Posts tagged Counselling
World Cancer Day: Five Things You Should Know

World Cancer Day is an important opportunity to reflect on how cancer has impacted our own lives, the lives of our loved ones and the lives of people within our community. Carly Fleming wanted to help raise awareness by writing this blog and sharing some of her experiences working with people affected by cancer. There are five things she wants you to know…

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Learning How to Process Emotions (difficult but worth it!)

If you grew up in a family anything like mine, feelings were ignored or stuffed down in an attempt to seem stoic and strong. I took pride in holding back tears or fleeing uncomfortable emotions. Feelings got in the way of work. Emotions made communication more difficult and deflated your argument. Even comfortable emotions were discouraged.

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Executive Dysfunction - What is it and how do I manage it?

Society puts a lot of pressure on us to meet executive functioning demands. If we have a lot of these demands on us at work, for example, then we may not have the energy left over for this kind of functioning at home. When the dishes have piled up for 3 days and the laundry has sat in the washer overnight, plus maybe there was a conflict at work, or there is tension in a personal relationship, things can feel very overwhelming and frustrating.

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Internal Family Systems (IFS) and the Cancer Journey

Cancer can have a profound impact on one’s identity. From the outset, cancer confronts us with a loss of “normality.” Diagnosis often comes as a shock and life can grind to a halt. It can be helpful to consider this experience through the lens of ‘parts’ or ‘internal family systems’.

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Thinking About Divorce? Let’s look at 5 ways you can make sense of these thoughts.

Thinking about divorce?

As a couples therapist, I have worked with many couples where divorce is “on the table”. Usually one or both partners have found themselves thinking about divorce for some time and these thoughts can be the reason for seeking couples therapy. For some, the damage to the relationship is so extensive that divorce may be the best resolution. However, for many more couples, there are ways to navigate the conflict, the unhappiness or the disengagement that allows for the relationship to stay intact. Take a look below for 5 ways that you can make sense of your current relationship difficulties.

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Internal Family System (IFS) – What is “parts work” in therapy?

Internal Family Systems (IFS) identifies that we are all made up of parts. There is a complex system of beliefs, thoughts, emotions and physical feelings that exist inside all of us, and they persistently compete for our attention. All parts are shaped by external forces, and they in turn influence the way we navigate, or cope with, our outer worlds.

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Looking for a Psychiatrist in Ontario? A Psychotherapist might be able to help.

Looking for a Psychiatrist in Ontario? Having Trouble? This is how a Psychotherapist might be able to help.

Are you struggling with your mental health? Have you tried looking for a Psychiatrist in Ontario? If you’re having trouble finding suitable supports, you’re not alone. Psychiatrists are medial doctors and their services are covered under our provincial health insurance plan (OHIP). When people are struggling with their mental health and want professional support, their first thought is often to look for a Psychiatrist.

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New Year’s Intentions - An Intentions versus Resolutions Approach

Instead of thinking about what you want to change or alter in your life, think about what you want to welcome into your life.

Try naming what you want to welcome in as a noun (thing) and not a verb (action). An example is you may say you would like to welcome in health. Now, rather than a bunch of action items on your to-do list, you have an anchor for which you base the decisions in your life. When faced with a decision, you ask yourself, how will this impact my intention to welcome in health? When you plot out your day or week, ask yourself if you have built in things that will welcome in health. When you plan your meals, have your welcomed in health? When you make social plans, have your welcomed in health? The intention you set will help guide and inspire your life so that you do the things that will welcome in what you want in your life.

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Restful Rituals

Taking the time to develop a restful ritual that works with your lifestyle can mean the difference between drifting off easily and lying awake consistently.

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those questions, you may be experiencing symptoms of depression. Depression is usually characterized by a low mood, lack of interest, and a lack of personal care. But depression is not the only reason these symptoms could be showing up for you. These are also often symptoms of burnout. It’s important to understand the origins of your symptoms so that you can find matching solutions.

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Pausing in the Pressure

We live in an immediate-gratification, fast-paced world. Pressures in our real life live on, multiply and swarm our social media pages. Making pressure seem all-powerful and active all the time.

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those questions, you may be experiencing symptoms of depression. Depression is usually characterized by a low mood, lack of interest, and a lack of personal care. But depression is not the only reason these symptoms could be showing up for you. These are also often symptoms of burnout. It’s important to understand the origins of your symptoms so that you can find matching solutions.

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Struggling with self-doubt? You're not alone.

Whether self-doubt is a major factor in your life or only a small issue every once in a while, it’s worth understanding what’s happening for you and how you can cope.

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those questions, you may be experiencing symptoms of depression. Depression is usually characterized by a low mood, lack of interest, and a lack of personal care. But depression is not the only reason these symptoms could be showing up for you. These are also often symptoms of burnout. It’s important to understand the origins of your symptoms so that you can find matching solutions.

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Depression or Burnout - What's the Difference?

Have you been in a low mood? Can’t get off the couch? Do you cancel your social plans, or avoid making them? Do you procrastinate?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those questions, you may be experiencing symptoms of depression. Depression is usually characterized by a low mood, lack of interest, and a lack of personal care. But depression is not the only reason these symptoms could be showing up for you. These are also often symptoms of burnout. It’s important to understand the origins of your symptoms so that you can find matching solutions.

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Understanding the Different Types of Therapy Used by Psychotherapists and Counsellors

So you’re interested in finding a therapist or starting therapy and then you encounter the acronyms. CBT, IFS, EMDR, EFT etc. It can feel like you need a Master’s degree in psychology just to begin your search!

It can be overwhelming and that’s exactly why we’ve created this blog full of straight-forward definitions of common therapies and therapy acronyms.

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Understanding the Different Approaches to Therapy Used by Psychotherapists and Counsellors

Anti-oppressive, feminist, collaborative and so much more. There are some common terms that therapists use to describe their approaches to working with you (the client).

We’ve already covered the different types of therapies you might encounter in our blog titled “Therapy Glossary”, now it’s time to define these approaches and how they could affect your therapy journey.

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6+ Questions to Ask When Interviewing a New Therapist

Finding the right therapist for you is an essential part of setting you up for success on your therapy journey. But how do you go about finding the right therapist? How can you assess whether you’ll click with their approach or style during a 15-minute meet-and-greet appointment?


We know that this can be a daunting part of finding a therapist.

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Intimacy in Parenthood - Sex After Baby

Exhaustion, body changes, pregnancy fears, interruptions from baby, and feeling touched out could all serve to activate the inhibitory sexual response system that just says “No way, I can’t get there right now.”

This is especially true when babies are very small or are high-needs and they require so much from their primary caregivers.

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Sexual Brakes and Accelerators

We’d like to introduce you to the concept of sexual brakes and accelerators. We were introduced to this concept in Emily Nagoski’s incredible book Come As You Are (which we highly recommend). The concept is very simple – there are things that act as accelerators of our desire and other things that act as brakes. The “things” can be sights, sounds, ideas, memories, sensations, etc. Most people have a general sense that there are certain things that turn them on sexually and others that turn them off. But rarely do we stop to deeply consider how we can use the concepts of sexual brakes and accelerators to enhance our sexual experiences.

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Top 3 FAQs about Online Therapy

What I have noticed is: 1) people seek therapy for many different challenges like stress management, trauma processing, relationships issues, gender exploration and thousands of other unique reasons; and 2) there are some common themes that emerge around why someone has taken the step to actually seek assistance from a mental health professional.

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Thinking Therapy?

What I have noticed is: 1) people seek therapy for many different challenges like stress management, trauma processing, relationships issues, gender exploration and thousands of other unique reasons; and 2) there are some common themes that emerge around why someone has taken the step to actually seek assistance from a mental health professional.

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