Posts

On February 16th 2015, at around 4:15pm, I received a call while at work from a friend who lives in my apartment building. She said “Chris, there’s a fire in our building and we’ve been evacuated. But don’t worry; the fire is on the opposite side of the building from where we both live.” At…

Sam came in highly nervous to attend his first therapy session. He was distressed and stated his doctor wanted him to have Cognitive Behavioral Therapy  (CBT) for his depression, anger, and  anxiety.  Sam feverently  added, “I don’t have a million dollars to spend on therapy and don’t want to be in here for the rest…

“Something is not right” Barb was sharing with her friend Jill over coffee, “Jessica is on the computer every night for hours, and when she is not on the computer, she’s on her cell phone.” Jill gave an empathetic groan, “I know what you mean, my daughter is the same.” “Yeah, but something is different…

“I just want to be happy.”  “The thing I wish for my kids is that they would be happy.” These are common statements that people give to explain why they decided to engage in therapy. We all love to be happy. There have been popular songs such as “Happy” by Pharell Williams. It’s a catchy…

Liz and Dan recently received a call from the school counsellor informing them their 14 year old daughter, Becky, has been cutting herself. Liz and Dan were in disbelief and confusion. Becky has always been an outstanding child who is friendly, outgoing, does well in school, is in cheer competitively and helps out around the…

EMDR has been used and researched for 25 years, and is considered a highly effective therapy for resolving trauma. Nevertheless, it remains somewhat mysterious and misunderstood. Written explanations can become jargon filled very quickly. Visual demonstrations of the process can raise concerns as it looks strange. In an effort to shed some light on the…

Do men go through a midlife crisis? Is there research to support such a concept or is this an “urban legend?” The books “Passages” and “Seasons of a Man’s Life” were published several years ago but were based on small samples of investigation. Yet, men in their early 50s or 60s arrive in my counselling…

We gathered our children and grandchildren and headed to the west coast of Vancouver Island for a short family vacation. As in the past, we were anticipating the opportunity to enjoy each other’s company and remove ourselves from the demands of everyday life. We knew that there would be laughter, great food and long walks…

Most people have some understanding of what is meant by Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, some may not realize that this diagnosis relies on specific criteria and needs to be made by a medical expert- a doctor or psychologist. While it is true that all children can at times be distractible, impulsive and hyperactive,…

Cognitive therapy for depression, a widely used approach, is based on the notion that depressive symptoms—sadness, loss of enjoyment, fatigue—are actually products of fear. That is, the person has allowed anxieties and doubts to take over, and to become the only “truths.” She starts to believe the fears are the total story, whereas they really…

As the counselling session was winding up, Jack’s counsellor discussed recommendations for Jack to follow up with before their next scheduled session together. “Jack, please read this handout, it relates to a number of the points we talked about in our session.” “Also, I would like you to do some writing.” “Writing?” said Jack. “I…

Maya Angelo, the beloved American poet, stated “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”. How we react to others over time creates deep and lasting feelings that are remembered indefinitely. Martin Seligman describes four different types of…