Depression Therapy in Vancouver, WA

Rediscover Hope, Reclaim Your Life. Compassionate Depression Therapy for Adults in Vancouver, WA & Online Across Washington State.

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More Than Just Sadness

When depression takes hold, even simple tasks can feel impossibly heavy. Whether it’s a persistent low mood that won’t lift, a growing sense of emptiness, or a quiet numbness that pulls you away from the people and things you love—the impact is very real. You might find yourself withdrawing from loved ones, losing interest in things that once brought you joy, or struggling just to get through the day.

At Refuge, we believe you are not broken. Depression is not a character flaw or a sign of weakness—it is a real, complex condition that affects your brain, body, and sense of self. We offer a specialized, compassionate approach to help you move from merely surviving to genuinely thriving.

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What We Do for Depression

Depression affects your brain chemistry, your body, and your sense of self. We help you understand what’s driving your depression and provide you with real, evidence-based tools to lift your mood, restore energy, and rebuild a life you want to live again.

Time doesn’t heal all wounds—intentional care does. We provide a safe, non-judgmental container to process difficult memories so they no longer hold power over your daily life.

Depression often shapes how we show up in relationships and how we see ourselves—dimming our sense of worth and making genuine connection feel distant. In therapy, we explore how depression has affected your relationships and self-image, and we build new, healthier ways of connecting with yourself and others.

You are more than what happened to you. We help you integrate your experiences and move forward with a sense of agency, resilience, and hope for the future.

What We Won’t Do In Depression Therapy

  • Just talk about your week endlessly
  • Stay stuck in the past
  • Blame your parents, partner, or boss
  • Focus just on positive thinking 

Instead, we’ll do the real work together.

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Depression Therapy for adults in Vancouver, WA

More Than Talk: Our Depression-Focused Approaches

You can’t just “think your way” out of depression. Because depression lives in your biology, your habits, and your thought patterns, we use powerful, evidence-based approaches designed to create real, lasting relief.

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Our Therapeutic Approaches

We bring together evidence-based and holistic therapies to address depression at its roots:

EMDR is a powerful, evidence-based therapy that is highly effective for depression rooted in grief, loss, or painful memories. Through guided eye movements or bilateral stimulation, your brain gently reprocesses distressing experiences, reducing the emotional weight that fuels depressive symptoms. Many clients find that addressing the underlying pain driving their depression leads to meaningful, lasting relief.

KAP is one of the most promising breakthrough treatments for treatment-resistant depression and persistent low mood. When traditional approaches haven’t provided enough relief, ketamine—used in a safe, controlled therapeutic setting—can rapidly shift neural pathways, lift depressive symptoms, and open the door to profound emotional healing. Combined with psychotherapy, KAP can offer renewed hope and lasting change.

IFS helps you understand your inner world as a system of different “parts”—including the inner critic that says you’re not enough, the part that has given up, and the part that’s been carrying hopelessness. By relating to these parts with curiosity and compassion rather than judgment or shame, you can heal the root causes of depression from the inside out and restore a genuine sense of self-worth.

Depression often has deep relational roots—feeling unloved, unseen, or not enough as a child can shape the negative beliefs that fuel depression in adulthood. Attachment-based therapy helps you explore these early patterns, heal relational wounds, and cultivate a more secure and loving relationship with yourself and others. As your internal sense of safety grows, so does your mood.

Creative Arts Therapy uses painting, drawing, music, and movement to help process the emotions that depression can make so hard to articulate. For many people, creativity becomes a lifeline—a way to access and express inner experience when words simply aren’t enough. Engaging in creative expression can activate different parts of the brain, allowing for deeper healing and self-discovery. This approach is especially helpful for those navigating depression, anxiety, grief, or emotional blocks, offering a non-verbal and experiential way to explore emotions.

Sand Tray Therapy is a gentle, hands-on approach that uses a sandbox and miniature figurines to create visual representations of inner emotional worlds. For people dealing with depression, it offers a safe and non-verbal way to externalize what’s happening inside—bringing subconscious feelings and stuck patterns into view. Clients often gain profound insights and experience emotional relief without needing to find the words to describe their pain.

Depression isn’t just in the mind—it lives in the body too, often showing up as fatigue, heaviness, or a feeling of being physically weighed down. Somatic therapy uses gentle movement, breathwork, and body awareness to help release long-held tension, reawaken the nervous system, and restore a felt sense of aliveness. We can also pair you with our somatic coach who specializes in Biodynamic Breathwork Trauma Release System (BBTRS) and other body-based healing practices.

Alpha-Stim is a non-invasive, FDA-approved device specifically shown to reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia. It works by delivering gentle microcurrent electrical stimulation that helps balance brainwave activity and improve mood—often in as little as 20 minutes per session. As a powerful complement to therapy, it can accelerate your healing and support sustained emotional well-being between sessions.

Depression often creates a powerful but distorted narrative—a story that says you are the problem, that things won’t change, or that you are beyond help. Narrative therapy helps you step back from that story, examine where it came from, and rewrite it. By reclaiming your identity as separate from your depression, you can rediscover your strengths, reshape your self-concept, and author a future full of possibility. This approach is especially powerful for those dealing with low self-worth or a pervasive sense of hopelessness.

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Why Choose Refuge Counseling & Wellness

At Refuge, you’re not just a diagnosis. You’ll find support and belonging in our deeply hospitable therapeutic center. We understand that reaching out for help with depression takes real courage. That’s why we’ve designed a space that cuts through the noise of impersonal mental health services to offer you a custom, science-backed strategy for healing.

Our therapists are highly skilled, depression-informed guides who are passionate about seeing you experience real transformation.

Meet Our Team
Renee Thompson

Founder & Therapist, MA, LMHC, CPC

Therapists Specializing in Depression Therapy

Renee Thompson
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Hannah Breland
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How Depression Therapy Works at Refuge

We get to
know you

Taking time to understand your unique story

We Make
a PLAN

Creating a customized therapy approach that works for you

We help
you GROW

With guidance and support, you’ll work toward healing and meaningful change

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Frequently Asked Questions About Depression Therapy

Depression therapy is specialized counseling designed to help you understand, manage, and overcome the thoughts, feelings, and patterns associated with depression. Our therapists draw on a range of evidence-based and holistic approaches tailored to your unique history and goals.

Every person’s journey with depression is different. Some clients notice meaningful shifts within 8—12 sessions; others benefit from longer-term support. We’ll work with you to develop a personalized plan and revisit your goals regularly, so therapy continues to feel meaningful and effective.

We support adults ages 18 and up. We work with young adults, folks in mid life, and seniors. We also do couples therapy.

Refuge is private pay only and does not accept insurance.

Refuge Counseling & Wellness is out of network and therefore does not accept or bill any insurance. See each practitioner or service for current fees. A full, transparent breakdown of pricing will be provided for all clients.

Refuge Counseling & Wellness accepts credit card payments. Payments are due at the time of each service. 

Super Bills
Counselors at Refuge are able to supply you with a super bill. Super bills are a receipt with your diagnosis code that can be submitted to insurance for partial or full reimbursement for therapy services. Not sure if you qualify? Call your insurance provider and ask whether they will reimburse you for an out of network therapist. 

Health Savings Accounts (HSA)/Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) 

HSAs and FSAs can help you pay for therapy. Check your individual plan for details. 

Care Credit
Care Credit may be used to help with the cost of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy or Intensives. Individuals must apply. Ask your therapist for more information. 

Everyone can benefit from having a dedicated safe space to process their life. Therapy is especially helpful for people navigating depression, burnout, anxiety, relationship challenges, or major life transitions, for example. 

But you don’t need a diagnosis to come to therapy. Whether you’re suffering from PTSD, working through grief, or simply want to get to know yourself better, therapy is an investment in your personal growth and wellbeing. 

We want you to get results, so we recommend a weekly 50 minute session, at least until significant progress has been made. Some clients will choose the intensive model where either multiple sessions a week or full days of therapy can be most effective. As you make progress, sessions can be moved to every other week, then to monthly or as-needed maintenance sessions.

That all depends on the complexity of your concerns, how your nervous system handles changes, how much support you have, and how much time outside of therapy you can commit to the work. 

At Refuge, we are committed to real results, not quick fixes. You will likely begin to feel relief at the first session and in the early weeks, but the deeper change takes time.

We offer therapy at our office in Vancouver, Washington as well as serve clients across Washington state via video sessions. Our office is located at 13912 NE 20th Ave. Suite 204 Vancouver, WA 98686.

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We’re ready when you are

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