By Jonathan Decker, Clinical Director, LMFT THE WEIGHT OF DEPRESSION Could you eat a bowl of cereal? Of course you can, it's so easy! Now imagine that I've strapped heavy weights to your arms. Could you still do it? If the weight were heavy enough, how long would it take before your arms started shaking and you gave up in exhaustion? In this scenario, no one would say that a person is weak because ...[Read More]
Why Depression Makes Easy Tasks Difficult (& How to Fight It)
Is Guilt Healthy or Harmful?
By Jonathan Decker, Clinical Director, LMFT In my observation there are two schools of thought about guilt. The first is that it's a healthy emotion that inspires us to change our behavior, while the second argues that guilt contributes to feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness that impede our growth. So is guilt healthy or harmful? The truth is, it can be either. Like fire, guilt can be benef ...[Read More]
The Hidden Ways Refusing to Grieve Can Hurt You
By Jonathan Decker, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist It was definitely one of the stranger approaches I've ever tried in therapy. The woman in front of me (story shared with her permission) was struggling with the death of her husband several months earlier. Like so many widows, she tried to cope by immersing herself in child-rearing and work commitments, staying busy so that she hadn't the ...[Read More]