To help reduce the likelihood of mental health impact of this difficult and lonely pandemic time, Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD, well-known for his expertise in helping people who have experienced traumas, explained in a webinar I recently watched* some idea …

Many people wonder why they’re feeling so [sad, anxious, stressed, angry, etc.]. The model that primarily guides my work, “cognitive behavioural therapy” (“CBT”), explores 4 aspects of an experience like sadness—the emotion for sure, but also the relat …

Who you are, who you are not, what you believe, and what kind of people you want to spend time with, in part inform your “identity,” the formation of which was seen by developmental psychologist Erik Erikson as taking place across adolescence.1 I was r …

  In a recent Toronto Sun Article (19Apr2019) entitled “Where’s the support for male victims of domestic violence?”, Centre for Men and Families Executive Director Justin Trottier writes, “Three Canadian sociologists have released a ground-breakin …

This post in psychologist Alan Godwin’s “The Drama Review” series is originally entitled, “Shifty Manipulators and Their Corrupting Effects”. It is most interesting and insightful, depicting via the story of It’s a Wonderful Life the risk of selling yo …

Below is a link to an article exploring this interesting question. It’s on the website of the International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry (ISEPP), is written by Wayne Ramsay, J.D. (a lawyer with the “Law Project for Psychiatric Rights” …

A recent journal article in “Social Theory & Health” entitled “Contemporary public perceptions of psychiatry: some problems for mental health professions” explains that, “Social movements led by service users/survivors [aka patients/clients] have w …

These are not the same. Rather than reinventing the wheel though, to explain the difference I defer to Psychologist Dr. Toby Watson’s post, “Subjective Diagnosis and Limitations to Psychiatric Diagnosis”: “Psychological and psychiatric diagnosis are un …

As explained in “What is CBT?”, the ‘C’ in CBT stands for ‘cognitive’ which refers to thoughts. Your thoughts. To help you explore your thoughts, one fairly common element of a CBT session, and a core competency of CBT psychotherapists (1), is “the Soc …

As explained in “What is CBT?”, the ‘C’ in CBT stands for ‘cognitive’ which refers to thoughts. Your thoughts. Many people come to therapy thinking, “Am I a bad person?” This reflects that they might hold some variation of the thought, “I might be a ba …

As explained in “What is CBT?”, the ‘C’ in CBT stands for ‘cognitive’ which refers to thoughts. Your thoughts. Many people come to therapy thinking that they want to be “happier.” But what do they mean? That they want to experience more moment to momen …

There is lots of talk in the media lately about “CBT” psychotherapy. CBT stands for “Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.” It is one “approach” to guiding psychotherapy (talk therapy); there are others, such as Humanistic, Psychodynamic, etc. Essentially, cogn …

There is a lot of criticism of young people today for preferring psychological security to liberty. In his October 14, 2017 New York Times article entitled, “Why are Millennials Wary of Freedom?”, Psychology professor Clay Routledge suggests that it is …

In addition to a light bulb predecessor, “gaslighting” can refer to a strategy some people use in order to control other people in an often undetected, covert, but insidious manner. The term comes from an old movie (spoiler alert!!) called “Gaslight” i …

Updated 17 March 2018 “Psychotherapy is primarily a talk-based therapy intended to help individuals improve mental health and well-being. Psychotherapy occurs when the Registered Psychotherapist and client enter into a psychotherapeutic relationship wh …

The psychotherapy landscape in Ontario can be confusing for members of the public who often just want someone to talk to. There are all kinds of titles, and lots of jargon, and all this can feel like it’s getting in the way of just finding a good fit w …

Last week I first became aware of the popular new term – “virtue signalling” – as distinguished from actually being virtuous. I first heard it on an October 11th news program where the host explained, “These people are not virtuous – they’re virtue sig …

With so many options out there for psychotherapists / coaches / counsellors, it can be difficult to choose one that is right for you! Some things you might want to consider in your decision are1,2: Her qualifications (including ongoing professional dev …

The Globe and Mail on Feb. 25, 2012 featured “What the Doctor Ordered” — an article touching on the cognitive traps physicians (and almost everyone!) can fall into when making decisions/diagnoses.  The article described a handful of these traps.  Ther …