by Richard Amaral | May 8, 2013 | All Entries
This week is the 62nd annual Mental Health Week (May 6 – 12) organized by the Canadian Mental Health Association. This year’s focus is on youth. One of the goals of mental health professionals is to eradicate the stigma surrounding mental illness. In my...
by Richard Amaral | May 1, 2013 | All Entries
You may have an illness, but you are not the illness. This was an important lesson I learned from my first counselling supervisor, Katherine Stetson. During my master’s program in counselling psychology, I did an internship as an Adolescent and Family Therapist. One...
by Richard Amaral | Apr 24, 2013 | All Entries, Depression
One of the first theories that highlighted the relationship between thoughts and moods was cognitive theory, or CT. This theory was created by Dr. Aaron Beck back in the 1970’s and focused on how people could change how they felt. Beck noticed that all his depressed...
by Richard Amaral | Apr 14, 2013 | ADHD, All Entries
Although I’ve never been formally diagnosed with ADD or ADHD (Attention-Deficit Disorder, with or without Hyperactivity), there are a lot of times when I think I fit all the criteria. In fact, many people believe they have ADHD simply because they get really...
by Richard Amaral | Mar 14, 2013 | All Entries, Boundaries
Just finished reading, Boundaries Where You End And I Begin: How To Recognize And Set Healthy Boundaries One of the things I thought was really creative was how Katherine used her dog and cat as metaphors for explaining “close” and “distant” boundaries, respectively....
by Richard Amaral | Feb 27, 2013 | All Entries, Counselling and Psychotherapy
There’s only 1 day left in February. Do you know what’s associated with this month? Let me give you some options. February is…. 1) Black History Month 2) Heart and Stroke Awareness Month 3) Psychology Month 4) All of the above If you chose #4, you’re...
