The issue of body image shows up in my counselling room daily. It's not the pain point that usually brings clients in, but it is one we more often than not uncover over the course of treatment. It lurks in the background insidiously, often appearing in the form of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and disordered eating. According to DoSomething.org, a whopping 91% of women are not happy … [Read more...]
self-compassion
Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS): The Therapy Everyone is Talking About
Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) is a relatively new and innovative form of therapy, developed by psychotherapist Richard Schwartz, that has been gaining increasing popularity in recent years. This approach to therapy helps individuals to understand and resolve the inner conflicts and traumas that exist within their mind, soul, and body. What is Internal Family Systems Therapy? There … [Read more...]
Stop the Social Comparison and Feel Better Without Therapy
Social comparison is one of the most insidious and destructive games we can play, and nearly always leads to a decrease in mood. It is the practice of looking at the lives of others from the outside, via social media, TV, or within our social circles, and assuming those people either have it easier or have more than we do. Ironically, where one person may seem to have abundance you can assume … [Read more...]
5 Ways To Feel Better Right Now Without Therapy: Part Two, Reframe Your Perspective
"Feel the feelings, drop the story." Pema Chodron. Studies show we have between 60,000 and 90,000 thoughts per day. That's a lot, and if they all contributed towards making ourselves into the best human we can possibly be, happiness would seem far less elusive. Unfortunately many of those thoughts are repeated multiple times throughout the day. Some of them may be checklists of things we don't … [Read more...]
5 Ways To Feel Better Right Now Without Therapy: Part One, Cultivate Awareness
I'm a therapist, so believe me when I say that therapy is good and helpful and a lifeline for many people. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be in the field. However, therapy is not always accessible. Community services out there are growing, but unfortunately we have a long way to go before mental healthcare is available to all Canadians in the same way as physical healthcare. Thankfully, … [Read more...]
Why is Self-Kindness So Challenging?
Why do we find it so hard to be kind to ourselves? What is it we're afraid of? We deprive ourselves when we make self-kindness the last thing on our agenda. And we deprive the ones we love of the best we have to offer them. Because how we love ourselves is how we love others. What is self-kindness? Self-kindness is looking in the mirror and finding something we like today rather than hacking … [Read more...]