Emotional changes
Sadness, emptiness, irritability, guilt, shame, hopelessness, feeling emotionally flat or having thoughts of no longer wanting to live.
When everything feels heavier than it used to.
Depression can affect energy, motivation, relationships, sleep, concentration and the ability to feel connected to yourself. Therapy can help you understand what is happening and begin finding a way through.
Depression is more than feeling sad.
For some people, depression feels like deep sadness or hopelessness. For others, it is numbness, irritability, exhaustion, disconnection or the sense that ordinary tasks require more energy than is available.
Depression can be shaped by biology, stress, trauma, grief, relationships, health, identity and life circumstances. Therapy makes room for the whole context rather than treating you as a list of symptoms.
Loss of interest
Activities, relationships or goals that once mattered may feel distant, effortful or unrewarding.
Energy and sleep
Fatigue, sleeping more or less than usual, slowed movement or difficulty beginning everyday tasks.
Thoughts and concentration
Indecision, brain fog, self-criticism, difficulty focusing or a negative view of yourself and the future.
Withdrawal
Pulling away from people, work, routines or responsibilities because connection feels difficult to sustain.
Physical experience
Changes in appetite, frequent crying, fatigue, pain or other body symptoms that accompany low mood.
You do not have to wait until things become unbearable.
People often minimize depression because they are still working, caring for others or meeting responsibilities. Functioning on the outside does not mean you are not struggling.
Therapy can offer a consistent relationship where you do not have to perform wellness. Together, you can understand what is maintaining the depression, strengthen support and take manageable steps toward greater connection and choice.
Starting small is still starting. Treatment may begin with sleep, nourishment, routine, safety, reducing isolation or simply creating language for what you have been carrying.
Care that looks beneath the surface.
Depression can be a response to many interacting factors. A trauma-informed clinician considers symptoms alongside your nervous system, relationships, losses, physical health, environment and the strategies that have helped you survive.
Therapy is collaborative and paced according to your capacity. Progress rarely happens in a straight line, and the work can adapt as your needs become clearer.
Understand your experience
Explore mood, sleep, energy, relationships, stress, health, history and safety while recognizing that depression does not define who you are.
Create manageable support
Build realistic strategies for regulation, routine, connection and daily functioning without relying on willpower or demanding sudden change.
Work with underlying patterns
Address self criticism, avoidance, trauma, grief, relationship injuries, beliefs or life circumstances that may be contributing to depression.
Build toward reconnection
Make space for values, relationships, identity, belonging, pleasure and meaningful choices that help a more hopeful future feel possible.
Immediate support: TGI is not an emergency service. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department. If you are thinking about suicide or worried about someone who may be, call or text 9-8-8 anywhere in Canada, 24/7.
Therapy approaches can be shaped around you.
TGI’s independent clinicians may integrate several approaches depending on your concerns, goals, preferences and their professional scope.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Explore patterns in thoughts and behaviour while building practical strategies that support mood and daily functioning.
Explore CBT →Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
Reconnect with values and meaningful action while learning a different relationship with difficult thoughts and feelings.
Explore ACT →EMDR Therapy
May help process experiences and beliefs that continue to contribute to hopelessness, shame or emotional distress.
Explore EMDR →IFS & Parts Work
Approach self-critical, withdrawn or protective parts with curiosity and greater internal compassion.
Explore Parts Work →DBT-Informed Skills
Develop mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance and interpersonal effectiveness.
Explore DBT →Art and Body-Based Therapy
Use creative or somatic pathways when words feel limited, energy is low or emotion is difficult to access.
Explore Art Therapy →
Questions about depression therapy.
No. You can seek therapy for low mood, exhaustion, disconnection, hopelessness or loss of interest whether or not you have received a diagnosis.
Tell your clinician. Therapy should be adjusted to your current capacity. The work can begin with very small, collaborative steps rather than adding another source of pressure.
Yes. Depression may develop alongside loss, traumatic experiences, chronic stress or relationship injuries. Treatment can address mood while also working carefully with the experiences beneath it.
Yes. Psychotherapy can be used alongside medication. Questions about medication, side effects or changes should be discussed with a physician, nurse practitioner or other qualified prescriber.
Use TGI’s therapist-matching tool or review the team page to compare approaches, age ranges, fees, appointment formats, languages and professional designations.