Addressing the root of your depression treatment At Shift, our therapists can help individuals nearby with mild depression, moderate depression, and clinical depression find the origin of their depressive episodes in a way that creates lasting change for the individual.

In combination with antidepressant medication or without, cognitive behavioural therapy and reconditioning via Exposure & Integration (REI) (more commonly referred to as Reconditioning), are skillfully woven into Shift’s protocol, to create a structured and highly effective treatment near you for a condition that may previously have been thought to be treatment resistant.

The Shift Program, with its structured approach to confronting and transforming Limiting Beliefs, serves as an effective treatment modality for depression as well. This is primarily due to the fact that depression, like anxiety, is often fueled by self-defeating thoughts and beliefs that can erode self-esteem and foster a negative outlook on life.

Depression is characterized by persistent sadness, loss of interest in activities once enjoyed, feelings of hopelessness, and sometimes physical symptoms. A crucial underpinning of these symptoms is often a set of deeply ingrained negative beliefs about oneself, others, and the world. These might include beliefs such as “I’m worthless,” “Nothing good ever happens to me,” or “I’m destined to fail.”

The Shift Program’s reconditioning approach, leveraging the principles of REI, directly targets these Limiting Beliefs. By exposing individuals to these beliefs in a supportive and therapeutic environment, it elicits an emotional response, thereby setting the stage for reprocessing. This controlled exposure helps individuals understand the emotional triggers and cognitive patterns underpinning their depression.

The integration part of the Shift Program is where cognitive restructuring takes place. Individuals are encouraged to challenge their negative thought patterns and replace them with more positive, adaptive ones. For instance, the belief “I’m worthless” could be reconditioned to “I have worth and value.” This cognitive shift has the potential to alleviate depressive symptoms by changing the underlying belief systems that fuel the disorder.

Additionally, the Shift Program is a proactive approach that places the individual at the center of their recovery. This empowerment can itself be a potent antidote to the feelings of helplessness that often accompany depression.

In summary, the Shift Program is a promising treatment for depression, addressing the condition’s core issues by reconditioning limiting beliefs and fostering more positive, empowering thoughts and behaviors. It’s a journey that goes beyond symptom management, aiming for a transformative shift in individuals’ perspectives about themselves and their lives.

Common Depression Symptoms & Signs

Depression impacts more people than you probably think. Sometimes the symptoms of depression are easier to spot and sometimes, they are more concealed. There are many symptoms of depression but some of the more common ones include:

  • Decreased interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities.
  • Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day.
  • Weight loss when not dieting or weight gain or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day.
  • Feelings or worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt.
  • Pronounced fatigue and/or loss of energy nearly every day.
  • Insomnia or oversleeping nearly every day.
  • Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness.

These symptoms will have been occurring during a consecutive 2-week period and demonstrate a marked change in an individual’s typical behaviour or functioning.

Depression Treatment

What causes depression?

There are actually a few ways depression can arise, and many ways that it can be made worse. The most common causes of depression are:

  1. Physiological dysfunction: This means depression results from issues or imbalances with serotonin, dopamine, and nor-epinephrine neurotransmitters. A lot of the time, medication can help in these cases, supplemented by psychological treatment for depression.
  2. Circumstance: In some cases, depression could be triggered by a specific event such as a loss of a loved one, divorce, or loss of job/career. These events can be very stressful because of the way these events are perceived in someone’s mind, and what they mean to them.
  3. Chronic stress: Large amounts of stress over a period of time can bring with it symptoms of depression. Remember that chronic stress looks different for different people; it’s not just job stress, it could be related to social anxiety, caregiver burnout, chronic illnesses, etc.
  4. Childhood experiences: Sometimes, a history of physical/emotional/sexual abuse and other “Non-nurturing elements” or Adverse Childhood Experiences can contribute to the development of depression later on in life.

There are also factors that can make depression worse. One of these factors is what we call ‘limiting beliefs,’ which are actually often at the core of a lot of individuals’ depression. They include beliefs like:

We address these beliefs as part of our approach to depression treatment here at ShiftGrit.

Depression Counselling At Shift

During the initial intake session, we will explore your risk factors and developmental factors together. We will create a results-driven treatment plan for your depression, to improve your overall mental health.  Continued screenings for treatment progression and depression symptoms are present in all subsequent sessions, as well.

During therapy, limiting beliefs and dysfunctional needs are removed and risk factors such as isolation from friends and family, overloading with work, social interactions, or previous trauma is treated. Shift’s treatment is effective for children, elderly and adult individuals. Depression counsellors and psychologists nearby can help to remove the symptoms to allow you to get back to an enjoyable life.