Depression can make life feel heavy and effortful, even when nothing obvious is wrong. You might feel exhausted no matter how much you rest, disconnected from people you care about, or unable to find motivation for things that used to matter. For some, depression feels like sadness or hopelessness. For others, it shows up as numbness, irritability, or a sense of going through the motions.
Depression is not a personal failure or a lack of willpower. It is a state that affects mood, thinking, behavior, and the nervous system. With the right support, depression can change. We work with adults in Massachusetts who are experiencing depression and want help reconnecting with themselves and their lives.
Depression is more than feeling down. It involves a pattern of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral changes that reinforce one another over time.
Common features include:
Depression often narrows life gradually, making it harder to take action or imagine change.
Depression tends to persist through a combination of reduced activity, withdrawal, and negative self-focused thinking.
Common maintaining factors include:
Over time, the system reinforces itself. Less action leads to fewer rewarding experiences, which deepens low mood and withdrawal.
Depression can take different forms, and understanding the pattern matters for treatment.
A more chronic, lower-grade depression that can last for years, often accompanied by a belief that this is “just how I am.”
Characterized by persistent low mood or loss of interest accompanied by changes in sleep, appetite, energy, concentration, and self-worth.
Many people experience significant overlap between depression and anxiety, including worry, agitation, or tension alongside low mood.
Depression that emerges in response to life stressors such as loss, transitions, burnout, or ongoing strain.
Effective therapy for depression focuses on changing the patterns that keep mood low rather than waiting for motivation to return on its own.
Therapy helps you:
Progress often looks like doing first, then feeling better, rather than the other way around.
We take an individualized, evidence-based approach to depression, recognizing that different people get stuck in different ways.
In therapy, you may:
Progress often shows up as increased engagement and flexibility, even before mood fully lifts.
No. Therapy is designed to help you act even when motivation is low.
No. Treatment also focuses on behavior, relationships, emotions, and meaning.
Yes. Long-standing depression can change with the right approach.
If depression feels persistent, draining, or limiting your ability to engage with life, therapy can help. Many people wait, hoping it will pass on its own or believing they should be able to push through. Support can make change more possible and more sustainable.
Our work with depression emphasizes understanding, practical change, and compassion. We focus on helping clients reconnect with life, meaning, and themselves rather than simply managing symptoms, using evidence-based approaches tailored to each individual’s experience.
