Blog
Managing Emotions During a Pandemic
Every month I devote a blog post that deals with parenting. You can read these posts on TWINS Magazine. —— Since the start of the pandemic about two years ago, everyone's emotional state has been elevated a bit more than usual. Elevated emotional states are especially...
The Key to Being Successful at Change
I’ve been talking about change for the last few weeks because when January rolls around, many people (myself included) like to think about how they can make the upcoming year a little better than the previous year. And when I reflect on what I want to do for the...
How to Stop Thinking About Change
In my last post, I talked about the first stage of change - Denial - which is technically known as Precontemplation. To help you move out of this stage you need to develop discrepancies. Developing discrepancy is when you begin to acknowledge the gaps between how you...
What to do When You’re in Denial
(Click here to see a video summary of this post.) As I mentioned in my last post, change doesn’t happen overnight, nor does it happen after just one attempt. A person goes through different stages when attempting to change something in themselves, and even after going...
What You Need To Remember About Change
Happy New Year!!! Every January 1st, I like to think about my goals, intentions, and plans for the new year. On the one hand, I can see why some people dislike setting New Year's resolutions or goals, as it can be a reminder of all the times when they failed to follow...
Two Types of Stress and One Way To Manage Them
There are a lot of beautiful festivals and holidays during this time of year. But while this time of year can bring much joy and cause for celebration, it can also bring much stress. So, for the next few weeks, I’ll be discussing various topics that all relate to the...
Two Goals For Working Through Psychological Pain
While every therapist has their own style and approach to working with psychological pain caused by trauma, I find there are two common objectives that both clients and therapists share regardless of theoretical orientation. These objectives are: (1) Increase a...
Three Factors Which Contribute To Trauma
Ever wonder why some people get traumatized over something relatively minor while others seem to handle adversity with little stress? While there is no one specific answer, a few factors can contribute to why some people seem to bounce back while others do not. In...
Which Form of Abuse is Most Traumatic?
In Canada, November is National Domestic Violence Awareness month. Since I've been writing about trauma lately, I thought I'd discuss trauma in the context of domestic violence and share what I've learned from working in both of these areas. Which Form of Abuse is...
Trauma Can Sometimes Bring Out The Helpers
Over the last couple of years, I've been finding the word 'trauma' in our social discourse more than I can remember. I think there are several reasons for this. Why We hear More About Trauma First, living in Canada, I am regularly exposed to our neighbors' political...
Trauma and the Nature vs. Nurture Debate
As a student, and in the early years of my career, I put a lot of weight on the role of nature in the whole “nature vs. nurture” debate. I was doing a lot of work in addiction psychology at the time and strongly believed in a person’s genetic predisposition to...
A Different Way of Looking At Your Emotions
Almost everywhere you look, there is some measuring device (or app) or tool. For example, a thermometer tells you the temperature. A scale tells you how much you weigh, and when you’re on the road driving, your vehicle’s speedometer and odometer can tell your speed...
