Depression therapy  ·  Gold Coast

Depression that hasn’t
lifted despite everything
you’ve already tried.

Individual therapy for depression, low mood, and the relational patterns that sustain them. In-person in Miami, Gold Coast. Telehealth available Australia-wide.

Book a session Medicare rebates →
Quick answer

Depression therapy on the Gold Coast involves working with a clinical psychologist to understand and address the roots of depression, not just manage the symptoms. At Jackson Hill Psychology in Miami, Gold Coast, sessions are $250, or $105 out of pocket with a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP.

What does depression actually feel like?

Depression shows up differently for different people. For some it is a heaviness that makes ordinary things feel effortful. For others it is a flatness, an absence of feeling rather than sadness, a sense that colour has gone out of things without being able to say exactly when.

Some people experience it as a background hum, always present, rarely named, quietly shaping ordinary decisions. Others find the flatness harder to explain than sadness would be.

What many people share is a sense that they’ve carried it for a long time, that they understand something about where it comes from, and that understanding alone hasn’t been enough to lift it.

Low mood Loss of motivation Emptiness or flatness Withdrawal from others Difficulty feeling pleasure Persistent sadness Fatigue Low self-worth Hopelessness

Why does depression persist even when you understand it?

Most people who arrive here understand their depression reasonably well. They know something about where it comes from. They’ve tried things: medication, CBT, talking to people. Some of that has helped, in periods. What hasn’t changed is the underlying state.

Depression that persists despite understanding usually has roots that run deeper than thought patterns and behaviours. It often connects to early relational experiences. patterns formed in relationships where connection, attunement, or worth were inconsistent. The self learned to contract. That learning doesn’t shift through insight alone.

Relational psychodynamic therapy and ISTDP (Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy) work with depression at this level. In ISTDP, depression is often understood as a defence against feelings that have had nowhere to go: grief, anger, longing. Working with what depression is covering, in the room, is how something actually shifts.

What depression is telling you

Depression tends to make us slow down and pay closer attention to what is actually alive for us: what matters, what has been lost, what has gone unspoken for too long. There is often something important in it, even when it is painful.

The therapy I offer is guided more closely by collaborative exploration of each person’s individual experience than by diagnostic labels. What depression looks like for one person, the factors that contributed to it and how it is experienced day to day, is going to be particular to that person. It will differ in important ways from what it looks like for the next.

Honouring that difference matters. We all have a different temperament that interacts in a distinct way with the environments we have moved through, the cultural settings we have lived within, and the choices we have made. Therapy shaped around the actual person sitting in the room is more likely to reach something real.

Jackson Hill Psychology therapy room, Miami Gold Coast
The psychologist

Someone to go to when
things feel difficult.

I’m Jackson Hill, a Clinical Psychologist based in Miami, Gold Coast. I work with adults navigating depression, anxiety, trauma, and the relational patterns that shape how these show up.

My orientation is relational and psychodynamic. I also draw on ISTDP and Transference-Focused Psychotherapy. I keep a small caseload and invest meaningfully in ongoing supervision and training, so that what I bring to each session is consistently at its best.

Accessible from Burleigh Heads, Varsity Lakes, Mermaid Beach, Broadbeach, Palm Beach, and across the southern Gold Coast.

Fees, format and what to expect

Session fee

$250 Per session
$105 With MHCP rebate

Medicare rebates apply with a valid Mental Health Care Plan from your GP. How to get a referral →

Format & location

50–60 minute individual sessions.
In-person at Suite 11, 2098 Gold Coast Highway, Miami QLD 4220.
Telehealth available Australia-wide.
Walk-and-talk sessions available.
Street parking nearby.

Questions

Frequently asked about depression therapy

Jackson Hill uses a relational psychodynamic approach, which works with the emotional and relational roots of depression rather than just managing symptoms. ISTDP is also drawn on, where depression is understood as something that can be worked with directly in the room.

CBT focuses on identifying and changing thought patterns that contribute to anxiety. Psychodynamic therapy works with the deeper emotional and relational roots. the experiences and patterns that generate anxious responses in the first place. Many people find CBT helpful for managing symptoms but find that psychodynamic work is needed to address what’s underneath.

Yes. With a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP, you can access Medicare rebates for depression therapy at Jackson Hill Psychology. Sessions are $250 and your out-of-pocket cost with a valid plan is $105 per session.

This depends on the nature and history of the depression. Some people notice meaningful shifts within a few months. Others find that longer-term work is needed, particularly when depression is connected to longstanding relational patterns or complex trauma. This is discussed openly from the first session.

Jackson Hill Psychology is located at Suite 11, 2098 Gold Coast Highway, Miami QLD 4220. between Burleigh Heads and Mermaid Beach. Accessible from Varsity Lakes, Robina, Broadbeach, Palm Beach, and across the southern Gold Coast. Telehealth is available for clients anywhere in Australia.

Ready to take the next step?

Sessions available in-person in Miami, Gold Coast, and via telehealth Australia-wide.
Medicare rebates available with a Mental Health Care Plan.

Book a session