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Psychotherapy

6 Dimensions of Psychological Well-Being

by John Folk-Williams 14 Comments

psychological well-being

Recovery should aim at restoring psychological well-being as well as ending the symptoms of depression. Naturally, you get into treatment to stop the pain of those symptoms. It’s a huge achievement if the treatment works, and you can keep depression from ruining your life. But so many people relapse after initially getting better that full […]

Filed Under: Healing, Psychotherapy, Recovery Tagged With: personal growth, psychology, self, symptoms, well-being

On the Other Side of Fear

by John Folk-Williams 22 Comments

Barbed wire strand

Fear has a way of setting boundaries that can’t be crossed. If you do cross them, you know you’ll pay a price – a pain or terror you can’t endure. The boundary is protection. Inside it, you’re safe. I think of the anxiety I feel when moving through depression as the warning sign. You’re getting […]

Filed Under: Psychotherapy, Self-Help Tagged With: boundaries, cognitive behavioral therapy, depression, fear, memory, OCD

Revisiting: Removing Barriers to Closeness

by John Folk-Williams 10 Comments

barriers to closeness

This is a new version of an early post about how my wife and I were able to keep our relationship together despite the impact of depression. It discusses a therapeutic approach to emotional awareness that helps eliminate barriers to closeness by drawing on ideas about acceptance. More than 20 years ago I stopped believing […]

Filed Under: Psychotherapy, Relationship Tagged With: intimacy, partners, self, shame, therapy

Psychological Flexibility, Well-Being and Doubts about Recovery

by John Folk-Williams 3 Comments

well-being and psychological flexibility

I’ve been wondering: How could it be that I have recovered from depression but still deal with symptoms almost every day? Can both things be true? Recently I’ve come across new ways of thinking about well-being and psychological flexibility that help explain this paradox. Finding these ideas couldn’t be more timely because doubts about recovery […]

Filed Under: Healing, Psychotherapy, Recovery Tagged With: psychology, symptoms, well-being

Therapists and Depressed Men

by John Folk-Williams 12 Comments

Therapists and Depressed Men

Except for my first experience in therapy, I spent years working with psychiatrists (back in the days when they did more than write prescriptions), depressed the whole time, perhaps getting a temporary lift, but quickly losing whatever short-term benefit the sessions may have provided. According to many therapists, as I explain below, this is a […]

Filed Under: Men and Depression, Psychotherapy, Self-Esteem Tagged With: fear, feelings, men, shame, stigma, women

Trying to Be Selective about Self-Acceptance

by John Folk-Williams 5 Comments

Broken Glass Window

The boy took careful aim with his lever-action BB gun and fired off the first shot. The tiny pellet pierced one of the windows of the tall tree-house, and jagged cracks radiated from the pinhole it made. The house was nestled securely in the giant crook of an oak tree that stood right next to […]

Filed Under: Children and Depression, Psychotherapy Tagged With: acceptance, Anger, attachment, childhood, compassion, self

Beyond Depression to Guiding Values

by John Folk-Williams 11 Comments

speeding car in blue tunnel

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy reminds me of the tense time I spent learning how to drive a car. Venturing onto a two-lane highway, I fixed my mind on the big worry – how to get where I wanted to go without crashing into anything along the way. The most important thing was to stay in […]

Filed Under: Psychotherapy, Self-Help Tagged With: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, attention, commitment, feelings, values

What Can Help Prevent Depression Relapse?

by John Folk-Williams 17 Comments

Depression has an especially cruel season called relapse. It always happens after the worst seems to be over; hope like sunlight is restored; life without depression is in full bloom. Then suddenly it’s winter again. The more often it happened to me, the more impossible the goal of recovery seemed to become. I was surprised […]

Filed Under: Depression Treatments, Mindfulness, Psychotherapy Tagged With: cognitive therapy, mindset, relapse

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Living Depressed

Depression affects emotions, mental abilities, self-concept, behavior, relationships and the entire body. These core posts describe the full range of symptoms affecting daily life. Read More.

Choices in Healing

Hoping for recovery gives you a motive but not a method for getting there. This section has posts about therapies and healing methods you can work with either on your own or with professional guidance. Read more.

Living Well

If you've learned how to manage your depression, you'll want a fulfilling life rather than one dominated by fear that the illness might return. In this section, you'll find posts about how to work toward that goal. Read More

Relationships in Crisis

One of the hardest challenges of living with depression is holding onto your closest relationships. This section features posts on how to help a relationship survive. Read More.

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