Wave Wellbeing Success Stories: Tia

Tia needed new strategies to manage depression.

Tia* (32, they/them) works in education and lives in Maryland. When Tia came to Wave, they were just recovering from a particularly intense depressive episode. Their first assessment showed symptoms of severe depression, moderate anxiety, and normal stress.

Tia was looking for habits to get back on track.

For Tia, a depressive episode usually means that their supportive routines go out the window. They decided to start working with a Wave Coach because they wanted to build habits to help them find their way after this depressive episode and hopefully prevent a future dip. In the intro session with their Wave coach, Chloe, Tia shared that they specifically wanted help with self-compassion, all or nothing thinking, and rebuilding relationships.

Tia’s Wave Coach helped them adopt a new perspective.

Together, Tia and Chloe honed in on two key domains: Balance and Flexibility.

After learning more about Tia, Chloe suggested they focus their first few sessions on skills like Supportive Routines, Reframing, Defusion, and Identifying Values.

Tia’s biggest takeaway from coaching was thinking about habits like a dial instead of an on/off switch. Sometimes, routines are going really well, and sometimes, they’re harder to keep. During hard times, Tia could “turn up the dial” on their routines, taking incremental steps throughout the day that support their well-being. Tia came to coaching knowing that “all or nothing” thinking was a big contributing factor to their depression, so being able to experience more flexibility and compassion has gone a long way. Tia mentioned that even when things feel really hard, they can see things as a combination of good, bad, and neutral (rather than “all bad”). 

Tia’s coach also helped them find a new perspective on their depression by normalizing that Tia may always have some symptoms of depression — the goal isn’t to not have any symptoms but rather to seek out support and healthy routines during more difficult times.

Tia’s depression improved significantly with Wave coaching.

In Tia’s following two assessments, their depression had fallen into the normal range and stayed there. Going from “severe” depression symptoms to “normal” has made a huge impact on their life. Tia reported having a lot more compassion with themselves, more understanding self-talk, and a better ability to deal with life’s challenges. They’ve also increased their communication with friends and people at work, which has helped them feel a lot less alone.

Coach Chloe shares, “When I started working with Tia, they knew their ‘all or nothing’ thinking was getting in the way. It was a perfect place for us to start. It seemed like the dial analogy really helped and I could see them being more flexible and kinder with themselves. When Tia’s depression symptoms returned, I noticed how quick they were quick to reach out for support from their people, which made a huge difference. Seeing Tia become less judgmental with themselves and more open to asking for help has been really wonderful.”

Want to find more perspective and self-compassion? Wave coaches are here to help: https://www.wavelife.io/online-mental-health-coaching

*Name and other key details have been changed to protect the identity of Wave clients.