Anxiety & Depression

This page explores how anxiety and depression emerge as natural responses to the challenges of being human—and how therapy can help transform them into opportunities for growth and self-understanding.

One Mind, Two Sides

Anxiety and depression can be seen as opposites. Anxiety can feel charged, like a force of energy and tension. Depression, on the other hand, can feel heavy, as if being weighed down with no clear way out. Both anxiety and depression emerge from the same source—how we meet life’s challenges. From an existential perspective, anxiety and depression are not disorders to be fixed, but expressions of our struggle to relate meaningfully to the world and to ourselves. 

Anxiety is the body’s way of preparing us to meet uncertainty. Depression, on the other hand, pulls us inward, conserving energy and causing us to withdraw. These two feelings are intelligent adaptations to existence itself. The work of therapy begins by honoring and exploring what you’re experiencing in the here-and-now. With time and care, distress can transform into a guide, pointing you toward what requires attention and support to heal. 

The Nature of Anxiety: Freedom and Uncertainty

At its root, anxiety reflects our relationship to freedom. We know intuitively that every decision we make, no matter how small, carries weight. Our freedom can be life-affirming but deeply challenging. Every choice we make asks us to confront the truth that nothing is guaranteed. 

In therapy, we create space for anxiety—to sit with it, understand it, and allow it to be fully known. Through this process, we begin to make new choices and relate differently to uncertainty. Over time, anxiety can shift into something that guides us—less an enemy, and more a companion that, in the right moments, deepens and enriches life. 

The Nature of Depression: When Meaning Collapses

Depression can emerge when the structures of meaning that once guided our lives begin to fall apart. The world may start to feel distant or empty. The things that once brought joy may no longer move us. From an existential perspective, depression represents a crisis of meaning—a loss of connection to purpose, vitality, or belonging. 

Sometimes depression follows grief, a traumatic loss, exhaustion, or another major life event. Other times, it develops slowly, like an unattended fire that eventually burns out, leaving what once felt important hidden in the dark. Depression can be understood as the psyche’s attempt to protect itself when meaning feels uncertain or lost. 

Therapy offers a space to explore your struggle with meaning. Together, we search for the threads that remain—traces of curiosity, longing, or tenderness. Over time, the work is not only about easing painful symptoms, but about re-engaging life with greater authenticity and presence.