There are so many different types of mental health issues that a person can develop. But therapy is not a one-size-fits-all process. It’s important to find the therapy approach that works best for you to ensure that you’re getting the most effective results out of your sessions.

When your major depressive disorder symptoms are interfering with your quality of life, therapy should be one of the first treatment options you explore. Many therapy approaches focus on your diagnosis as opposed to your overall well-being. But process-based therapy is different. 

Read on to learn about the basics of major depressive disorder and the benefits of therapy for depression. Then you’ll learn why process-based therapy should be your first choice.

The basics of major depressive disorder

One of the most prevalent mental health issues in America is major depressive disorder, commonly known as depression. It affects about 17.1% of adults in the U.S. This mood disorder is characterized by an overwhelming sense of sadness and hopelessness. 

Depression can make it difficult to complete your day-to-day responsibilities. It can also be hard to maintain healthy relationships with your family, friends, significant others and co-workers.

The symptoms of depression include:

• Consistently feeling sadness, malaise and lethargy
• Lack of motivation
• Low energy levels
• Disinterest in activities
• Change in sleeping patterns
• Anxiety
• Self-harm behaviors
• Suicidality

For a formal diagnosis of depression, you must experience the symptoms for at least two weeks.

The benefits of using therapy to treat major depressive disorder

The two major pillars of treatment for mental health issues like major depressive disorder are therapy and medication. Psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy, allows you to discuss your emotions and behaviors that stem from your disorder.

The goal of therapy for major depressive disorder is to alleviate your symptoms by understanding the root behind your thoughts, emotions and behavior and determining the best ways to deal with them.

The benefits of major depressive disorder therapy include: 

• Examining your problems from a different perspective
• Alleviating stress and anxiety
• Finding effective coping strategies
• Increasing self-awareness
• Learning how to manage medication side effects

Why process-based therapy is one of the top major depressive disorder therapies

You may think that therapy for mental health is just talking about your problems and emotions. And while that’s the basis of the treatment, there are different approaches and techniques that a therapist will utilize based on your specific needs and depression symptoms. One of the most effective depressive disorder therapies that you can explore is process-based therapy.

Process-based therapy (PBT) is a holistic clinical model that’s personalized to your mental health to treat your entire well-being, not just your diagnosis. It helps you tackle your depression from every angle by seeing how different factors of your mental and emotional health interact with one another to contribute to your depression. Your therapist is able to get a comprehensive outlook on your overall mental health and track your progress over time.

The PBT clinical model treats you as a person who’s more than your mental health disorder. It centers on a personalized treatment plan that examines every facet of your mental health using integrated interventions, including:

• Motivational enhancement
• Arousal reduction
• Family intervention
• Values clarification
• Working with thoughts

Process-based therapy takes you through integrated interventions that are backed by clinical data and come from evidence-based psychotherapies. They allow you to alleviate your depression symptoms that stem from:

• Emotion dysregulation and avoidance
• Shame and cognitive fusion
• Meaningless and alienation
• Interpersonal conflict and disconnection

Lightfully Behavioral Health provides PBT for major depressive disorder 

Depression can interfere with your quality of life and make it difficult to have a healthy, fulfilling future. But by exploring major depressive disorder therapies like process-based therapy, you can learn how to not only alleviate your depression symptoms but keep them from recurring. Process-based therapy can help you see how your mental health and overall well-being go further than your depression. That’s where we come in.

You can find treatment for major depressive disorder in our four programs: Residential Treatment, Virtual Intensive Outpatient Program (vIOP), Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), and Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP), also called our Day Treatment Program.

It’s important to realize that change is possible. When you’re ready to learn why PBT is one of the best major depressive disorder therapies, reach out to our Admissions Concierge Team. We’ll take the next steps together, toward the fullest, brightest version of you.