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An attractive 16 year old girl was describing how hard it was for her to go to school each day. She complained that while she had two friends at school, neither was in any of her classes. I suggested that this gave her an opportunity to reach out and make some casual connections with her…

I recently checked in with a friend to inquire about her counselling experience after she sought a referral. I wanted to ensure she was receiving the support she needed. her response was along the lines of, “It’s going well…I think? This is my first experience in therapy, so I don’t have anything to compare it…

Who knew? A study done at the University of California, Los Angeles using Functional Magnetic Brain Imaging (fMRI) to research “affect labelling” (putting feelings into words) had some surprising results. It was found that the process of writing one’s feelings on paper was enough to de-escalate amygdala activity, (the brain’s ‘alarm center’), which controls the…

After the death of a person or pet dear to your child, the holidays, especially the first ones, can become emotionally complicated. It is hard to know if you should celebrate and honour old traditions or ignore them and pretend like nothing is happening. For each family this journey will be unique and what you…

“Please bring him back if you can, he makes such a positive difference.” a client says to me at the end of the hour, much to my surprise, after the unexpected addition of my dog to a therapy session. This happened already ten years ago; I didn’t have time to return home after a visit…

Close your eyes and visualize an “older” person. Who do you see? What are the adjectives you would use to describe this senior member of our society? Your answer may determine your longevity!  Author Dr. Becca Levy, a professor of Epidemiology and a professor of Psychology at Yale University has released “pathfinding studies [that]have changed…

Most caregivers can agree that dealing with their child’s meltdowns can be exhausting, draining, and challenging. Often, these meltdowns happen when we are trying to get everyone out the door and on time for school, when we are making dinner, filling out another hot lunch form, or at bedtime. We try to listen to our…

September 10th 2019 is a day Rick will never forget.  He was sitting at an intersection on his motorcycle when a car hit him from behind, sending him flying.  The accident left him with a range of serious injuries, in addition to what Rick refers to as ‘the three’: PTSD, anxiety and depression.  Writing poetry…

Sometimes you don’t know how fast you are moving until you are forced to stop.  COVID-19 has forced a lot of us to slow down and adjust our routines.  Luckily, as a result, I have been able to allocate more time to reading and exploring ideas. For this Psychealth article I’m going to do something…

A book review by Jennifer Foster, MSW I recently read a book called The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg. It is about why we have habits and how they can be changed. I was interested in this book because I have some habits I want to break and I was curious to learn about…

There are many books written about overcoming depression and anxiety, most of which are excellent companions to helping us move forward out of these difficult experiences in our lives. However, if we learn to practice proactive habits of self care and life engagement, we can inoculate ourselves against these debilitating conditions and build resilience for life’s adversities. Here…

Do all children living under one roof find it necessary to compete with each other? I suspect they do “Siblings Without Rivalry” is the title of a book by Adel Faber and Elaine Mazlish which was published ten years ago. Inspite of the unrealistic title, the book has offered valuable suggestions to parents over the…