Blog
Three Strategies for Coping with Stressful Family Events During the Holidays
During this time of year, it’s common to feel some tension or stress related to the Holidays. Sometimes the stress has to do with the anticipation of high credit card bills or the stress of trying to find (and afford) the right gifts for the people you care about. For...
Grieving the Loss of an Ability
Last week, I wrote about financial grief - the feelings of loss and grief one experiences after losing much of their finances. It also got me thinking about the different types of losses that can cause a person to grieve, especially as it relates to their...
Financial Grief: Dealing with A Different Type of Loss
For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been following the story regarding the collapse of FTX - a massive cryptocurrency exchange with roughly $30 billion in assets. And in a little less than a week, the company filed for bankruptcy. It was a massive turn of...
Something we offer others, but rarely give to ourselves
It’s easy to be hard on yourself and doubt your abilities. When discussing the role of thoughts and self-talk with my counselling clients, I’m always attentive to the kinds of words a person uses to describe themselves and their feelings. Using phrases...
Ever felt like an Imposter? Here are 3 ways to beat it
In my previous post, I wrote about the masks you and I wear from time to time. We don't want others to know what we're thinking or feeling, so we put on a mask - a front - to help cover or protect our internalized world. One mask that people often wear has the...
We all Wear Masks and Costumes from Time to Time
I enjoyed seeing my kids dress up for Halloween this year. Then, as I walked them to school on the morning of October 31st, it was also fun to see all the other children arrive as superheroes, princesses, witches, and cartoon characters. It also got me thinking...
3 Techniques I Use to Connect with Clients on a Computer Screen
In my last few posts, I discussed how a person could overcome feelings of loneliness by building a sense of connection and belonging. In today’s post, I wanted to share what it’s been like for me to connect with my clients through video therapy and my resulting belief...
3 Tips on How to Deal with Feelings of Loneliness
In January 1999, I moved to Portland, Oregon, in the US. It was my first semester of graduate school at Lewis and Clark College. I spent my undergraduate years attending the University of Toronto at Mississauga - a 15-minute car ride from the comforts of home....
Why Belonging and Connection is So Important in Today’s World
A few weeks ago, there was an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail on the correlation between loneliness and authoritarianism. Kim Samuel, the author, argued that the main reason why democracy is being threatened around the world is because of loneliness....
Anxious about Climate Change? Here are a Few Thoughts on It
Over the last few weeks, nature has been humbling all of us. Regardless of how powerful, resourceful, and prepared we think we might be for a natural disaster, recent examples from around the world prove that we should never underestimate the power of nature. ...
What I Thought About on September 30th
This past week on September 30th, Canadians marked the second annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day is also informally known as Orange Shirt Day, where people wear orange shirts to remind themselves of the tragedies and suffering that...
5 Observations from the Queen’s Funeral
Death is a part of life. And no matter how prepared you are for someone's death, you are never ready for it. All the best laid out funeral plans can never prepare you for the emotion of losing a loved one. Before her death, Queen Elizabeth II had approved of...
