I work with adults experiencing depression in its many forms: major depressive episodes, persistent low mood, situational depression following loss or major life change, burnout, and the kind of chronic dimness that some people describe as having always been there.
What depression actually is
Depression isn't weakness or a failure of willpower. It's a state that affects how your brain processes reward, motivation, and meaning. Activities that should feel rewarding don't. Effort that should feel manageable feels impossible. The interpretation of yourself, your life, and your future gets pulled in a negative direction that feels true but isn't.
Depression often makes sense in context. It can follow loss, prolonged stress, trauma, illness, isolation, or significant life transitions. It can be linked to ADHD, autism, OCD, or chronic anxiety, what looks like depression is sometimes the cost of years spent masking or managing something underneath. Understanding the context matters.
How I work with depression
My approach is integrative, drawing on what the research supports and adapting to what fits for you.
Behavioural activation addresses the trap depression creates: the less you do, the worse you feel; the worse you feel, the less you do. Carefully and gradually re-engaging with activities, not because you feel like it, but because the engagement itself helps shift the mood, has strong evidence behind it.
Cognitive work helps with the thinking patterns that depression generates: the negative filter, the self-criticism, the hopelessness about the future. We don't pretend the thoughts aren't there. We learn to recognise them and develop a different relationship to them.
Psychodynamic exploration can be valuable when depression has deeper roots, when there's grief that hasn't been processed, anger that's been turned inward, or patterns from earlier in life that are still shaping your present.
Working with the body is part of it too. Depression lives in the body, not just the mind. Sleep, movement, sunlight, nutrition, and nervous system regulation all play a role. We work with what's practical given where you are.
What therapy with me looks like
If you're in the thick of depression, the idea of “doing therapy” can itself feel exhausting. We start where you are. Sometimes the first weeks are about easing the load, finding small things that help, getting some momentum back, building the capacity to do more focused work.
You don't have to come to therapy ready to engage at full tilt. You just have to come. We figure out the rest together.
If you're currently in crisis or having thoughts of harming yourself, please contact the Samaritans on 116 123 or go to your nearest emergency department. Therapy is a good fit alongside other supports, but it's not an emergency service.