My mental health improved enormously when I discovered compassion-based therapy. I have a long history of severe depression. After reading a book by a US doctor who runs a clinic, I began to practice her methods. Quick summary: pathways in our brains get built and reinforced. The pathways of depression and anxiety keep sending us messages that things are wrong. This comes from the part of the brain which looks after protecting us from threats. It has gotten out of balance. We can change those pathways. We breathe deeply, relax as much as we can, and we say calmly to our minds: "May I be well, may I be peaceful, may I be happy". When the mind eventually gets the message, it is calms down. (I practiced this and made up a little song out of the words and sang it to my brain whenever I started to feel the dread coming on).
Once the mind settles down somewhat, you then have the chance to build new pathways. One of the techniques is to imagine a compassionate nurturer who is there to care for you, and will never criticise or judge you, but will also offer alternative ways of looking at things. For example, maybe the neighbour didn't mean to snub me this morning, but was running late for work and didn't actually see me wave to him/her. (It would be wrong to immediately conclude that my neighbour intended to snub me, but a depressed/anxious person often interprets things in the worst way.) The compassion therapy techniques help change theses unhappy responses and by practising, the brain builds new and more positive pathways.
The other important aspect is that there are techniques to activate the brain's drive/excitement system. Once the brain has calmed, it then needs to feel enthusiasm and look forward to enjoying pleasurable activities. (Can't sit just around feeling peaceful all the time.)
This is just bare bones. Please note that due to new technologies, science is now able to look at how the brain works in much greater depth than ever before and how and we can consciously change the way we experience our lives.
The book is "Improving Social Confidence and Reducing Shyness: Using Compassion Focussed Therapy" by Lynne Henderson. (Don't let the "Shyness" part put you off. If you are seeing the world through depressed eyes, your social relationships may be not working as well as they could be.) Get your therapist on board.
