Posts
Level Up Your Mental Health with Gaming
By David Lindskoog
More than ever, gaming is part of our life context, especially for youth – though you may be surprised to learn that the average gamer is 34 years old and has children. It is a powerful media capable of telling intricate, artistic, interactive stories; a compelling venue for connection and relationship building; an industry worth…
Managing Meltdowns: How Co-Regulation Leads to Self-Regulation
By Sarah Michel
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, or at bedtime. We try to listen to our child and validate their feelings, but…
7 Tips to Help You Process Tough Emotions
By David Lindskoog
What exactly does it mean to “process your feelings?”. It is certainly very common advice, and generally we tend to believe this to be true – identifying our emotions and expressing them in healthy ways is an important part of healthy human emotional development. But what exactly does this entail? How do we avoid simply…
Boomer Upgrade
By Denis Boyd
Baby Boomers (born between 1946-1965) are entering into their “winter years” and in the process are facing a variety of stressors which they may not know how to manage. Mis-managed stress (distress) can contribute to a variety of mental and physical health challenges. When Boomers were children and young adults, the popular method for dealing…
The High Cost of Disconnection
By Nancy Michel
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…
Is Therapy Working for You?
By Chris Boyd
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…
The Surprising Impact of Journaling
By Joan Schultz
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…
Managing Holiday Celebrations with Children after a Loss
By Tamara Williams
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…
No Bones About It: Dogs are good for our health, even in the therapy room!
By Jean-Claude Bazinet
“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…
Breaking the Age Code by Dr. Becca Levy: 2022 HarperCollins Publishers A book report…
By Maureen Boyd
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…
Parenting Gen Z
By Angela Post
The current teen and young adult population are Generation Z. They have grown up in the era of smart phones, social media, inclusive classrooms, and they are keenly aware of issues such as climate change and how their world is different than that of their parents. I will focus on the older teens and university…
Married After Children – Surviving The Empty Nest
By Don Lasell
Married for 32 years, and now empty nesters, Mike and Anna found themselves struggling to connect with each other in their marriage. Until recently, when the last of their children had left the house, Mike and Anna’s lives were filled with the typical busyness of parents having active children. Weekdays and most weekends were filled…