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Grief is how our bodies cope with loss. It can be the loss of a loved one, a friend, a job, a pet, or we can even grieve the loss of who we once were (e.g. after an illness). Grief is normal and is a healthy part of healing and experiencing a significant loss. Here are several strategies you can use to help with the process of grief. 1) Acknowledge and validate your feelings Many of us are not well attuned to our emotions/bodies, so grief may show up in other ways that are le

It's an unfortunate element of our society that we are incentivized to disregard how we feel and focus almost solely on outcome and producing ever more. A recent poll found that 76% of people experience burnout at some point in their careers. With work and family life demanding so much from us, we often feel overwhelmed and ready to give up. The first step in tackling burnout is to be honest with yourself and recognizing how you are feeling. 1) Recognizing the Signs of Burnou

Since the pandemic, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of taking care of our mental health. Thankfully, there is also far less stigma associated with having a therapist. If you have come to the realization that you could use some extra support in your life but feel confused and overwhelmed about how to find a therapist, here are some strategies to help you. 1) An excellent starting place in searching for a therapist is psychologytoday.com. You enter your cit

Living with bipolar disorder can make life feel really challenging and difficult to navigate. The unpredictable mood swings and changes in energy can disrupt daily life and routines. For those with this condition, they can swing between manic feelings, whereby they feel eurphoric and impulsive, and severe depression, where they may feel hopeless and suicidal. If you struggle with bipolar disorder, here are a few things you can do: Consider getting a therapist to support you B

For people who struggle with their self-esteem, emotional boundaries can be very difficult to articulate and maintain. At a basic level, boundaries refer to the line between you and someone else. More importantly, they refer to how you want to be treated by others. For those who struggle with boundaries, it is common to express boundaries aggressively or too defensively. The reason this occurs is because the person putting up the boundary doesn't feel comfortable with the bou

Phone addiction refers to a compulsive need to check ones phone, which can lead to anxiety and aggitation when that need cannot be satisfied. Phone addiction can lead to a variety of negative consequences, including loss of sleep, distraction, negative self-esteem, and neglect of other areas of ones life (e.g. hygiene, friends). If you suffer from phone addiction, here are some steps you can take: 1) When trying to make any sort of change in your life (e.g. quitting a substan

Psychosis is a condition whereby a person's ability to determine what is real has been compromised. People who suffer with psychotic episodes can often see frightening things that don't exist, such as shadow creatures (hallucinations). They may also experience delusions/paranoia, whereby they feel like they are being watched or recorded (e.g. cameras in the ceilings), or they have false beliefs that random events in society are directly related to them (known as ideas of refe

Panic attacks can be frightening and they can arise suddenly. Symptoms include: a racing heart, dizziness, feeling like you are going crazy or having a heart attack, difficulty breathing, and feeling a sense of terror. The good news is that panic attacks are very treatable, often within just a few therapy sessions. However, if you want to work on it on your own, here are some strategies: 1) Deep breathing is the most important step in dealing with panic attacks. It is best to

Self-esteem is your sense of self-worth. It typically develops before the age of 10 and is heavily influenced by the messages you received as a kid from your parents or parental figures. If one or both of your parents was distant, was working all the time, had a substance issue, or even if they just had exceedingly high expectations, all of these things could have negatively impacted your sense of self. You can gauge your degree of self-worth by listening for the critical voi

When working with clients who have substance abuse problems, one of my first questions is always - What are your goals in terms of your substance use? Does the client have a history of being able to drink or use substances in a controlled manner? If not, I often encourage the client to consider abstaining completely, at least for a few weeks to a month, just to determine what effects it has on the person's life. If you have decided to make some changes to your substance use,