depression Therapy
For When the Weight Won't Lift
Depression is rarely just sadness. It's the flatness where feeling used to be. The exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix. The voice that says this is just how things are, or that you don't quite deserve more. It's functioning on the outside while something essential has gone quiet on the inside.
I work with depression not as a diagnosis to be managed but as something worth understanding. Healing isn't a straight line, and it's almost never just about your thoughts. I work with the whole person: mind, body, and the deeper currents underneath.
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What Depression Often Looks Like
Depression doesn't always announce itself clearly. It can look like irritability, disconnection, or a pervasive sense that nothing matters quite enough to bother with. It can look like going through the motions of a life that appears fine from the outside while something is missing on the inside.
For many people, depression carries a harsh inner critic alongside it. The voice that turns the struggle into evidence of inadequacy. That layer is often as painful as the depression itself, and it's one I pay particular attention to. I especially enjoy working with clients who have strong inner critics and are ready to trade self-judgment for genuine self-compassion and agency.
Whatever form it takes for you, depression almost always involves a disconnection, from yourself, from what matters, from the sense that things could be different. That disconnection is where the work begins.
Why Depression Often Doesn't Shift With Coping Skills Alone
Most approaches to depression focus on changing thought patterns or building better habits. Those things matter. But for many people, especially those with depression rooted in relational history, unprocessed loss, or a longer pattern of self-abandonment, surface-level strategies don't reach far enough.
Depression that keeps returning isn't a failure of willpower. It's usually a signal that something deeper hasn't been addressed. A grief that was never fully felt. A self that was shaped around others' needs. A nervous system that learned early to shut down rather than feel.
My goal isn't just to help you cope. It's to help you become who you're actually capable of being.
How I Work With Depression
I don't work from a fixed protocol. I stay curious about what this particular depression is about for you, what it's protecting, and what it would mean to move through it rather than manage it.
My work draws from EMDR, somatic and sensorimotor therapy, DBT, CBT, Gestalt, Existential therapy, mindfulness, and the Enneagram, woven together based on what you need. When depression lives in the body, we work with it there. When it's rooted in specific experiences that haven't been processed, I draw from EMDR. When it's connected to meaning or identity, we make space for those questions rather than trying to resolve them quickly.
The Enneagram often becomes relevant too, particularly when depression is entangled with a harsh inner critic or deeply ingrained patterns of self-judgment. I find it one of the most precise tools for understanding why those patterns formed and what it takes to shift them.
What Our Sessions Together Look Like
We slow down. That's usually the first thing. Depression often comes with a pressure to fix it quickly, to get back to functioning. I'm not interested in rushing. I'm interested in understanding what's actually happening for you.
I bring somatic awareness into sessions because the body holds what the mind hasn't fully processed. The heaviness, the low energy, the places where you've gone flat, those are information. We work with them directly rather than talking around them.
Naropa inspired me to slow down, stay curious, and trust that real change runs deeper than symptom management. That's the orientation I bring into every session. Not a technique applied to a symptom, but genuine presence with what's actually true for you.
depression Therapy
This might be right for you if...
You've been managing depression for a long time and are ready to actually move through it
You function well on the outside but something essential has gone quiet inside
Your depression comes with a harsh inner critic that turns the struggle into evidence of your inadequacy
You've tried medication or other therapy and something is still missing
The flatness or heaviness lives in your body as much as in your thoughts
Your depression feels connected to something deeper, a loss, a transition, a life that doesn't fit
You're ready to trade self-judgment for genuine self-compassion and agency
You want a therapist who will stay curious about you rather than move quickly to fix you
Training and Approach
Depression work demands more than cognitive tools. It requires the ability to work with the body, the inner critic, and the deeper patterns underneath, and that's exactly what my training was built for. My Master's from Naropa University in Clinical and Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling gave me a foundation in presence and depth-oriented work that shapes how I approach depression at its root rather than its surface.
My certification in EMDR (Maiberger Institute) gives me tools for when depression is rooted in specific experiences that haven't been processed. My certifications in Somatic Psychotherapy and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy for Trauma address the physical dimension of depression, the heaviness, the shutdown, the places where the system has gone flat. And my Existential Psychotherapy certification gives me grounding in the meaning and identity questions that depression so often carries underneath it.
Sessions and Pricing
I'm private pay only, which means our work is never shaped by insurance timelines or approval requirements. Sessions are $140 for 50 to 55 minutes. A free 15-minute consultation is available before any commitment.
start with a free 15 minute consultation
You don't need to have it figured out before you contact me. The first step is simply a conversation, and I'd be honored to be part of what comes next for you.
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Research supports several approaches, including CBT, DBT, EMDR, and somatic therapy. In my practice I don't apply a single method. I draw from whichever approaches fit what this particular depression is about for you. For depression rooted in relational history or unprocessed experience, depth-oriented and body-based work often reaches places that cognitive approaches alone don't.
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If something has gone quiet inside you, if you've been going through the motions, if the inner critic has gotten louder, or if you've been managing for a long time without things actually shifting, that's enough. You don't need to be in crisis to deserve support. Reaching out when things feel flat is not weakness. It's the harder, braver choice.
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Yes. Therapy and medication address depression through different pathways and often work well together. Medication can reduce the intensity of symptoms and create more space for the deeper work to take hold. Many of my clients work with both, and I'm happy to collaborate with prescribing providers when that's relevant.
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Sessions run 50 to 55 minutes and cost $140. I'm private pay only, which means the structure of our work stays entirely between us without third-party involvement. A free 15-minute consultation is available before any commitment.
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You can reach me by calling (720) 663-0334, emailing jacqui@pathofpurpose.org, or booking a free 15-minute consultation through the website. Path of Purpose is located at 1895 Bluff Street, Boulder, CO 80304. Telehealth sessions are available for Colorado residents throughout the state.