Anxiety and Depression
Your List Keeps Running After the Lights Go Out
Are you awake again because the “rolodex” of your to-do list is running through your head?
Someone speaks to you over breakfast and you miss it, because you “were somewhere else.”
The phone rings twice with no answer, and you have already decided somebody is dead.
Other Days Nothing in You Runs
A panic arrives with no warning and no reason you can name.
Then the running stops altogether, and a flatness takes its place.
You cry for no reason, and you are angry at the world.
Getting up is the hard part, too sad to face your children, your husband, your day.
The Sentence You Have Not Said Out Loud
Have you ever thought that life would be better for everyone if you were not in it?
Bring that sentence straight to me, and know that it will not be too much.
I will not flinch, and I will not leave you alone in it.
Check the Prediction Against What Actually Happened
Listen to what you are quietly or loudly saying to yourself while it sits there.
It was the test you are sure to fail, the meeting where your boss will absolutely fire you, the flight you will miss over some problem with the ticket.
Most of the time, none of those “predictions” come true.
And the next time the scenario comes around, you run the same one again.
Sort the Thoughts That Help From the Ones That Do Not
Depression runs the same story in the other direction.
It finds the reasons, and you can name ten without stopping to think.
The “if only” and the “when this happens, I’ll be happy” make the truths harder to find.
Together we will go through them and decide which ones you keep.
Expect Real Work, and Expect Me in It
This is real work, slowest at the beginning, and I will ask you to do it on the days you least want to.
Whatever you and your doctor have decided about medication, what we do here goes alongside it.
What I commit to is teaching you to catch the prediction before it decides your day.
Take One Small Step, and Then the Next One
Depression feels as if it is in control, and many days it is.
Being alone in it is the part that changes the day you call me.
We start small, one small step towards happy, one small step towards feeling better.
Momentum picks up with each step you take, and the early steps are slow.
Your Nights Go Quiet Again
The list stays where you left it, and the night is only a night.
You walk into your boss’s office expecting the meeting to be about something you did well.
The letter gets written, the kids get to school on time, and nothing dreadful happens when they are late.
Things that used to make you happy feel like themselves again.
Pick Up the Phone and Find Out
If you want to feel less “controlled” by what runs at night, or by what sits down in the daytime, ask me for a consultation call.
It is free, fifteen minutes, and it is your time to ask about therapy, about me, about how I help.
On the other end is someone who understands how you feel and will not be upset with you for feeling this way.
Your Turn to Call
My direct number is (805) 491-4429.
Do yourself a favor, and pick up the phone right now.
Say the Thing You've Been Holding
Life is better lived free of hesitations, so you can be your authentic self, speak your mind, and be heard.
Start with a free 15-minute call. It's our time to talk briefly so we're less like strangers when we meet.
I am eager to meet you!
Let's Be Less Like Strangers