The teen years are an important developmental time. Important things that happen during this time include: 1. Forming important relationships Teens spend more and more time with peers. Peers influence the formation of their identity and allow to them to try out different groups to see where they fit in. Teens may face stress in…
Low Self-Esteem: That Must Be Because I’m Worthless, Right Ever feel worthless? Most people do. But if you feel like that all or most of the time something’s wrong. Self-esteem is not a “thing,” it’s how you feel about yourself. It’s a feeling, a state of mind. Self-esteem is a judgment you make about yourself,…
Relationships depend on mutual respect. The value of family life, marriage of loving and stable relationships in bringing up children is central to relationships. Rights and responsibilities underpin relationships for self and others. Commitment to safety and wellbeing is important to consider in forming a familial relationship. Gender equality has to be considered but outside…
As we all know, puberty is a very stressful time. It’s a time of change in multiple facets of adolescent lives: physiological, physical, psychological and social as well. It takes some time to get used to all the turmoil. Some of the most shocking physical changes are the growth spurts, new growth of hair and…
As a psychotherapist, I’m in the business of hearing how people, especially women, talk about their bodies using hateful and disparaging terms. They aren’t alone. I’ve done the same myself, and so I know how hard it can be to make peace with our imperfect bodies (are they ever anything else?) let alone feel loving…
Before we became parents, many of us had an ideal image of what that role would look like. This image is often based on our own experiences of being parented. Consequently, we might decide to parent our children similarly, or we might enter into parenthood with a determination to parent in a dramatically different way,…
Clients come to my office for a number of reasons. For example, when they’re feeling depressed, when they’re feeling anxious, and when they are experiencing conflict in their relationships, but also when they’ve become bored with their lives. For these people, meaning and engagement in life seemed to have disappeared without conscious awareness, and not…
For many women, their female friendships have been a source of comfort, support, laughter, and joy. For others, they have been mired in betrayal, mean-spiritedness, and competition. But for most of us, they’ve been a combination of these two extremes, and typically, even before we reach the age of twelve! But, by the time we…
I grew up with several negative beliefs that I later began to understand were myths because they were simply never true. Negative beliefs, on the other hand, can sometimes be true to some extent, but often, they too, can have a long-term detrimental impact on the way you view yourself. And, if you actually believe…
June is convocation month, and all around the world students are celebrated as they make their way out of their post-secondary, and often, personal, nests as they fly toward the next phase of their lives. Most of us watch them cross the stage with joy at the possibilities that we imagine for them, as well…