Parental loss can shake your entire world. Whether your loss was recent or many years ago, grief from losing a parent can resurface at unexpected times and in different ways across your lifetime. You may feel deep sadness, anger, numbness, guilt, relief, or even confusion about how you “should” be coping after loss. There is […]
Postpartum depression can feel frightening, lonely, and confusing. If you’re struggling after childbirth it’s important to know that you are not failing as a parent, and you are not alone. At Monarch Psychology in Calgary, we support many parents who experience depression after birth and are trying to understand what is happening, how to cope, […]
If you have ever sat in a church pew feeling like your world was falling apart, only to have a well-meaning friend tell you to “just pray about it,” you know the unique sting of spiritual bypassing. You may have walked away feeling not only the original weight of your anxiety or grief but […]
I have had many sessions with clients (mainly men) on a concept for which they struggle to overcome. That is, trying (and usually failing) to be Superman in our everyday lives. I believe at some point in our lives, we want to be a hero or at least experience something which identifies us as heroic. […]
When you love someone struggling with addiction (for example, drugs, alcohol, food, porn, gambling), your world often shrinks until it revolves entirely around their choices, their safety, and their moods. You may find yourself trapped in a cycle of “saving” and “rescuing” them, only to watch the same patterns repeat. The hard truth that many […]
Feeling Stressed? Here are 7 Neuro-Science Backed Ways to Become More Resilien Understanding the effects of our past can help us deal with stress both now and into the future. Gleaning from the study of brain formation and function, neuroscience has discovered what is known as a pattern of stress which can help us become […]
There is something seductive about being told you are right. And increasingly, that is exactly what millions of people are getting when they turn to AI chatbots for emotional support, relationship advice, and personal guidance. A landmark study published this week in the journal Science by Stanford University researchers has confirmed what many clinicians have […]
When the Healers Need Healing Every day, counsellors, therapists, and health workers across the globe step into rooms filled with pain, trauma, and human suffering. They listen, they empathize, they guide pouring their emotional energy into helping others heal. But who is listening to them? Who holds space for the healers when the weight of […]
We talk about rest constantly. We tell each other to slow down, to unplug, to take a vacation. Wellness culture has turned recovery into an industry sleep trackers, meditation apps, productivity podcasts that devote entire episodes to the importance of doing nothing. And yet, most of us remain deeply, persistently tired. Part of the problem, […]
“Practice self-care” is common advice—especially when life feels overwhelming. But not everything we call self-care is actually care. Sometimes it’s self-soothing: a quick way to calm discomfort in the moment. Both self-care and self-soothing have a place in emotional wellness. The key is knowing which one you’re using—and whether it’s helping you heal or simply […]
