Treatment for Depression with Psychologists in Oslo

Psykologvirke offers treatment for depression with experienced professionals in downtown Oslo. We also offer online video therapy across the country.

On this page you can easily book an appointment online and read more about treatment for depression - and a central mechanism that can cause depression.

Our psychologists have many years of continued education and specialized competence in the treatment of depression.

We offer focused therapy sessions, goal-oriented practice and a research-based approach. We bring our entire selves and the best of psychological expertise to our clients. 

If you have already decided to give it a try, you can easily schedule psychological help for depression via our online booking system.

If you are still uncertain if you want to seek therapy, continue reading to learn more about what treatment for depression will look like with us.

Treatment for depression with a psychologist - what are the mechanisms?

The paths to depression are multiple, often complex and relatively common. Over the course of a lifetime around one out of four of us will be affected.

When you come to us for therapeutic help with depression, we attempt to identify the specific mechanisms that are driving your depressive symptoms. 

Then we can learn more about what is needed so we can give you the best, individually tailored treatment for depression.

In many cases, these mechanisms are completely or partially unconscious. Simply becoming aware is often helpful in itself.

Various methods for treatment of depression

There is no single method that helps everyone all the time - but there are various recommended methods for treatment of depression.

For example, intensive depth-therapy (ISTDP), cognitive therapy or psychodynamic therapy. You can learn more about ISTDP. Sometimes can even couples therapy be helpful if one of the parties is struggling with depression.

The deciding factor for a successful treatment of depression is that we work in a way that is meaningful to you.

Our professional assessments will form a starting point and then we will continue to evaluate and adjust accordingly.

Treatment of depression - safety and challenge

We place great value in creating a foundation of trust and safety and of being open and forthright about what we are thinking and doing at any given time.  

Working within this kind of framework allows one to best step away from conscious and unconscious patterns that may underlie a depressive disorder.

We will support you but also challenge the mechanisms in your psyche that are holding you back.

Does treatment for depression help?

The prognosis for treatment of depression is relatively good.

We are committed to not only alleviating your symptoms of depression but also to help you conquer all the oppressive and life-limiting inner forces that might be at play, so you can freely grow and become the person you were meant to be.

You can read more concerning our understanding of the development of psychological ailments and how psychotherapy with a psychologist can help. 

Since therapy is scientifically proven to help some people, it is only reasonable to give it a try. If you have several treatment attempts behind you, you should know that we have specialized expertise with complex conditions.

There is only one way to find out if therapy for depression with a psychologist is something for you. With us you will quickly learn if therapy can help you.

Our online booking system is very simple. It takes two minutes to schedule an appointment and you can get started with therapy already within a few hours or days.

If you are still in doubt, continue reading for a more in-depth description of what depression is, its characteristics, typical mechanisms and some of the most important things you can do for yourself.

What is depression?

What we call depression is first and foremost a construction. That is, it is an expression that is constructed by a group of professionals in an attempt to describe a set of symptoms that often occur simultaneously.

It is not like a broken bone - it is not a concrete injury or a disease with a known cause.

Psychological disorders such as depression are more difficult to define. The boundaries between normality and “illness” are blurred and context dependent.

There is great deviation between the most serious conditions and those of a more moderate nature.

For the former it might make more sense to speak of disease/illness, while the latter may be more meaningful to speak of as a normal adaptation response.

Depression as an umbrella term

Not least of all because lifelong prevalence of depression is around 25%.

There is no reason to panic if you have received a diagnosis of depression. You are not alone, and your diagnosis does not reflect on you or your individual prognosis.

The personal state and people who leave their family physician, psychiatrist or psychologist’s office with a diagnosis of depression are very varied.

In our experience, this diagnostic label can be very liberally applied in some cases. Even if you have complex trauma problematics you can often receive depression as the only diagnosis.

Do you have a complicated grief reaction, anxious or avoidant traits in your personality, are you going through a tough transitionary period in your life - or perhaps you have chronic pain?

Chances are, regardless, relatively great that you will be lumped in under a diagnosis of depression.

In fact, depression is now the leading cause of disability worldwide.

This says a lot more about our diagnostic practices, the ambiguity of the categorization and the society we are living in rather than an explosive increase in the number of sick people in the world.

Diagnostic criteria for depressive disorder

At least if you are discussing the illness in the truest sense of the word. But in the manner in which the word is used today, everyone who meets a set of symptoms will meet the criteria for a diagnosis of depression.

The most important depression diagnoses

On the one hand there are light, moderate and severe (with or without psychotic symptoms) depressive episodes. The duration only needs to be 14 days of symptoms that cause lower functioning.

On the other hand, there are so called recurrent depressive disorders (if the aforementioned condition repeats several times), chronic mood disorders and/or dysthymia - all of which are less intense but more long lasting (at least two years).

The main symptoms are decreased mood, lack of interest and joylessness along with fatigue and lowered energy levels.

Accompanying symptoms are lowered self-esteem, feelings of guilt, thoughts of death or suicide, concentration difficulties, sleep difficulties, waking up early or hypersomnia, irritability and restlessness and/or decreased reactivity and change in appetite.

A mild depressive episode diagnosis can be given with two of the main symptoms along with two accompanying symptoms. For moderate depression, two main symptoms plus four accompanying are needed, while severe depression requires two main symptoms and five accompanying ones.

It is as if one sees a myriad of partially conflicting symptoms that fall under this term, and that there are a sky-high number of symptom combinations that all can lead to this diagnosis.

Prognosis for depression

The majority of depressive episodes will pass on their own after some months.

But many people also experience one again later in life while others can experience them repeatedly.

If you are considering therapy with a psychologist for depression, it is very likely that is because the condition has been reoccurring or that the acute phase feels overwhelming.

Treatment for depression - a central, psychological mechanism

Freud once said, “Depression is anger turned inward”.

Something to think about when today's lack of youthful rebellion goes hand-in-hand with record high depressive disorders among the younger generations.

Before you diagnose yourself with depression make certain that you aren’t just surrounded by jerks - a far more common, human manifestation that can cause similar symptoms.

There is no doubt that depression is, for many, a psychological defense mechanism against underlying aggressive emotions.

Think about it for yourself. When you first started having symptoms of depression did they occur in a context that was frustrating? Did you grow up in a difficult context?

And was the end result that you began to think and feel negatively about yourself and/or resigned yourself to giving up?

Therapy for depression with a psychologist

At Psykologvirke, we keep an eye out for variations of this dynamic which may be contributing to your symptoms - as it does for so many.

We will also explore other psychological, as well as behavioral, factors.

Often you become trapped in a self-perpetuating cycle that leads back to withdrawal which again amplifies your symptoms.

Behavioral activation is therefore another important strategy.

If your symptoms are extremely serious, we will cooperate with your family physician and potentially in other instances where pharmaceutical treatment in an emergency phase is considered.

Book an appointment for depression treatment

There is only one way to find out how much therapy for depression with us can help you. Keep in mind that we have helped hundreds of people with depressive ailments, and we are here to help you.

What drives us in our work is the knowledge of what a difference treatment for depression can have for the individual - and those around them.

We have a simple online booking system where you can choose from our psychologists, schedule a session - and then therapy can begin. You will quickly find out if this is right for you.

You will hardly regret giving it a try. But you might regret not trying.

Keep in mind that we also offer online video therapy across the country.

If you do not have the possibility of seeking therapy at a private psychologist you can read more about the alternatives available for mental health professionals in Oslo here.

Some external links concerning depression:

Helsenorge.no - treatment for depression

The Norwegian Psychological Association - information concerning depression