Many clients contact me asking for resources/tools to manage overwhelming anxiety or numbness/shutdown. Overwhelming anxiety is commonly the nervous system response known as “fight or flight”. When the mind/body perceives threat, the sympathetic nervous system shifts into gear and mobilizes the body to respond to the threat: heart and respiration rate accelerates, blood moves to…
We all know the experience of anxiety: increased heart rate, bodily tension, shallow breathing, racing thoughts. These are the mind/body’s response to perceived threat and uncertainty, and can range in intensity from mild to extreme. Anxiety is different from fear, which stems from an identifiable threat. Fear typically energizes us to fight or flee: our…
Boundaries are important in your relationship with others and with your Self and are, therefore, a key aspect of emotional well-being. Boundaries are learned in childhood, when we learn where our parents end and we begin. Without a clear boundary between self and parent, the child remains enmeshed in the relationship. Boundaries are invisible, the…
This sounds obvious, but is not! It is one of the most important building blocks to mental health; however, no one teaches us how to engage and regulate emotion. In fact, our society discourages us (in many ways) from feeling emotional pain. Most psychological dysfunction stems from unprocessed emotional pain. Emotional pain can surface in…
In this age of video games and social media, many of us need reminders and practice around how to genuinely connect with others, including our children. Whether your child is a toddler or a teen, your influence is only as strong as your relationship. Rules and disciplinary strategies will not work without a strong underlying…
Continue readingFoundation Blocks for Mental Health: Connect with your Kids
Let’s start at the beginning because there is a lot of confusion around what therapy/counselling/psychological treatment is and is not. First, anyone can set up shop and call themselves a “therapist”. The word therapy is not regulated by any professional body. There are many different schools that train people in psychotherapy: psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical counsellors,…