Understanding and managing one’s emotions is not an easy task for anyone. It’s especially difficult for those who experience mood disorder symptoms. There are several mental health conditions that can affect a person’s emotional well-being. Without treatment, a mood disorder, like depression, can impact your daily productivity, your relationships and your self-esteem.
Typically, the primary course of action for treating mood disorders is psychotherapy. Medication may also be prescribed for severe symptoms that a person has trouble managing on a daily basis. Psychotherapy can be an effective way to address and reduce mood disorder symptoms, particularly through evidence-based therapy techniques.
Read on to learn about the ins and outs of therapy techniques for treating mood disorders, specifically major depressive disorder. You can learn what to expect from treatment and how you can benefit from different approaches. You can also look forward to the progress that you can make at Guidelight.
4 therapy techniques that can help treat mood disorders, specifically major depressive disorder
More than 21% of U.S. adults are expected to experience mood disorder symptoms at some point in their life. Whether you’ve had a long-term diagnosis or the symptoms are recent due to stress or trauma, treatment can improve your mental health.
Treating mood disorders means providing clients with the insight and tools they need to reduce the impact of negative thoughts, feelings and behaviors on their everyday life. With therapy techniques that have been backed by research and data, your therapist can help you move along your mental health journey.
Treatment plans for major depressive disorder often include a mix of techniques to explore the disorder from every angle.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most studied therapy techniques. Many researchers calling it the “gold standard” of psychotherapy. It has been shown to improve depressive symptoms and the mania severity of bipolar affective disorder.
Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on the connection between a person’s thoughts, emotions and behaviors. The goal is to change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors to reduce negative emotions. It works to develop more positive patterns of thinking. Clients also develop coping strategies for negative thoughts to reduce the power of those thoughts.
Behavioral activation
Depression can impact the motivation and energy needed for routines and enjoyable past times. Behavioral activation (BA) is an approach that can help people reduce their focus on negative thoughts and feelings through activities. The activities are meant to counteract symptoms with positive emotions.
Behavioral activation is an action-focused therapeutic approach for treating depression. It’s meant to reduce the negative symptoms that come from depression, such as avoidant behaviors. It’s meant to help you focus on activities that provide:
- Feelings of joy or contentment
- A sense of accomplishment
- Value or contribution to your goals, such as learning a new skill
- Interpersonal therapy
Interpersonal therapy, sometimes known as IPT, is a short-term approach to treating depression. It usually takes between 12-16 weeks to complete. It focuses on how your relationships with others contribute to depression. It also takes a look at how interpersonal situations, such as a new marriage or grief, are impacting your depression.
Interpersonal therapy involves exploring the interpersonal conflicts that are currently contributing to symptoms. such as social isolation and overwhelming feelings of hopelessness. The goal is to improve the quality of relationships. This may include communication skills, problem-solving and setting boundaries.
Cognitive therapy
Cognitive therapy isn’t the same as cognitive behavioral therapy. It focuses solely on adjusting your negative thought patterns. It doesn’t involve looking at their connection to behaviors. Cognitive therapy helps people with depression recognize and challenge unhelpful negative thought patterns. Those patterns can lead to negative emotions.
Cognitive therapy involves questioning the reality of negative thoughts. You learn to reframe them in a way that brings more positive emotions. It helps to break the cycle of negative thought patterns that contribute to depression. These patterns often include self-doubt or jumping to conclusions.
Medication management is also a common treatment measure for treating bipolar affective disorder.
Guidelight uses evidence-based therapy techniques to treat mood disorders
We treat the full spectrum of mood disorders, including bipolar affective disorder and complicated grief. Treatment for mood disorders can be approached in a variety of ways. It’s important to focus on techniques that have been proven to be effective by experts. At Guidelight, we treat our clients with evidence-based techniques, such as CBT, while still personalizing these techniques to each person’s symptoms, challenges and goals.
Everyone has a seat at Guidelight. Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial evaluation. Our compassionate team is here for you every step of the way.