In Pixar’s 2015 hit animated movie Inside Out, we watched Riley’s emotions-Joy, Sadness, Anger, and the gang-literally battle for control of her brain’s command center. […]
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After three decades as a therapist, I’ve heard a lot of stories from clients who are struggling with many different issues, but in the last […]
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Somatization – also known as somatic symptom disorder and conversion disorder-happens when emotional stress or inner conflict shows up in physical ways. It’s a powerful […]
I meet a lot of students in Toronto who quietly tell me the same thing: “I thought university would feel different.” They imagined busy hallways, […]
As a psychotherapist, I see many people entering the holidays emotionally exhausted from life’s demands, rather than looking forward to celebrating with family and friends. […]
A “bid for connection” is any small attempt one partner makes to get the other’s attention, support or affection. It might be a comment, a […]
I’ll never forget the client who came to my office with chronic tension headaches. Through our work together, we discovered they intensified every Sunday evening, […]
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Do you apologize for everything? For speaking up in meetings? For taking the last slice of pizza? For existing in elevators? Do you say “sorry” […]
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Emotions are a fundamental part of being human. They can inspire us, motivate us, and help us connect with others. However, when emotions become overwhelming […]
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As leaves change and evenings settle in earlier across Toronto, it’s common to sense anxiety gaining ground. While authors like Albert Camus have described autumn […]
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Note: This content may be triggering. Please check in with yourself and choose what feels kindest for your well-being. Trauma goes beyond catastrophic events like […]
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Teens face unique stressors including academic pressure, complex social dynamics, and the challenges of growing up in today’s fast-paced digital world. These factors can heighten […]
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As summer winds down, families are preparing for the new school year. For many children and teens, back-to-school is an exciting time filled with new […]
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Monsters and Poetry: Mental health ideas to respond to existential dread As a social worker and therapist, my job is to listen deeply to the […]
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Why Sleep is a Crucial Component of Mental Health Sleep is often overlooked when it comes to mental health, but it plays a crucial role […]
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What parents need to know about eating disorders As we’ve seen in the media recently, over the course of the pandemic there’s been a striking […]
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Parents don’t cause separation anxiety—but they can help treat it There’s something so visceral and heartbreaking about kids with separation anxiety. You’re dropping your child […]
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How In-person Therapy Compares to Virtual Therapy When it comes to accessing therapy, each individual has unique preferences, needs and life circumstances. Virtual therapy, which […]
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Does It Matter If My Therapist is Trauma Informed? By Kathy Netten Trauma is defined as an overwhelming experience or emotional shock. Natural disasters, war, […]
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Unlocking Mental Wellness: The Profound Impact of Sleep We all know that sleep is helpful and necessary. When you struggle with getting enough sleep, or […]
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Therapists and Clients Have to Maintain Healthy Boundaries. Here’s Why I was talking with a friend a little while ago about the representations of therapists […]
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Boundaries in Therapy Practice Do You Have Healthy Boundaries with Your Therapist? Here’s How to Tell In my last blog I explained that client-therapist boundaries […]
The Need for Boundaries Therapists and Clients Have to Maintain Healthy Boundaries. Here’s Why I was talking with a friend a little while ago about […]
Navigating the January blues. As January makes its annual return and familiar sentiments resurface, we find it helpful to revisit this blog. Navigating the challenges […]
Peaceful Holidays in Troubled Times: Navigating Family and Solo Celebrations with Grace Though originally penned a couple of years ago, the wisdom shared in this […]
Emotion Focused Therapy For Couples Can Improve Relationships For therapists, counselling romantic couples is complex, but also immensely rewarding. The complexity comes from having to follow two […]
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Falling Back? Tips to Get Back Up! The end of daylight savings time landed on Sunday, November 5th. This means that clocks get set back […]
Talking about hard things As a social worker and therapist, it is part of my work to ask about pain, suffering, anger, and grief. I […]
5 Simple Self-Care Tips for Students Self-care as a concept is familiar to many of us. As adults, we know that it’s important to take […]
Your Therapy Welcomes New Therapist Maura Mcclellan We’re pleased to welcome Maura McClellan, another talented and experienced therapist, to our Your Therapy team. Maura is […]
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Helping Your Child with Back-To-School Anxiety It’s hard to believe, but yet another summer seems to have flown past, and we’re once again approaching back-to-school […]
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Radical Acceptance: A Path To Healing And Growth When faced with a difficult life circumstance, there are times when we’re able to solve a problem […]
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Why are we offering “brief therapy?” Because it helps. When most people think about therapy, they imagine sessions happening over weeks or months, as the […]
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A new approach for children, teens or young adult struggling with anxiety Is there a child or teen in your life struggling with anxiety, but […]
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The benefits of working with a therapist of a different gender Starting therapy can be both exciting and scary, and it’s normal to have concerns […]
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The effectiveness of video therapy has been a pleasant surprise The height of the COVID-19 pandemic was a difficult time for everyone, and one most […]
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Remember to stop and smell the flowers this spring Are you feeling overwhelmed at work and irritable at home? Are you sacrificing sleep to get […]
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Walking meditation brings mindfulness to an everyday act Meditation is a way of training our attention, so that we can be more aware our inner […]
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How to help a partner who’s dealing with depression When you love someone, you naturally want to support them through life’s ups and downs. When […]
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5 Questions To Ask Yourself When Your Teen Keeps Telling You To Leave Them Alone As a parent you want to know what your kid […]
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How parents can recognize and treat school refusal Now that it’s November, and the school year is several months old, most families have—to their great […]
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Spring cleaning for your mind Spring cleaning is a serious undertaking in many households. We chant “out with the old, in with the new,” clearing out […]
What to do if your child is being bullied Biff from Back to the Future. Regina George from Mean Girls. Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter. […]
Small Steps for Big Change: The Importance of Tiny Habits January is a time when we often take stock, and think about resolutions and making […]
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Why this therapist needed help with recent trauma A few weeks ago I experienced a very personal reminder about the causes and effects of trauma, […]
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4 Strategies to help you achieve your New Year’s goals With shorter days and cold weather, the winter months are a perfect time to slow […]
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If seasonal changes are challenging for you, know that you’re not alone. Emily Atkinson, RSW at Your Therapy, shares six ways to help your mind and body transition to a new season. […]
When practiced regularly, deep breathing can provide relief from stress, anxiety, shallow breathing or sleeping disorders. […]
All children feel some anxiety, and separation anxiety when they are young. When these feelings rise to a point that is difficult to manage therapists at Your therapy can help children overcome the feeling of separation anxiety through play therapy. […]
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Locked in a dark room. A constant heaviness in your chest. Empty inside. Feeling only half alive. Being dragged into darkness. Drifting through life like a ghost. These are just a few of the ways that people describe the experience of major depression. […]
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Our team of Toronto therapists that parents are often very focussed on guiding our adolescent children toward a happy and productive adulthood. However, there’s one area of their lives that’s easy to overlook, but extremely important: mental health. […]
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5 Questions to Ask Yourself After the First Few Sessions. From time to time, I’ll be turning over my blog to other therapists specialising in depression from the Your Therapy team. […]
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New year… new me? As January arrived, you probably celebrated by making New Year’s resolutions, entering 2022 year full of optimism […]
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As an Indigenous mental -health professional, I take a holistic approach to wellness, focusing on creating and maintaining balance in different aspects of life. […]
You don’t have to be a depression therapist in Toronto to know that a lot of people have anxiety about going back to work, dealing with Omicron, and everything that goes along with starting a new year. […]
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From time to time, I’ll be turning over my blog to other depression and anxiety therapists from the Your Therapy team, so they can share their own insights on mental- health issues. […]
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‘Tis the season of joy and fellowship, when loving families gather ’round hearth and home, basking in each other’s love and
support. […]
As an anxiety therapist in Toronto, I often see clients struggle more during the cooler fall months. In The Waste Land, poet T.S. Eliot famously wrote […]
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As an anxiety therapist in Toronto, I know that most people have at least one person in their life who radiates negativity. That friend, family member, partner, colleague or […]
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This morning, I noticed how dark the sky was when my alarm rang. Summer is slipping into fall. Pandemic protocols will once again be part of the return to school. […]
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As therapists offering anxiety therapy in 2021, we know that the new school year can be filled with both excitement and anxiety for children and […]
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As depression and anxiety therapists in Toronto, we counsel many clients who struggle to achieve a healthy balance between […]
When discussing treatment options for clinical depression (also called major depressive disorder), I’m often asked just how effective talk therapy is for this common and serious mental health challenge. […]
Even though I’ve discussed somatization (also known as conversion disorder, somatic symptom disorder, functional neurological disorder etc.) several times, I still get a lot of questions about it. […]
Deciding to start seeing a therapist is big step, but it’s just the first step in a process. This blog is about how you interview a therapist, so you can find the best fit possible, […]
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Most people outside the mental health professions are surprised to discover that trauma is much more common than they might think. The Canadian Psychological Association estimates […]
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Clinical depression, also called major depressive disorder, is one of the most common mental health challenges, affecting literally millions of Canadians at any given moment. […]
On several occasions, I’ve written about how seriously anxiety disorders can impact a person’s quality of life. However, there’s another important aspect of anxiety disorders […]
February can be a tough time of the year. It’s the coldest month, and also the time when 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail. This year, impacted by the global pandemic, […]
It is normal to feel anxious from time to time, but how do you know if you are suffering from an anxiety disorder, meriting anxiety treatment? Facing a problem at work. […]
Also known as somatization disorder, conversion disorder or Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder, somatization is a condition where a person […]
On the night of Sunday, December 13, 2020, a cargo jet touched down at Mirabel International Airport in Montreal, carrying Canada’s first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine. […]
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Few experiences in life are more distressing than hearing someone express thoughts of suicide. Not only is it shocking, hearing suicidal thoughts can leave you feeling helpless […]
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For those who’ve never experienced clinical depression (also called major depressive disorder), it’s hard to understand how crippling it can be. In fact, depression […]
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In this crazy year of 2020, the back-to-school season is unlike any other in our lifetimes.The new school year has been a time of excitement for parents and kids, but in […]
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Anxiety is, without question, one of the most common mental-health concerns I address in my practice. Literally millions of Canadians deal with anxiety disorders […]
It’s a common joke that “Can we talk?” is the scariest thing any romantic partner can hear from another. But for many of us, initiating a difficult conversation […]
Most of us can agree that there’s nothing more refreshing than a good night’s sleep. While we’re all doing our part to stay safe and make the most of an unexpected situation, it might be […]
Of all the people I see in my practice, few are more distressed and discouraged than those dealing with somatization disorders. There are many factors making this condition difficult to deal with, […]
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In this blog, I’m going to talk about self-care for depression. But I need to offer some important background, and be very clear about what exactly what can—and can’t—be accomplished via self care. […]
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In my previous post, I offered some thoughts about one of the most common mental health conditions I see in my practice: anxiety disorders. In this post, I’ll be talking about common treatments for anxiety, […]
While we hunker down in our homes to help flatten the curve of the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, the feeling of isolation may be discomforting. But we are not alone, we are in this together. […]
As I write this, it’s been about 10 days since Canada began dramatic steps to lessen the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially the requests for all citizens to self-isolate, and practise social […]
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Welcome to my new blog! My hope is that it will offer an interesting and lively addition to the www.yourtherapy.ca website. In the coming weeks and months, I’ll use this space to discuss the […]
Your Therapy offers strengths-based therapy for individuals, couples, and families, led by experienced Social Workers and Psychotherapists. We collaborate closely to ensure effective, high-quality care.
Your Therapy offers strengths-based therapy for individuals, couples, and families, led by experienced Social Workers, Psychotherapists. We collaborate closely to ensure effective, high-quality care.
