For most depressed patients, medication offers the fastest path to feeling better. However, counseling provides the best chance for long-term improvement, increasing your chances of getting off the medication sooner and staying healthier longer.

Unfortunately, there are several misconceptions and other obstacles that keep people from seeking the counseling that would really help them the most. Here are 2 of the more common ones that I encounter:

"Talking won't help me." Counseling can serve several different purposes. For many people, just having the chance to talk about things out loud and get some things off their chest is all that is needed. Sometimes, an impartial listener can help you organize your thoughts and figure out an appropriate plan of action to make things better. Other times, a counselor may help you to gain insight into how and why things affect you as they do, how and why others act as they do, and/or strategies for improving your coping skills.

There is the possibility that deeply troubling or traumatic issues could come up during counseling, and some people just don't feel ready to handle that degree of stress. But in the long run, having a trained mental health professional help you work through those issues may be the key to long-term peace and happiness.

"I can't find a good counselor." The definition of a "good" counselor is not quite straightforward. Counseling requires good communication, and so depends on both the counselor and the patient. The best counselor for you is usually going to be somebody with whom you can relax and speak openly and honestly. Their education, training, and other skills aren't nearly as important as the intangible relationship and trust between the two of you.

Referrals and word-of-mouth are good ways to get some suggested names. However, the person you ultimately feel most comfortable with might have been a terrible match for your friend, and so your best choice could actually be someone that your friend would have warned you to avoid. In other words, trial and error is sometimes necessary for you to find the right therapist.