By Krystal Kuehn, MA, LPC, LLP, NCC
A person can live forty days without food, seven days without water, and a few minutes without air; but he cannot live one second without hope. ~unknown
Sometimes life can be so difficult, frustrating, and painful. There are times when we need someone to talk to who will listen, understand and care. There are times when we feel stuck and just don't know what to do. It can be something that has been going on for a very long time, or it might have come on suddenly and unexpectedly. Either way, these are times when we need help. We need hope that things can change and get better. We want to know someone cares, understands, and can walk alongside us to help and encourage us.
We may not know that depression counseling is available to provide the help we need and that we do not have to go through problems alone. Maybe fear or shame keeps us from reaching out. Still, most of us want to see better days ahead and live with a sense of purpose in our lives. We want to be whole and walk in victory. We want peace to rule in our lives, and to have confidence in who we are and what we can do. We want to have loving relationships with mutual trust and respect.
Oftentimes, there are things that keep us from living the life we want to live. We do not always know how to overcome obstacles on our own. We may feel stuck and not know what to do next. We might think we have run out of options or that things will never change or get better. Depression counseling can help us to get unstuck and renew our hope again. We can gain inner strength and faith that we can and will overcome obstacles and problems instead of letting them overcome us.
To benefit the most from depression counseling find a counselor:
• with whom you can be comfortable with and respect
• with expertise and experience in the area you seeking help for
• that you feel confident can help you reach your goals
There is hope and there is help. But we must be willing to take the first step. The first step may simply be saying that we need help. Then we must reach out and receive the help that is available to us. Professional depression counselors offer their help. They understand the many ways that depression can affect our lives, and they can help us overcome its negative and destructive patterns. Depression can be overcome and sometimes we cannot do it alone. Depression counseling can provide the help we need to restore our hope, regain our confidence, and starting living again.
