Printer Friendly Format    Email a Friend

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy, or "talk therapy", is one of the most effective ways to treat depression. Studies have proven that talking to an expert about your condition can help resolve it. While the results are not immediate, you may find that just expressing what you're feeling can bring some relief.

Short-term therapy has become more common and may occur over a period of 10 to 20 weeks.

Types of therapy

Several kinds of therapy are used to treat depression:

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help you identify and change the thought and behavior patterns that contribute to depression. People who are depressed tend to think negatively, and cognitive behavioral therapy teaches you how to identify and challenge the negative thoughts. This approach is usually done in short-term therapy, and has been found to be particularly helpful for depression.

Interpersonal therapy looks at how depression can be connected to troubled emotional relationships. Like cognitive-behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy tends to be a short-term therapy, and has been proven to work well with depression.

Psychodynamic therapy links depression to traumas and conflicts that happened earlier in your life, especially during childhood. It can be a short-term treatment, although it is often a longer process.

Group therapy allows you and other people with depression—or people with the same issues that contributed to your depression—to meet together with a therapist and share experiences. The approach of the group may be any of the ones listed above.

Also of Interest

Create your personal depression treatment plan with your doctor.

Learn about the benefits of keeping a journal.