by Richard Amaral | Apr 13, 2024 | Lifestyle, Mental Health, Mind-Body Health, Psychology
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” — Mark Twain A few weeks ago, I interviewed Andre Gear, an instructor at Dawson College in Montreal, Quebec. Andre has a B.Sc. in Exercise Science. I’ve known Andre for a few years now, and every time we meet, I...
by Richard Amaral | Nov 4, 2023 | Anxiety, CBT, Mental Health, Mind-Body Health, Psychology, Thinking
Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in while, or the light won’t come in. – Alan Alda We all make predictions and assumptions about many things in life. We make predictions about the weather or the...
by Richard Amaral | Jul 2, 2023 | Lifestyle, Mind-Body Health
“A vacation helps to relieve stress and boredom, gives us a change of scenery, provides us with adventure, and helps to bring us closer to the people in our lives.” E. S. Woods July 1st is a long weekend here in Canada (Happy Canada Day!). It’s also a...
by Richard Amaral | Jan 21, 2023 | Balanced living, Boundaries, Lifestyle, Mind-Body Health, Work
When discussing the goal of balanced living with a client, one of the conversation topics always turns toward how many hours they’re spending on work. More specifically, I often find that when someone spends excessive amounts of time on work-related tasks...
by Richard Amaral | Jan 7, 2023 | Balanced living, Change, Lifestyle, Mind-Body Health, Psychology
Every year around this time, I like to set some goals/plans/intentions for the upcoming year. I might also start writing out some dreams for the next few years of my life—five-year or ten-year plans. I’ve been going through this process for as long as I can...
by Richard Amaral | Nov 20, 2022 | Counselling and Psychotherapy, Mental Health, Mind-Body Health, Psychology, Stress, Thinking, Trauma
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...
