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 are crucial for creating a professional and ethical environment where therapy can take place. Strong boundaries allow clients to be vulnerable, and explore difficult thoughts and experiences without fear of judgment, and truly are the foundation of the therapeutic relationship. I decided to explore this topic after seeing so many therapists in TV shows and movies portrayed as routinely crossing—or blowing up—professional boundaries ..read more

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 the representations of therapists that you seen in movies and on TV, and how most of them are shockingly inappropriate. He pointed out that bad therapy seems to make for good drama (or comedy). That may be so, but it really gives people the wrong idea. The examples of bad therapists go from Dr. Marvin in What About Bob? to Dr. Melfi in The Sopranos, to the recent TV show Shrinking, to well, almost all of them. In fact, it’s hard to think of a goo ..read more

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 of January can be an uphill battle for many individuals. As we grapple with the return to work and the general adjustments associated with the new year, it’s crucial to acknowledge the impact on mental health. The reality of January in northern climates is one of cold, darkness, and a sense of post-holiday aftermath. While December offered moments of joy and celebration, January demands the settling of bills and a return to rou ..read more

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 blog resonates even more profoundly today as we navigate a world marked by ongoing challenges. The insights on thriving through family gatherings and embracing solo holidays remain relevant, offering guidance for finding joy and resilience in the midst of the complexities we face today. It’s a repost that feels timely, urging us to rediscover the strength to celebrate amidst turmoil and cherish moments of harmony, whether surrounded ..read more

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 individual narratives, and the intersection between them. However, when one person can share their vulnerable emotions and needs, and have their partner accept these, it’s truly transformative. Many emotional wounds can be healed by addressing these underlying attachment or identity needs, leading to a more supportive and loving relationship. One way that we at Your Therapy work with romantic partne ..read more

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 an hour and a collective disorientation ensues. While some celebrate the extra hour of sleep, many are left in dread of the seemingly archaic time change concept. Either way, we can all use some helpful tips on how to get back up when the fall-back time change knocks us off balance. So why does a change in a measly hour disorient us so much? Well, we may not use it to tell time, but we still take cues from the sun. For instance, the sun has impacts on our se ..read more

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 feel privileged when someone I am consulting with can share their experiences, and their emotions with me. As a parent, it can feel very different. I have an urge to protect my daughters from difficult information and experience uncertainty about how to talk about difficult subjects. As the violence of the war in Israel and Palestine is dominating the news and the way that this issue is polarizing communities it can feel hard to know how to talk about these thin ..read more

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 care of ourselves mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally. But what about our kids? Do they understand the importance of self-care or how to build it into their lives? Back-to-school season is a good time to help our kids adopt a self-care plan, so they can use it throughout the school year (and their whole lives). Encouraging good self-care habits in your kids not only teaches them how to take care of themselves, but it also shows them it’s valuable ..read more

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 season. For many children, September is an exciting time. They look forward to seeing old friends, making new ones and facing the challenges of a new grade, or even a new school. But it can also be a time of heightened anxiety, with other youngsters worrying about these new teachers, social situations, fitting in and even being away from home all day. It’s perfectly normal for kids to have worries, but it’s also extremely import ..read more

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 of January can be an uphill battle for many individuals. As we grapple with the return to work and the general adjustments associated with the new year, it’s crucial to acknowledge the impact on mental health. The reality of January in northern climates is one of cold, darkness, and a sense of post-holiday aftermath. While December offered moments of joy and celebration, January demands the settling of bills and a return to rou ..read more