Therapy for depression in Croydon
For when everything feels like effort
Key facts
- BACP registered #197852
- Croydon practice
- Individual therapy £70
- Couples therapy £100
- 50-minute weekly sessions
- Couples therapy in person only
You're not sad, exactly. It's more like the volume's been turned down on everything. Food doesn't taste like much. Things you used to enjoy feel like obligations. Getting through the day takes everything you've got, and nobody sees how hard you're working just to function.
People tell you to exercise, get outside, think positive. As if you hadn't thought of that. As if wanting to feel better was the problem.
Depression isn't laziness
Most approaches to depression focus on activation. Do more things. Challenge negative thoughts. Build routines.
But depression isn't always about doing too little. Sometimes it can feel like the result of feeling too much, for too long, with nowhere for it to go. The shutdown isn't weakness. It may be what happens when the system gets overwhelmed.
Psychodynamic therapy is interested in what may have been switched off and why. Sometimes there's grief underneath: for losses you weren't allowed to mourn, for versions of yourself that never got to exist, for needs that were never met. Depression can sometimes look like mourning that has gone still.
What we'll do
We meet weekly or twice-weekly and sit with what's actually there, even when what's there feels like nothing.
Sometimes we'll talk about your history. Not because the past is more important than the present, but because your early experiences may have shaped what you learned to do with difficult feelings. If sadness wasn't allowed, if need was met with rejection, if anger meant abandonment, shutting down may once have been the safest option available.
The work is slow. It has to be. You can't force thawing.
Common questions
- How does therapy help with depression?
- Psychodynamic therapy approaches depression as more than a list of symptoms. It may explore loss, disappointment, anger, shame, or feelings that became too difficult to feel directly. It is not about forcing yourself to feel better, but about creating conditions where feeling can become possible again.
- How long does depression therapy take?
- It depends on how long depression has been part of your life and what else is around it. Most people I work with stay for at least a year, often longer. The work is gradual, and we would keep reviewing whether it feels useful and whether other support is needed.
- Can therapy help if I'm already on antidepressants?
- Yes. Many people use therapy alongside antidepressants or other psychiatric support. I would not advise you to change medication; that belongs with your GP or prescriber. Therapy can sit alongside medication as a place to understand the emotional life around the depression.
- What if I can't even explain why I'm depressed?
- That is not unusual. Depression can be connected with feelings you do not yet have words for. Part of the work is finding language for what has been wordless. You do not need to arrive with explanations.