Depression is an emotion that we have all felt from time to time. Usually these types of emotions come and go but sometimes they stay with us and get in the way of our everyday functioning. It is then that they become a problem for us.
One of the most difficult aspects about depression it is that it removes the very energy you would need to do something about it. If getting in touch has been on your list for weeks or months, that delay is a symptom of depression rather than a failing.
I am a BACP Registered and BACP Accredited counsellor and psychotherapist with a Masters degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy from the University of Leeds. I offer counselling for depression Leeds city centre (LS1). Sessions are a full hour, and I am currently accepting new clients with same-week appointments usually available.
To arrange a free, no-obligation ten-minute consultation, call or text 07921 101 505 or email tim@therapyuk.co.uk.
How depression actually presents
Most people expect depression to look like crying and staying in bed. Often it does not. A great many people who are seriously depressed continue going to work, answering emails and holding conversations, while experiencing almost nothing.
The more common experience includes:
• Flatness rather than sadness — a sense that the colour has drained out of things you used to enjoy
• Exhaustion that sleep does not touch, or sleeping far more or far less than usual
• A heaviness to ordinary tasks — showering, replying to a message, cooking a meal
• Loss of interest in food, sex, company, hobbies, plans
• Difficulty concentrating or making even small decisions
• Harsh self-criticism — an internal commentary you would never direct at anyone else
• Irritability — depression often presents as short-temperedness rather than low mood, particularly in men
• Physical symptoms — aches, headaches, digestive problems with no clear medical explanation
• A sense of being cut off from people, even in a room full of them
• Feeling that you are a burden, which then makes reaching out harder
Depression also lies convincingly. It presents its own conclusions — that nothing will help, that this is simply who you are, that other people have real problems — as though they were observations rather than symptoms.
Low mood, or depression?
Everyone has periods of feeling low, and low mood after a difficult event is a normal human response rather than an illness. The distinctions that matter are duration, pervasiveness and function.
Low mood tends to lift, responds to good things happening, and leaves your capacity broadly intact. Depression persists for weeks or months, dulls your response to good news as well as bad, and erodes your ability to function. You do not need a diagnosis to come to counselling, and you do not need to have decided which of these you are experiencing. Working that out can be part of the early sessions.
How counselling helps with depression
Counselling for depression is not someone encouraging you to look on the bright side. Depression is largely immune to encouragement, and being told to think positively when you cannot usually adds guilt to the existing weight.
What counselling offers is different:
A place where you do not have to perform. Many depressed people spend enormous energy managing how they appear to others. Somewhere you can stop doing that is itself a relief.
Making sense of how you arrived here. Depression often has a history — a loss, a prolonged period of stress, a relationship, a role that asked more of you than you had. Understanding the route in frequently reveals the route out.
Examining the internal commentary. Depression sustains itself through habits of thought: self-blame, all-or-nothing conclusions, discounting anything positive. These patterns become far easier to challenge once they have been named out loud.
Rebuilding activity gradually. Depression tells you to wait until you feel like doing something. In practice, motivation usually follows action rather than preceding it. We work out small, genuinely achievable steps — not a self-improvement programme you will fail at by Wednesday.
Reconnecting with what matters to you. Depression narrows life to survival. Part of recovery is remembering what you actually want from yours.
Recovery is rarely linear. Most people describe good days appearing before good weeks do. What tends to shift first is not mood but perspective — the sense that this is a state you are in rather than a fact about who you are.
If you are also seeing your GP
Many clients come to counselling while taking antidepressant medication prescribed by their GP, and the two work well together. Medication can lift mood enough to make the psychological work possible; counselling addresses what medication cannot, which is the meaning and context of what you have been through.
I cannot advise on prescriptions. Any decision to start, change or stop medication belongs with your GP, and I would always encourage you to have that conversation with them rather than acting alone.
Depression counselling in Leeds, York and online
My therapy room is in Leeds city centre (LS1), overlooking the Leeds–Liverpool Canal and the River Aire — quiet, private and straightforward to reach from across the city. I also see clients in York (YO41), and offer online counselling by video call across the UK.
Early morning and evening appointments are available, and same-week appointments are usually possible. There is no waiting list and no GP referral required.
Frequently asked questions about counselling for depression
I do not have the energy to commit to weekly sessions. Should I wait?
Waiting until you feel better before starting is one of depression’s more effective traps, because the improvement it asks you to wait for is exactly what treatment produces. If weekly feels like too much, we can start fortnightly. The commitment is deliberately light — there is no minimum number of sessions.
Can counselling help if I have been depressed for years?
Yes. Longstanding depression often has deeper roots and the work may take longer, but duration is not a barrier. Many clients have lived with it for years before seeking help.
What if I do not know why I feel this way?
That is very common and it is not an obstacle. Depression frequently arrives without an obvious trigger. Making sense of it is part of the work, not a prerequisite for starting.
How long does counselling for depression take?
There is no fixed answer. Most clients find around twelve sessions make a real difference, though this varies considerably. We review progress together as we go.
Getting in touch
Making contact takes more effort when you are depressed than it does at any other time, which is precisely why doing it counts for something.
Tim Arnott MA, BA (Hons), MBACP (Accred) — Registered and Accredited Counsellor & Psychotherapist
BACP registration number 353900
Call or text 07921 101 505, email tim@therapyuk.co.uk, or use the form below.