Structured group and individual therapy several days a week, useful during a heavy stretch or when weekly sessions alone are not enough. You live at home throughout.
What we treat
Depression treatment
in Houston
When the color drains out of things and getting through the day takes everything you have, it can be hard to believe it will lift. Depression is common, it is real, and it is treatable. We help you find your footing again, at a pace that works for your life.
Outpatient care in Montrose, Houston. Most major insurance accepted.
Understanding depression
More than feeling down
Everyone has low days. Depression is different: a persistent low or empty mood, often with a loss of interest in things you used to enjoy, that lasts most of the day for two weeks or longer and reaches into sleep, energy, appetite, and the ability to think clearly.
Depression is one of the most common mental health conditions. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that about 8.3% of U.S. adults, some 21 million people, had at least one major depressive episode in a recent year. It is nearly twice as common in women as in men, and it can show up at any age. None of that makes it a personal failing, and none of it means you are stuck with it.
Depression also comes from more than one direction. Genetics, brain chemistry, major life stress or loss, and medical conditions can all play a part, often together. Because the causes vary, the right treatment does too, which is why care begins with understanding your particular situation rather than reaching for a single answer.
What it feels like
Common signs
and symptoms.
Depression looks different from person to person, but it tends to show up in mood, in the body, and in how you think. Most people recognize several of these at once.
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In how you feel
Persistent sadness or an empty, flat mood, and a loss of interest or pleasure in things you used to enjoy. Irritability and a sense of hopelessness are common, and they tend to linger rather than pass.
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In your body
Low energy and fatigue, changes in sleep (too much or too little), and shifts in appetite or weight that are not tied to dieting. Everyday tasks can start to feel like they take more than you have.
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In your thinking
Trouble concentrating, remembering, or making decisions, and a steady pull toward pessimism. At its heaviest, depression can bring thoughts of death or suicide, which is a sign to reach out right away.
When to reach out
When it may be time
for more support.
Depression exists on a spectrum, and the right level of care changes with it. These are signs it is worth reaching out, and signs it cannot wait.
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It has lasted more than a couple of weeks
A low mood that will not lift after two weeks or more, rather than a hard stretch that eases on its own, is worth talking to someone about.
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It is reaching into daily life
Depression is affecting your work, school, sleep, or relationships, or you are pulling away from the people and routines that usually keep you steady.
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Nothing seems to help
You have tried to push through, or even started treatment before, and the heaviness keeps returning. Recurring depression often responds better with more structure and support.
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It is an emergency
Any thought of harming yourself, or of not wanting to be here, needs help right away. Call or text 988 or go to the nearest emergency room. Once you are safe, outpatient care can take over the ongoing work.
Our approach
How we treat
depression.
At The Lovett Center, depression treatment is built around you. Care begins with a careful assessment, then we match the therapy, the medication, and the level of structure to what you actually need, and we adjust as you get better.
The National Institute of Mental Health describes depression as treatable, commonly with psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of the two. That is the approach we take, weighted to what works for you.
For many people, therapy is the foundation, and cognitive behavioral therapy has strong evidence behind it for depression. When medication will help, our psychiatrists, including Chad Lemaire, MD, work with you to find a plan, track how it is working, and adjust it over time. We pay attention to the everyday foundations too: sleep, routine, and reconnecting with the people and activities depression tends to crowd out.
Depression can come back, so we build for the long term: not just lifting the current episode, but helping you stay well after it lifts.
- A thorough clinical and psychiatric assessment
- Therapy that fits, often starting with CBT
- Medication management when it will help
- Support for any co-occurring conditions
Treatment options
Where depression treatment
can start.
Depression is treated successfully on an outpatient basis, with the intensity matched to the moment. More structure during a heavy stretch, a steadier pace once things settle. If you are not sure where to begin, we will help you figure it out.
Regular individual sessions and medication management at a steadier pace. For many people, this is where recovery from depression is maintained over the long term.
Our most intensive outpatient level: full days of structured treatment, with the freedom to go home each night. A way to stabilize a severe episode without an inpatient stay.
How we work
Therapies we use
for depression.
No single approach works for everyone. These are the ones we most often combine for depression, matched to what fits you.
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Psychodynamic therapy
Depth-oriented work that looks beneath the low mood to its roots, the foundation the rest of your care builds on.
About psychodynamic therapy -
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
A well-studied, practical approach for depression. CBT helps you notice the thought patterns that keep low mood in place and build habits that lift it, one workable step at a time.
CBT for depression -
Medication management
Antidepressants can ease symptoms enough that therapy and daily life become workable again. Our psychiatrists find the right plan, monitor how it is working, and adjust it over time.
About medication management -
Group therapy
Depression tends to isolate. A supportive group is a place to be understood, learn from others walking a similar path, and rebuild connection, which is itself part of recovery.
Explore group therapy -
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
When low mood comes with intense or hard-to-manage emotions, DBT teaches concrete skills for steadying them, tolerating distress, and staying grounded through a difficult day.
Explore DBT
Common questions
Depression treatment,
answered.
Treatment starts with a thorough assessment of your history, your symptoms, and how depression is affecting your life. From there we build a plan that usually pairs therapy, often starting with CBT, with medication management when it will help. Care is delivered on an outpatient basis through our outpatient program, intensive outpatient program, or partial hospitalization program, depending on how much structure you need right now. You live at home throughout.
Not always. Many people improve with therapy alone, while for others antidepressants make therapy and daily life workable again. We talk it through with you rather than assuming one path, and when medication is part of the plan our psychiatrists monitor it and adjust over time.
About medication managementA rough patch tends to ease as circumstances change. Depression is a low or empty mood, often with a loss of interest, low energy, and changes in sleep or appetite, that lasts most of the day for two weeks or more. If that sounds familiar, an assessment can give you a clear answer and a plan, with no pressure to commit to anything first.
Yes. The great majority of depression is treated successfully on an outpatient basis, where you receive care during the day or week and go home each night. Even our most intensive level, the partial hospitalization program, is outpatient: full days of structured treatment with the freedom to return home. If symptoms ever reach a crisis, we help you get to emergency care first, then take over the ongoing work once you are safe.
In many cases, yes. The Lovett Center is in network with major insurers including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Optum, Magellan, and TriWest, and we also work with out-of-network benefits and self-pay. Coverage varies by plan, so the surest way to know is to verify your benefits with us.
Verify your insuranceThat combination is common, and treating one while ignoring the other rarely holds. Our dual diagnosis care addresses depression and substance use together in a single, coordinated plan, so the two are not working against each other in recovery.
Dual diagnosis careYou are not alone
It can get
lighter than this.
What you are feeling has a name, and it has a way through.
When you are ready, a real person at The Lovett Center will listen and help you find the next step. No pressure, no commitment, just a conversation.
Every conversation is confidential. In a crisis, call or text 988 any time to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.