Depression + Mood Disorders

Finding steadiness when your mood feels out of reach

Mood disorders can affect how you think, feel, and move through the world — often in ways that are hard to explain to the people around you. Things can feel heavy, confusing, or isolating. Sometimes there's embarrassment or shame layered on top of everything else, which can make it even harder to reach out.

Maybe it feels like riding a rollercoaster you can't get off. Or like being stuck under a weighted blanket you just can't shake. Whether you're experiencing persistent sadness, emotional numbness, or intense shifts in mood that feel out of your control, these experiences can deeply affect your sense of self and your daily life — but they are treatable.

In our work together, we'll create space to really get to know your symptoms and build effective, practical coping skills to help you achieve greater stability and reduce what's getting in the way of the life you want. Sometimes our brains just function a little differently. Sometimes a significant experience has left a mark we haven't been able to recover from on our own. Either way, we'll work together to understand your brain, your experiences, and your challenges — and get you feeling your best.

Understanding common types of mood disorders

Depression

Depression is more than sadness. It can quietly drain the color out of daily life — making things that once felt meaningful feel distant, and making even small tasks feel like a lot. It can also show up differently than people expect, as numbness, irritability, or a vague sense that something is just off.

Common symptoms include:

Persistent low mood or emptiness
Fatigue and low energy
Reduced motivation
Changes in sleep or appetite
Difficulty concentrating
Feelings of guilt, shame, or worthlessness
Loss of interest or pleasure in things you used to enjoy

For some, depression can also include thoughts of suicide or self-harm. If that's part of your experience, please know that it's something we can talk about openly and work through together — you don't have to carry that alone.

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder involves cycling between periods of depression and periods of elevated mood — and living with that unpredictability can be exhausting. Bipolar I and Bipolar II differ in the length and intensity of elevated episodes, but both deserve real support and a thoughtful approach.

Depressive episodes look similar to the symptoms described above.

Hypomanic and manic episodes can include:

Inflated self-esteem or a sense of grandiosity
Decreased need for sleep without feeling tired
Talking more or faster than usual
Racing thoughts, jumping quickly from idea to idea
Increased involvement in impulsive or risky behavior
Restlessness or irritability
Difficulty focusing

Understanding your own patterns — what triggers episodes, what helps stabilize them, and what early warning signs look like for you — is a big part of how we work together.

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder is a condition that has long deserved official recognition, and it's finally getting it. PMDD involves mood symptoms that appear in the week before menstruation and resolve shortly after it begins — but in that window, the experience can feel intense, disorienting, and very real.

PMDD can include:

Sudden tearfulness, rage, or dramatic mood shifts
Symptoms of depression like those described above
Feeling tense, on edge, or highly irritable
Increased interpersonal conflict
Heightened sensitivity to rejection
Feeling overwhelmed or out of control
Physical symptoms typically associated with PMS

PMDD doesn't just affect the person experiencing it — it can ripple into relationships and family life too. If a loved one has encouraged you to seek support, that makes sense. And if you're the one who's been quietly struggling, you're in the right place.

Let's work through it

Therapy for mood disorders is active, practical, and personal.

We'll work together to:

Learn to recognize your early warning signs and emotional triggers — so we can work to prevent or shorten difficult episodes before they take hold
Identify the habits and practices that genuinely support your mood stability and make them a sustainable part of your life
Use CBT to better understand how your thoughts influence your emotions and behavior — and gently shift the patterns that aren't serving you
Work on self-worth and self-compassion, because how you talk to yourself matters
Build a personal toolkit of coping strategies for both low and elevated mood states, drawing from mindfulness, distress tolerance, and other evidence-based approaches

This process is about more than getting through hard moments — it's about building something you can keep using long after our sessions together.

You don't have to navigate this alone.

Help is available, judgement-free, and effective. Let's work together to help your brain work with you, not against you.