Real Life Story
Amy practices self-care and self-compassion to relieve depression
Amy is a young married professional from Ann Arbor, struggling with depression and anxiety. After the death of her father, Amy found herself suddenly responsible for her mother, who has a disability, and who continues to relate to her in ways that Amy found overwhelming as a child.
As a first generation Asian-American, she is caught between her duty as a Chinese daughter and her desire to set more American-type boundaries around her work, partner-relationships, and responsibility for an aging parent. She is also looking for another job with fewer hours and the ability to work from home, so that she can balance competing priorities.
Over the course of 11 months, Amy benefited from 19 hours of personal counseling and 3 hours of individualized Job Coaching at The Women’s Center.
Amy reports that she is still looking for a job that can better accommodate her caregiving responsibilities and lower the cost of childcare. Her ability to address her depression and anxiety has improved. “My therapist helped me with self-care and to identify and accept my emotions before they spiral out of control.”
She is using many of the skills she practiced in therapy — assertiveness, emotional containment, and mindfulness.
“I am taking a cue from my three-year-old,” Amy says, “who is open and direct about what she wants and what she feels without being shamed for it.”
