We may look back on June 2018 as a tide-turning moment in public awareness of severe depression for reasons virtually all of us hate. In this issue, we illuminate the dark, often terrifying inner world of depression, and explore the widespread yet little-understood phenomenon of recurrent depression.

Most clinicians know that if a person has suffered one bout of serious depression, he or she is much more vulnerable to another one. But most therapists still don’t address a vital question with their clients—how can they stay well once their most recent bout of misery has ended and they’ve left therapy?

At its worst, depression extinguishes your inner pilot light, depriving you of the substrate that makes you feel real. Sufferers complain of living in a fog, unable to think, remember, or focus. The qualities that constitute “you” become peripheral. The password has changed, and access is denied.

Increasingly, psychiatrists are recognizing that offering medications as the primary treatment of depression for years and years is simply not working. Instead, there’s a growing movement toward using more holistic approaches based on the belief that body and mind can heal themselves if given the time and space to do so.

Clinicians interested in applying coaching skills in psychotherapy believe that working more from a collaborative partnership position—like a personal trainer or a mentor—can produce faster change and, for many clients, enhanced motivation.

New policies are deepening the trauma of many immigrants, and heightening challenges for the therapists trying to help them.

How to address one partner’s long-term issues in couples therapy without derailing work on the current relationship.

Helping clients set boundaries can be a risky business, especially when people pleasing has been a lifelong strategy. * Commentary by Courtney Armstrong

Howard Stevenson’s program promotes “racial literacy” through skills that help us confront unconscious taboos and more effectively read and resolve racial encounters.

Bestselling author Barbara Ehrenreich believes that our obsession with longevity may have gone too far.

Some shocking news brings back some tender memories.