Serving MD, NY & NJ
Depression and Grief Therapy
Virtual psychoanalytic therapy for depression, loss, melancholia, and mourning in Maryland, New York, and New Jersey.
When life feels heavy, distant, or hard to move through.
Depression can make it feel as though the world around you does not exist. Everything may feel heavy, far away, or difficult to care about. Getting out of bed—or honestly, doing almost anything—can feel like a feat.
You may feel sad, empty, hopeless, numb, exhausted, irritable, disconnected from other people, or unable to enjoy things that once mattered to you. You may be functioning on the outside while feeling as though something inside you has gone quiet.
Depression can also bring shame. You may wonder why you cannot just “snap out of it,” feel guilty for struggling, or believe that other people have it worse. But depression is not a personal failure, and you do not need to carry it alone.
What is Depression?
Depression does not look the same for everyone. For some people, it is a familiar sadness or heaviness. For others, it looks more like emptiness, withdrawal, anger, exhaustion, self-criticism, or a loss of interest in life.
Sometimes depression develops after an obvious loss, change, or painful event. Other times, it can feel as though it has arrived without a clear reason. In psychoanalytic psychotherapy, we can become curious about what may be happening beneath the surface—what the depression may be expressing, protecting, or making difficult to feel.
This does not mean that depression is something you are choosing or that you should simply think your way out of it. It means that your experience deserves care, attention, and understanding.
Processing Loss
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Sometimes depression is not connected to one obvious loss. It can arise when something has shifted internally—when the person you used to be, the life you expected, or the ways you once understood yourself no longer feel available to you.
You may be grieving a version of yourself without fully realizing it. You may miss the person you once were, the person you thought you would become, or even the people and relationships you believed you knew. This kind of internal mourning can leave behind a sense of emptiness, sadness, disconnection, or a void that feels hard to explain.
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Melancholia is a term used to describe a deep, inward kind of sadness that can develop when a loss feels hard to name, acknowledge, or mourn. The loss may be external—a person, relationship, role, or future you imagined—or internal, such as a version of yourself you no longer recognize.
Rather than feeling grief only toward what has been lost, the pain can turn inward and shape how you experience yourself. You may feel empty, intensely self-critical, ashamed, undeserving, or as though something is fundamentally wrong with you.
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Mourning is the slow and often uneven process of acknowledging and making room for a loss. It does not mean forgetting or simply “moving on.” Grief can come in waves: at times clear and recognizable, and at other times more visceral—a heaviness, emptiness, ache, or sense of disconnection that may not yet have words. This process can follow an external loss, such as a person or relationship, as well as an internal or idealized loss, such as a version of yourself, a hoped-for future, or an imagined life. Mourning means finding a way to carry what has been lost with more understanding and less isolation.
Part of life is learning to allow ourselves to mourn.
Yet mourning is not always recognized in our culture as valuable or productive. It can feel painful, slow, and lonely—especially when it seems like everyone else has moved on, or when you feel you have to carry the loss by yourself. But making room for grief can be an important part of growth and maturity—not because the loss was good or needed to happen, but because you can begin to understand its meaning and carry it differently.
In therapy, I will not rush you to move on. Together, we can make room to think about what has changed, what has been lost, and how these experiences may be living within you.
In psychoanalytic treatment, mourning is not a detour from the work; it is often an important part of it. Making room for what has been lost—and for the feelings, memories, and meanings connected to it—can help you relate to yourself and your life with greater honesty, depth, and freedom.
How Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy can help
Understand the sadness, heaviness, emptiness, or numbness you may be carrying
Explore what may be contributing to your depression beneath the surface
Make room for grief, anger, disappointment, and other feelings that may have been difficult to acknowledge
Notice patterns of self-criticism, withdrawal, or hopelessness with more compassion
Understand how past relationships and experiences may be shaping your present life
Feel more connected to yourself, your relationships, and the things that matter to you
Develop a more sustainable sense of hope, steadiness, and possibility
We will not focus only on feeling better as quickly as possible. We will also make room to understand what your depression may be communicating and what you need in order to feel more alive in your life.
Is This the Right Fit for You?
This may be for you if
This work tends to be a good fit if sadness, emptiness, or hopelessness feels persistent, or daily life feels exhausting in a way that's hard to explain. Maybe you've lost interest in people, work, or things you used to care about, or you're struggling with self-criticism, shame, or a sense that something is wrong with you. You might be grieving something you can't fully name — a loss, a transition, a version of yourself — and you're ready to understand your depression more deeply, rather than push it away.
You do not have to be able to explain your depression perfectly before reaching out. We can begin with what feels most present now.
This may not be the fit right now if
This approach may not be the best fit if you're looking for brief, highly structured treatment focused only on immediate symptom reduction. It may also not provide the level of support you need if you're in immediate danger, unable to keep yourself safe, or need a more intensive level of care than outpatient therapy can offer.
That doesn't mean you're beyond help — it simply means we may need to think carefully about what kind of support is most appropriate for you right now.
What Sessions Are Like?
Our work will be collaborative, thoughtful, and paced with care. I will listen closely, ask questions, and help you make connections between your present experience, your relationships, and the parts of your story that may still need attention.
Psychotherapy is not about forcing positivity or asking you to “snap out of it.” It is a space where you can bring the heaviness, uncertainty, anger, sadness, and pain that may be difficult to carry alone.
Over time, becoming more curious about your inner life can create room for more self-understanding, connection, and choice.
Virtual Depression Therapy
CURRENTLY OFFERING
Virtual psychoanalytic psychotherapy to adults located in Maryland, New York, and New Jersey.
COMING SOON
In-person psychoanalytic psychotherapy in Rockville and Montgomery County, Maryland
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Virtual psychoanalytic psychotherapy in Washington, DC.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between depression and grief?
Grief usually has a clear connection to a specific loss, while depression can feel more diffuse — heaviness or emptiness without an obvious cause. But the two often overlap: unrecognized or unprocessed grief can show up as depression, especially when the loss is hard to name.
What does "mourning" mean if I haven't lost a specific person?
Mourning doesn't require an external loss like a death. You can mourn a version of yourself, a future you expected, or a way of understanding your life that no longer feels available — this kind of internal loss is just as real and just as worth making room for.
Is it normal to still feel depressed even when nothing bad has happened recently?
Yes. Depression doesn't always follow an obvious event — sometimes it develops without a clear reason you can point to. This work helps make sense of what may be happening beneath the surface, even without an obvious trigger.
Will therapy focus on making me feel better quickly, or understanding why I feel this way?
Both matter, but this work doesn't rush toward feeling better at the expense of understanding what your depression is communicating. Lasting change tends to come from making room for what's underneath, not just managing symptoms as fast as possible.
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Take back your power today by scheduling a free 15 minute consultation phone call.
