Depression Treatment
Cincinnati, Ohio
Don’t let depression hold you back. Our team of doctoral-level therapists offer the highest standard of care.
You don't have to keep pretending you're fine.
Depression isn't sadness. It's the heaviness that makes getting out of bed feel impossible. It's the flatness where joy used to be. It's going through the motions while feeling completely disconnected from your own life.
Maybe you're still showing up—at work, for your family, in your relationships—but inside, you're barely holding it together. Or maybe you've stopped being able to keep up the facade at all.
You've probably been told to exercise more, get outside, practice gratitude. And maybe you've tried. But depression doesn't respond to self-help advice when your brain chemistry is working against you.
Here's the truth: Depression is not a personal failing. And you don't have to white-knuckle your way through it alone.
Depression Therapy That Actually Helps
At Hello Mental Health, we treat depression with the seriousness it deserves. This isn't about toxic positivity or telling you to look on the bright side. It's about understanding what's happening in your brain and body—and giving you the tools and support to find your way back. Depression is often deepened by systemic factors: economic hardship, discrimination, lack of access to resources, or chronic stress from navigating oppressive systems. We recognize these realities and create space to address both the biological and social dimensions of your depression.
Our licensed psychologists use evidence-based approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and mindfulness-based interventions. We also coordinate with prescribers when medication might help, because sometimes therapy and medication together work better than either alone.
We work with adults who:
Have been managing for a long time but can't do it anymore
Know something needs to change but don't know where to start
Want to understand the deeper patterns, not just get through the day
Are tired of people who don't understand telling them to "just try harder”
Common symptoms of Depression
Persistent sadness, emptiness, or numbness
Loss of interest in things that used to matter
Exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix
Changes in appetite or weight
Sleeping too much or not being able to sleep at all
Feeling worthless, guilty, or like a burden
Trouble concentrating or making decisions
Thoughts of death or suicide
Physical pain with no clear cause
Types of Depression We Treat
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Major depression, or clinical depression, has intense or overwhelming symptoms that last longer than two weeks. When you have major depression it you feel quite different from your “normal.” Some people are able to “hide it” and keep up with most the demands of life outside of the home. For others it feels nearly impossible to function.
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Also called dysthymia. Often includes less severe symptoms of depression that last much longer, typically for at least two years.
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Perinatal depression can occur during pregnancy and up to one year after having a baby. Postpartum depression goes beyond the “baby blues,” which can include sadness, worry or stress and can cause difficulty bonding with your baby and functioning in every day life.
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Otherwise known as SAD is a depressive disorder that coincides with the seasons. It most commonly affects people in the Midwest in the winter months and typically starts in late fall and early winter and ends in early spring.
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People with bipolar disorder have noticeable periods of low moods and low energy, and high moods with high-energy. During the low period, you may have depression symptoms such as feeling sad or hopeless or lacking energy and motivation. During the manic or hypomanic episodes you may have excessive energy, feel “on top of the world” or irritable, and behave impulsively.
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Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or chronic stress. Though it is most often caused by problems at work, it can also appear in other areas of life, such as parenting, caretaking, or romantic relationships.
Depression is a medical condition, not a character flaw. It's not something you can think or will your way out of. It involves changes in brain chemistry, hormones, and neural pathways—and yes, therapy can help rewire those patterns.
Depression often has multiple causes: genetics, brain chemistry, stressful life events, trauma, chronic illness, major life transitions. Sometimes it shows up out of nowhere. Other times, you can trace it back to something specific. Either way, it's real, and it's not your fault.
The "snap out of it" myth:
People who haven't experienced depression don't understand that it's not a choice. You can't just decide to feel better. But you can get help that works. Most people with depression improve significantly with the right treatment—usually a combination of therapy and sometimes medication.
What Depression Actually Is
We start by believing you.
You're not being dramatic. You're not making it up. Depression is real, and we take it seriously.
We use approaches that work.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps you identify and change the thought patterns that keep you stuck. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy teaches you how to be present with difficult emotions while still taking action toward what matters. Mindfulness training helps you get out of your head and back into your life.
We help you understand the why.
What are the patterns? What are the triggers? What's underneath the depression? Understanding doesn't make it go away, but it gives you a map.
We coordinate care when needed.
Sometimes therapy alone isn't enough. If medication might help, we'll help you find a good prescriber and work collaboratively to support your treatment.
We meet you where you are.
If showing up to therapy is all you can manage right now, that's enough. We're not going to push you to do homework or "practice self-care" when you're barely surviving. We'll take it one step at a time.
How We Actually Help
Risk Factors of Depression
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Differences in certain chemicals in the brain may contribute to symptoms of depression.
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Depression can run in families. For example, if one identical twin has depression, the other has a 70 percent chance of having the illness sometime in life.
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People with low self-esteem, who are easily overwhelmed by stress, or who are generally pessimistic appear to be more likely to experience depression.
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Exposure to trauma, violence, neglect, abuse or poverty may make some people more vulnerable to depression.
What Makes Hello Mental Health Different
We're doctoral-level psychologists who've been doing this work for years. We're not fresh out of grad school, and we're not juggling 50 clients a week. We're a small practice where you'll actually get to know your therapist—and they'll get to know you.
We don't take insurance, which means we're not constrained by what insurance companies think you need or how many sessions they'll approve. We can do the work properly, at the pace that's right for you.
We understand that depression rarely exists in isolation. It's often tangled up with anxiety, trauma, ADHD, chronic stress, or life transitions. We're equipped to work with the whole picture, not just one diagnosis.
