Depression/Bipolar Therapy In Chicago

Therapy for Depression, Bipolar, and other Mood Disorders in Chicago

You may have heard that Psychodynamic Therapy is not effective for depression and mood disorders. However, in 2010, a review of the research in American Psychologist showed that it’s not only as effective as other evidenced-based therapies, but the effects last longer! In psychodynamic and integrative therapy, you’ll learn how to talk about conflicts and feelings that are difficult to identify and acknowledge. You may get in touch with losses from your past that you haven’t processed. You’ll also address negative emotions and beliefs about yourself, often unconscious, that may keep you from pursuing your goals and seeking out healthy relationships.

Psychodynamic treatment of mood disorders goes beyond symptom relief to address you as a whole person. Therapy may start with the physical symptoms of depression or mania and connect these to emotions that may contribute to a lack of energy or lack of appetite. In addition to the biochemical aspects of mood disorders, therapy will help you understand how your symptoms may protect you from overwhelming and painful feelings in your life. By helping you gradually integrate all the parts of your personality, therapy will make you less likely to fall into depressive or manic episodes.

Most of us know what we should be doing to lead a healthy lifestyle, but unconscious conflicts may get in the way of taking care of ourselves. This creates a viscious cycle that keeps you in cycles of depression or mood swings. As you begin to feel more comfortable expressing yourself in relationships and increase your overall self-esteem, this cycle of poor self-care be broken. One study found that psychotherapy allowed some participants to reduce their use of mood-regulating medication.

How We Can Help

At Lakeview Center, we have multiple approaches to help with depression and bipolar disorders. Our Integrative and DBT therapists can teach behavior activation techniques techniques and other skills to address the most debilitating mood symptoms. Psychodynamic Therapy is the best way to get to uncover long-standing patterns and keep episodes of depression and mania from recurring. Our nurse practitioners can prescribe medication to address symptoms of depression and bipolar disorder.

Please view the video below to learn more about depression.