Everyone has triggers that set automatic negative paths in motion due to specific types of situations. In order to address one’s triggers, the therapist, with the patient, often needs to identify which situations are difficult and trigger negative thoughts. It is helpful to ask the patient to monitor their feelings and/or behaviours and identify in…
Voluntary slowing down of breath frequency can have psycho-physiological changes in brain-body interaction. When you use certain breathing techniques to slow down your breath, you can tap into your central nervous system and change your psychological status – for example, from being anxious to being calm. Anatomical studies, using fMRI, have shown that by breathing…
If you are one of the 264 million people worldwide who suffer with anxiety, you are probably working to build a toolkit of strategies that can help reduce anxious feelings and mitigate triggers. The five tips below can be used in high stress moments to bring you down from an anxiety or panic attack, but…
What is art therapy? Art therapy is a modality, in which art and psychology are combine to address the presenting emotional and behavioral difficulties. The focus of art therapy sessions is often on exploring emotions, thoughts, and behaviors from a symbolic way, in which clients are not obliged to verbalize their thoughts or how they…
Psychedelics and drugs like ketamine are all the buzz these days showing promising results for some with symptom reduction for all kinds of mental health disorders. However, is the hype grounded in reality? It begs the question of who is a good fit for these treatments and what makes a doctor qualified to administer such…
I decided to support a friend at an AA meeting for the first time during COVID. I have to admit that it felt eerie when I first entered the room. Nothing like how it used to be before the pandemic. After all, all who were inside were desperately in need of psychological resuscitation. However, when…
Self care is the ultimate buzz word in therapy. We are bombarded with reminders to practice self care as a coping skill, to decrease stress, to recharge our batteries. But what actually constitutes self care? Visions of spa days and yoga classes come to mind, but seem out of reach for a typical day as…
The holidays are an excellent time to bond and strengthen family relationships, however they can also be stressful particularly when dealing with family conflict and differing personalities. Some conflict can arise spontaneously, while other times there may be hurt feelings from the past that present themselves again when you reunite. Today I want to focus…
If we are feeling stressed, stuck, or confused, we have an innate wisdom inside of us that we can use to guide us back to clarity and direction. The first step in connecting with this inner guidance system is to take in a few slow and deep breaths to ground yourself back into the present…
Why can it feel so difficult, uncomfortable or draining to feel stress, and what is stress and how does it happen? Stress is a byproduct of our Fight or Flight Survival system. This is triggered when our well being is threatened in some way, either a physical threat, or an unhealthy self belief, or maybe…