision to seek therapy, he said, was primarily because of his physical pain caused by the car accident in which he was involved several years earlier.  He saw the pain as the basis for a slew of problems he now faced.  He was not able to participate in his life the way he did before the accident.  His marriage relationship was strained and he was more irritable and less patient with his children.  The intimacy that he and his wife used to enjoy was just a distant memory.  He had no energy or interest for those activities in which he used to find pleasure.  He had been demoted at work, which put additional financial pressures on him and on the family.  His weight had increased by more than 35 lbs, negatively impacting his self-image and lowering his already  injured self-esteem.  Sleep was erratic and non-refreshing.  Most worrisome to him was the expectation that his future held little chance of offering anything   except “more of the same.”   

Partners in Healing’s Whole-Person Approach to the Treatment of Depression

Treating Sam involved four therapeutic components that highlight the individually tailored approach that Partners in Healing (PIH) uses in the treatment of depression.  Of course, we recognize that other approaches to treatment can and do play an important role in the overall plan of care of patients.  That is why PIH clinicians strive to partner with health care professionals from other disciplines (e.g., physician colleagues) whenever possible.  We seek to provide effective, collaborative and integrative treatment experiences for our clients. 

• Psychotherapies: Treating depression typically requires identifying and learning to change the negatively biased thinking and emotional “habits” of  depression that serve to maintain a person’s limited self-view and reduces their chances of making  positive change.  By helping Sam to change the thought patterns supporting his negative self-fulfilling prophecy, he was able to open the door to positive change in his life. It also opened the door to pain management.
• Natural medicine therapies: Many people believe that treating depression requires altering brain chemistry.  This is one reason people seek prescribed medication in depression treatment.  We agree that at some level, every mood, thought and action involves a chemical aspect.  It is widely recognized that over-reliance on prescribed medication is not the most effective method of treating depression.  Moreover, there are many ways to impact the body’s chemistry without over-relying on prescription medications.  Sam met with our Naturopathic physicians and learned about natural therapies that supported healthier digestive and metabolic functioning of the body.  This nutritional and natural medicine support gave his body the nutrients it needed to support healthy brain functioning. With a brain that was metabolically healthier, he was able to put into practice some of the suggestions and skills he learned in his psychotherapy work.
• Self-regulation therapies: The ability to regulate one’s thoughts, emotions and behaviors is essential to healthy mental and emotional functioning.  Without self-regulation skills, we are at the mercy of our environment, reacting to whatever happens in our lives rather than actively shaping our life paths.  Learning to utilize self-regulation skills (e.g., hypnosis, biofeedback and meditation) was an important part of Sam’s overall depression treatment plan.  It also helped impact the psychological and physiological aspects of his pain disorder.
• Behavioral activation: We live in the world and not in our heads.  Therefore, an essential part of the Partners in Healing approach to depression treatment involves learning to weave the skills learned in therapy into the fabric of one’s life.  That was a critical part of Sam’s treatment process.  All three components of his therapy (i.e., psycho-therapy, self-regulation training and natural medicines) led to changes in how he conducted his life. The fourth element, the behavioral application of his skills, finally helped Sam to make a positive impact on his sleep cycle, his response to pain sensations, and his capacity to interact with his spouse and children in more satisfying ways. 

For more information on how Partners in Healing can help you with mood related conditions, please contact us at  763-546-5797.

By David Alter, PhD

*”Sam” represents a composite of several clients written so as to protect the privacy and confidentiality of the individual people the character “Sam” represents.