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Therapy to Alleviate Depression

Transform Your Relationship with Depression Through Integrative Therapy

Depression touches every aspect of life, your relationships, your work, your sense of self. It doesn't care about your achievements or status; it can affect anyone navigating the complexities of modern life. As someone who's experienced the intensity of corporate environments, the challenges of motherhood, and the delicate balance of marriage and family life, I understand depression's many faces. In my practice, I offer a transformative approach to depression therapy that honors the full complexity of your experience, biological, psychological, and social.

Understanding Depression's Impact on Your Life 

Depression manifests uniquely for each person. Perhaps you're feeling disconnected from your partner despite loving them deeply. Maybe you're successful on paper but feel empty inside. You might be preparing for marriage while carrying unresolved emotional weight. Or you're simply tired of feeling stuck in patterns that no longer serve you.

These experiences aren't character flaws or weaknesses, they're human responses to life's challenges. In my practice, I work with individuals and couples in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who are ready for transformative change, moving beyond symptom management to create genuine healing.

How Depression Shows Up in Daily Life

Depression intertwines with many aspects of mental health, often appearing alongside anxiety, panic attacks, and chronic stress. Common experiences include:
 

  • Persistent sadness and grief that won't lift

  • Exhaustion that sleep doesn't resolve

  • Panic attacks that strike without warning

  • Work stress and burnout affecting your wellbeing

  • Self-esteem problems impacting relationships

  • Disconnection from activities you once enjoyed

  • Mental fog affecting decision-making

  • Physical tension from unprocessed trauma

  • Feeling like you're going through the motions

  • Lack of motivation even to do things you used to enjoy

  • Feeling like life is meaningless
     

Depression often hides behind a functional exterior. You might maintain your responsibilities while struggling internally, a painful disconnect I help bridge through integrative therapy.

My Integrative Approach to Depression Treatment

I view therapy as an integrative and holistic process grounded in a biopsychosocial approach. Your wellbeing emerges from the dynamic interplay between your biology (nervous system and physical health), your psychology (thoughts, emotions, beliefs), and your social world (relationships, environment, culture).
Therapy isn't just about what we say or feel, it considers how your system responds to stress, how the body holds memory, and how daily habits and surroundings support or hinder healing. I draw from the science of how the mind, body, and nervous system work together to shape behaviors and relationships.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy

Through Internal Family Systems, I help you understand that various parts of yourself may be protecting you from overwhelming experiences. Depression often represents these protective responses. Rather than fighting these parts, we work to understand their positive intentions and help them release their extreme roles.

In our first session, we begin parts mapping, creating a clear picture of your internal system and taking your history. You'll discover how different parts of you developed to navigate life's challenges. This approach brings compassion to your struggles, recognizing that even difficult symptoms have been attempts at self-protection.

Between sessions, you'll practice experiential meditation and mindfulness techniques designed to maintain connection with your core Self, the calm, curious, compassionate essence that remains steady even amid depression.
 

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Relational Life Therapy (RLT)

Depression rarely exists in a vacuum, it profoundly affects and is affected by our closest relationships. Through Relational Life Therapy, I help individuals and couples understand how depression creates relational patterns that perpetuate suffering. When one partner experiences depression, it often triggers a cycle where the depressed partner withdraws while the other pursues or over-functions, leaving both feeling alone and misunderstood.

RLT specifically addresses how depression distorts our ability to connect authentically. Depression tells us we're burdens, that we're unlovable, that isolation is safer than vulnerability. Having witnessed how depression impacts marriages and partnerships through both personal and professional experience, I help couples recognize these patterns not as relationship failures but as depression's influence on their dynamic. We work on staying relationally present even when depression urges disconnection, building skills to support each other without losing yourselves in the process.
 

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT offers a powerful framework for anyone feeling stuck between who they are and who they want to be. Instead of trying to eliminate difficult feelings, we focus on building a meaningful life that includes the full spectrum of human experience.

Together, we identify your core values, what truly matters beyond external expectations. We explore how depression, anxiety, or self-esteem problems have pulled you from these values and develop strategies for re-engagement. You'll develop psychological flexibility, the ability to hold both struggle and vitality while moving toward what matters most.

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Perinatal Mental Health Support

For those navigating pregnancy, postpartum, and early parenthood, I offer specialized perinatal mental health support. Having experienced motherhood while managing multiple life demands, I understand the profound shifts this transition brings. We address the complex emotions, identity changes, and relationship dynamics that emerge during this transformative time.

Comprehensive Treatment for Interconnected Challenges

My practice addresses the interconnected nature of mental health. Whether you're experiencing:
 

  • Depression and persistent sadness that clouds your days

  • Anxiety and panic attacks disrupting your peace

  • Work stress and burnout affecting your wellbeing

  • Relationship challenges straining your connections

  • Self-esteem problems limiting your potential

  • Grief and loss needing witness and processing

  • Trauma held in both mind and body
     

I tailor our approach to address these interrelated experiences, recognizing that depression rarely exists in isolation.

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What Makes My Practice Different

My diverse life experience, from corporate environments to motherhood, from witnessing startup life to navigating marriage, allows me to understand various life contexts. I speak the language of different struggles, whether you're dealing with work pressures, relationship dynamics, or life transitions.

I help clients make sense of their inner world while focusing on what creates real-life change, how you sleep, move, eat, connect, set boundaries, and manage stress. I'm interested in what helps therapy land: the rituals, relationships, and rhythms that build resilience from the inside out.

This isn't just talk therapy, it's about rewiring, re-patterning, and reimagining how you move through the world in a way that feels more connected, grounded, and true.
 

Your Journey with sitwithshabs

Getting Started

Your journey begins with a free 15-minute consultation where we explore whether we're the right fit. My Client Care Coordinator, Mei, ensures a clear onboarding process, handling practical details so you can focus on your healing.

First Session Experience

Our first session is comprehensive and experiential. We engage in:
 

  • Goal setting to clarify your therapeutic journey

  • Parts mapping and history taking to understand your story

  • Experiential meditation introduction

  • Mindfulness practices you'll use between sessions
     

You'll leave with practical tools, not just insights.

Ongoing Support Structure

As we work together, you'll receive:
 

  • WhatsApp access for scheduling and scheduling-related questions

  • Session reminders to maintain consistency

  • Mindfulness practices personalized for your journey between sessions

  • Structured support that honors both boundaries and connection
     

For selected clients completing trauma-related work, additional support may be available when needed, ensuring you feel held through significant therapeutic processes.

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Intensive Therapy Options

For those ready for accelerated transformation, I offer intensive therapy sessions. These extended sessions allow for profound work that might otherwise take months. Intensives are particularly effective for:
 

  • Processing specific traumatic experiences

  • Working through relationship impasses

  • Creating breakthrough moments when feeling stuck

  • Deepening therapeutic work in concentrated time


Who Benefits Most from My Approach

My practice resonates with individuals and couples who are:
 

  • Seeking transformative change rather than quick fixes

  • Ready to explore the deeper roots of their struggles

  • Navigating significant life transitions

  • Preparing for or working on marriage

  • Dealing with the aftermath of trauma

  • Experiencing disconnection in relationships

  • Feeling stuck despite trying various approaches

  • Wanting to build a life aligned with their values
     

Whether you're in your 20s figuring out your path, in your 30s navigating partnership and family, or in your 40s seeking deeper meaning, my approach meets you where you are.

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Creating Sustainable Transformation

Real healing from depression means creating a more authentic, sustainable life. Together, we'll explore what fulfillment means for you, how to honor both your needs and boundaries, and what a life that energizes rather than depletes you looks like.

This work requires courage, to feel difficult emotions rather than avoiding them, to set boundaries even when it's uncomfortable, to prioritize your wellbeing as an act of self-respect. I provide a safe, non-judgmental space for this exploration, grounded in both professional expertise and personal understanding.

Flexible Session Options

I offer both online and in-person sessions to accommodate your needs. For clients in Singapore, Dubai, and in San Francisco, I provide online sessions that offer the same depth and effectiveness as in-person work.

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Begin Your Transformation Today

Depression tells you things won't change, that you're stuck, that the weight won't lift. My experience, both professional and personal, shows otherwise. I've witnessed remarkable transformations: individuals rediscovering joy after years of numbness, couples rebuilding intimacy after near separation, people finding peace after processing long-held trauma.

Seeking support isn't weakness, it's an investment in your most important relationship: the one with yourself. It's choosing transformation over stagnation, connection over isolation, authenticity over performance.
Ready to begin your journey? Contact me today for your free 15-minute consultation. Together, we'll create a path toward a life that feels more connected, grounded, and true.
 

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