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By: Sara Carpentier, MSW, RSW Can you recall something significant about your drive to work or school this morning? Did you intentionally plan out or map your route, or did you automatically travel the same path you always do without paying attention? Can you recall the last time you brushed your teeth? I imagine you […]

By: Agustina Jorquera, M.Ed, RP Your mental health is greatly influenced by the speed and depth of your breathing. When our breathing accelerates, a multitude of physiological shifts begin to occur. If you’ve ever been startled, you might have noticed sudden gasping, slight breathlessness, dizziness, and tingling sensations. These familiar signs of anxiety are heavily […]

By: Lisa Donnelly, MSW, RSW In the journey of personal growth and emotional resilience, one skill stands out for its transformative power: building mastery. Rooted in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), this skill involves setting small, achievable goals that gradually increase in difficulty. The essence of building mastery lies in the experience of incremental success and […]

By: Nicole Lancaster, MMT, RP(Q) About a year ago, I had made plans to go to a concert with a friend but I had just had a really rough day. I thought about cancelling, but decided to make myself go, though I’ll admit I was pretty grumpy and frustrated the whole way there. We walked […]

By: Dr. Gibran Rodriguez, Ph.D Emotions have a fundamental social component; they not only reveal our wants and needs and help us organize our behaviour, but they also communicate important information to those around us. It only makes sense, then, that human beings feel so deeply within the context of relationships. The emotional nature of […]

By: Zahra Ali, M.Phil, RP We now know from research that regulating emotions is key to well-being. In fact, all human behaviors, in one way or another, are attempts to regulate our internal systems as they interact with our dynamic environments. However, sometimes our attempts to regulate our emotions may lead to ineffective results or […]

By: Agustina Jorquera, M.Ed, RP A question that I often get asked by parents of adolescents, as well as a struggle I see in adolescents is in how to balance ‘doing’ with ‘resting’ for the summer holidays. Questions that I often receive sound like: How much camp should I book for my kids this summer? […]

By: Tania Pollard, MACP What do people really think of therapists? Do they wonder if therapists can read minds?  Or if they are truly being non-judgemental?  Perhaps they ask themselves if the process will even be helpful? Or, to the other extreme, that therapists have all the answers, knowledge, and expertise. While the latter could […]

By: Sara Carpentier, MSW, RSW Today’s world is full of demands and expectations that are placed upon us. We are also responsible for placing additional requirements on ourselves. Whether its caring for others, managing a job, absorbing current events, maintaining relationships, the list of extremal stressors that puts pressure on us can be extensive. This […]

By: Rebecca West, M.A. Your mental health is greatly influenced by the speed and depth of your breathing. When our breathing accelerates, a multitude of physiological shifts begin to occur. If you’ve ever been startled, you might have noticed sudden gasping, slight breathlessness, dizziness, and tingling sensations. These familiar signs of anxiety are heavily shaped […]

By: Michelle Lau, RDReviewed, with thanks, by Naiara Perin Darim, M.Psy The restrict > binge cycle. Have you ever been tempted to skip a meal to lose weight? Not eat when you’re out with your friends because the foods they’re choosing don’t fit in your diet? These seemingly benign decisions are considered restricting as they […]

By: Erica Rodrigues, MA Every year on April 13th, International FND Awareness Day serves to educate individuals about Functional Neurological Disorder (FND). This is a complex condition that is often misunderstood and warrants attention to support affected individuals, help debunk myths, and propel research to better understand, prevent, and treat FND. What is FND? FND […]

By Beheshta Taheri, M.A. “Whatever you frequently think and ponder upon, that will become the inclination of your mind” ~ Buddha According to a recent poll, Canadians reported being more exhausted and less happy than past years (The Angus Reid Institute, 2024).  As I reflect on my clinical work, what brings many clients to the […]

By: Alyson Dudley, MSW, RSW As I write this blog, I’m thinking about March Break. Many of my clients, friends and family have discussed trips they are going on hoping to, as the name suggests, have a break. Even if a sunny vacation in the tropics is not in the budget, many others are hoping […]

By: Alissa Vieth, MPH, RD The human body functions best when it is getting the nutrition that it needs. If the body does not get the nutrition it needs then it can have an impact on all aspects of someone’s life. The body is very wise and will change how it functions to try and […]

By: Sara Carpentier, MSW, RSW Although I would acknowledge that we have gained some traction towards reducing mental health stigma and talking about mental health, I still believe that we have a ways to go! Stigma is still very much alive, and most of us are hesitant to open up and disclose challenges around our […]

By: Alyson Dudley, MSW As a therapist at Broadview Psychology, I work with parents providing individual parent therapy and I also co-lead a parenting group for parents of adolescents. One of the first topics I discuss with parents is the DBT skill of validation. I find it important to discuss it first to lay the […]

By: Alissa Vieth, RD When we gather with others it is often going to involve food, especially with holidays or festive gathering when we get together with family and friends. Whether you are recovering from an eating disorder, disordered eating, or chronic dieting, gathering will present new and different challenges and obstacles. The reality is […]

By Dr. Vaunam Venkadasalam, Ph.D Erving Goffman (1963) defined stigma as a “deeply discrediting” attribute. A discredited attribute could be easily detectable, such as skin colour or body size, or it could be hidden but discreditable if disclosed, such as a criminal record or struggles with mental health (Claire, 2018). Regardless of whether the attribute […]

By Zahra Ali, M.Phil One evening, when I entered home after a usual day of work, I saw Phoenix, my dog, sitting in the corner of the balcony, wagging her tail but not approaching me. I noticed that her gaze and body posture were lowered, her ears were tucked back, and her tail, although wagging, […]