Depression Therapy at Lori Kimmerly Therapy, Renton WA and online across Washington

Find Your Footing When Everything Feels Heavy

Depression is not only sadness. It often shows up as numbness, exhaustion, irritability, or a sense that nothing is worth the effort. Therapy offers a place to work out what is underneath it and to rebuild momentum at a pace that is actually manageable.

In person in Renton, WA · Online throughout Washington · Most insurance accepted

In Short

In person in Renton, WA
Online throughout Washington
Most insurance accepted
Self-pay $40–$150

Insurance

Premera, Cigna, Aetna, Kaiser, Molina, Coordinated Care, Community Health Plan, WellPoint, TriCare, United.

Availability

Now accepting new clients — in person and online.
Schedule Your Consultation ›

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The 5 Gates of Grief
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What Is Depression Therapy?

Depression dims energy and motivation. With support, light returns — gradually, and for real.

Depression therapy is structured support for low mood, exhaustion, and the loss of interest that makes ordinary things feel heavy. Our therapists work with what is underneath it — grief, self-criticism, old patterns, burnout — while also helping you rebuild momentum in daily life, because with depression, waiting to feel motivated first rarely works.

You feel low, flat, or numb more days than not
Things you used to enjoy do not do much for you anymore
You are exhausted no matter how much you sleep
Getting through basic tasks takes everything you have
You are unusually hard on yourself, or feel like a burden
You are grieving a loss and cannot find your footing
You have thoughts of not wanting to be here

How Depression Actually Shows Up

The symptoms of depression are not always sadness. Just as often it is numbness — food, music, and people you love stop registering (clinicians call this anhedonia). It can look like irritability with a short fuse, exhaustion no amount of sleep fixes, brain fog that makes small decisions feel enormous, rumination that loops the same thoughts late into the night, or pulling back from people until isolation starts to feel normal.

Many people keep performing at work and showing up for family while feeling hollow underneath — what is often called high-functioning depression. Looking fine on the outside does not mean you are fine, and it does not mean you have to wait until things fall apart to get help.

Forms Depression Can Take

Major depressive episodes — weeks or months where mood, energy, sleep, and interest all drop at once
Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia) — a low-grade heaviness that runs for years and starts to feel like personality
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) — mood that sinks with Washington’s dark winter months and lifts in spring
Perinatal and postpartum depression — around pregnancy and new parenthood, including the guilt of not feeling what you expected to feel
Depression tangled with grief, burnout, or anxiety — they often arrive together, and therapy can work with all of it

Mood Check-In

A gentle check-in on the last two weeks — not a diagnosis, just a starting point.

How has your energy been the last two weeks?

Very LowSteady

How much interest have you had in things you usually enjoy?

Little to NoneAbout the Same

How has your sleep been?

DisruptedRestful

How heavy has your mood felt day to day?

Very HeavyLight

If several of these have felt off for more than two weeks, that is worth talking to someone about — not because something is wrong with you, but because depression responds well to the right support. Our therapists use evidence-based therapeutic approaches to help you feel like yourself again. Schedule Your Consultation →

Approaches That Help With Depression

When you are depressed, advice to just do more is useless. Our therapists start from where you actually are, work on the patterns and beliefs keeping things heavy, and help you rebuild in increments that hold. Sessions are available in person in Renton and online throughout Washington.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) — IFS works with the different “parts” of you — the protector that keeps you busy, the critic, the part underneath carrying the hurt. Rather than fighting those parts, IFS helps you understand what each one is trying to do for you, so they can relax. It is one of our practice’s core approaches.Often helps with

Inner criticism and harsh self-talk
Feeling pulled in two directions at once
Old wounds that resurface in current relationships

Depression often involves parts that shut everything down to protect you from disappointment, grief, or exhaustion. IFS approaches that heaviness with curiosity instead of force — finding out what the shutdown is guarding — which reaches places willpower cannot. Read more about IFS →

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) — ACT helps you stop fighting difficult thoughts and feelings and instead build a life around what matters to you. It focuses on psychological flexibility and values-based action rather than trying to eliminate discomfort.Often helps with

Anxiety that grows the harder you fight it
Avoidance that keeps shrinking your world
Reconnecting with what actually matters to you

For depression, ACT targets the shutdown directly: values work reconnects you with what used to matter, and small committed-action steps — what clinicians call behavioral activation — rebuild momentum — because in depression, motivation follows action, not the other way around.

Psychodynamic Therapy — Psychodynamic therapy explores how past experience and out-of-awareness patterns shape present-day feelings and choices, building insight over time rather than focusing only on symptoms.Often helps with

Recurring patterns you cannot explain
Long-standing low mood or emptiness
Wanting insight, not just symptom management

Depression usually has old logic underneath it — self-criticism learned early, grief that never got finished, standards no one could meet. Psychodynamic work surfaces those patterns so they can loosen instead of silently repeating.

Attachment-Based Therapy — Attachment-based work looks at how your earliest relationships shaped what you expect from people now. Understanding those patterns makes it easier to change how you show up in current relationships.Often helps with

Fear of abandonment or of being crowded
Patterns that repeat across every relationship
Difficulty trusting or depending on others

Early relationships taught you what you deserve and what to expect from people. Attachment work revisits conclusions like “I am too much” or “I am on my own” that quietly feed depression — and builds newer, truer ones.

Somatic & Mind-Body Approaches — Distress lives in the body as much as the mind — the tight chest, the clenched jaw, the restless nights. Somatic work brings the body into therapy, helping you notice and settle those physical patterns rather than only talking about them.Often helps with

A body that will not settle or switch off
Panic, tight chest, clenched jaw, restless sleep
Feeling disconnected from physical sensation

Depression lives in the body as much as the mind — the heaviness, the flatness, the fatigue. Gentle body-based work rebuilds energy and sensation from the bottom up, which matters when talking alone has stalled.

More About Depression

What people wish someone had told them sooner — open any of these.

Why “just try harder” does not work

Depression disables the machinery that effort runs on. Motivation in a depressed brain follows action instead of preceding it — which is why waiting to feel like it fails, and why therapy starts with steps small enough to take without feeling like it: a shower, a walk, one text answered. Each small step restarts the engine — and it counts double precisely because you did not feel like doing it.

Supporting a partner or family member with depression

Presence beats fixing. Invitations beat pressure (“I am walking at 6 if you want to come” lands better than “you should get out more”). Take any talk of hopelessness or self-harm seriously and say so with care. And look after yourself — supporting someone through depression is heavy, and your steadiness is worth protecting.

Depression, sleep, and energy

Depression and sleep feed each other in both directions: low mood fragments sleep, and broken sleep deepens low mood, with daytime exhaustion that rest does not repair. Treatment interrupts the loop from both ends — and better sleep is often one of the first improvements people notice in therapy.

When does low mood need professional help?

When it lasts most of the day, most days, for two weeks or more; when things you used to enjoy stop registering; when work, relationships, or basic routines are slipping; or when hopelessness shows up. You do not need to be in crisis to deserve help — and if you are having thoughts of harming yourself, see our FAQ below and reach out now.

What to Expect: Your First Session and Beyond

1Reach out

Fill out the contact form or call the office. We’ll match you with a therapist who fits and schedule a complimentary consultation.

2First session

Your therapist gets to know you — what brought you in and what you want to be different.

3Early sessions

Together you start naming the patterns you want to understand and building tools that fit your life.

4Ongoing work

Sessions continue at a pace that works for you — usually weekly to start — with regular check-ins on what’s changing and what still needs work.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does depression therapy cost?

Sessions run $40–$150 depending on which therapist you see. We accept most major insurance, self-pay is welcome, and a limited number of reduced-fee spots are available.

How do I know if I am depressed or just going through a rough patch?

A rough patch usually lifts. If low mood, exhaustion or numbness has been affecting daily life for weeks, that is worth talking to someone about. You do not need a diagnosis to start.

What if I do not have the energy for weekly therapy?

Tell your therapist. Frequency can be adjusted. Low energy is part of what you are treating, not a sign you are doing it wrong.

Can therapy help depression without medication?

For many people, yes. Our therapists do not prescribe, but they can work alongside your prescriber if you have one, or on their own if that is your preference.

How long does it take to feel better?

Most people notice small shifts before big ones. Your therapist will track progress with you so you are not guessing.

Does insurance cover therapy here?

We accept Premera Blue Cross, Cigna, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Molina (Medicaid), Coordinated Care, Community Health Plan, WellPoint, TriCare, and United Health Care. Coverage varies by plan, so contact us to verify yours before your first session.

Is online therapy as effective as in person?

Yes — telehealth sessions use the same approaches, and many clients find it easier to attend consistently. We offer online therapy throughout Washington.

I can barely get through the day — is therapy going to be too much?

Your therapist will start where you actually are, not where a treatment plan says you should be. Early sessions often focus on small, achievable steps rather than deep work, precisely because depression makes everything cost more energy.

What if I am having thoughts of harming myself?

Please tell us. Your therapist will take it seriously, without judgment, and will work with you on safety directly. If you are in immediate danger, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or go to your nearest emergency room.

Is what I share in therapy confidential?

Yes. What you share in session is protected by therapist-client confidentiality and Washington state law. There are a small number of legally required exceptions (for example, imminent risk of harm to yourself or others), which your therapist will explain clearly before you begin.