Building Stronger Family Bonds Through Gratitude
Family life is filled with moments of joy, stress, routine, and unpredictability. In the midst of busy schedules and occasional conflict, one powerful yet often overlooked tool can transform how families connect: gratitude. Research shows that gratitude isn’t just about saying “thank you,” it’s about noticing, appreciating, and responding to the efforts and care of others. When gratitude becomes a regular practice in the family system, it can significantly enhance relational satisfaction and overall wellbeing. But how can we show gratitude within our daily lives? [...]
How Emotion Focused Therapy Helps Teens and Their Caregivers Find Safety in Relationships
I want to share some reflections on Emotion Focused Therapy for Youth (EFT-Y). This approach holds a special place in my heart, not just as a therapist, but also as someone who deeply believes in the adaptability and growth potential of young people. Discovering the EFT for Youth model brought me back to working with teenagers after a long break. When I came across the EFT model for Youth and Caregivers, I felt like I had finally come home. I want to express my [...]
Building Strong Bonds: Connecting with Your Teen through Relational and Emotion-Focused Perspectives
Building Strong Bonds: Connecting with Your Teen through Relational and Emotion-Focused Perspectives Introduction The teenage years can be a challenging period for adolescents and their parents. Maintaining a strong emotional connection becomes increasingly important as teens seek independence. This blog post will explore how parents can connect with their teens from an attachment and emotion-focused perspective, fostering emotional intelligence, resilience, and a secure parent-child relationship. The Connection Between Parent and Child Attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby (1969), tells us that children form strong [...]
Guiding Your Children Through Social Media Use
As a parent of a GenZ child, you might be familiar with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, but the number and complexity of social media platforms are growing at a strikingly rapid pace.From a young age, we are taught to not talk to strangers, but what happens when that stranger has “mutual contacts” with you or, better yet, is “verified” on social media?Keeping up with your children’s social world can feel more and more complicated and stressful. In order to better equip yourselves to engage in [...]
Parental Burnout: When the Demands of Parenthood Wear You Down
What do you think of when you hear the word “burnout?” Maybe you imagine an overworked employee drowning in an endless heap of deadlines, or maybe you imagine a university student who stays up night after night studying until they inevitably reach a breaking point. What about parents? We don’t often talk about parenting and how much burnout it can lead to. While parenting can be a rewarding and life-changing experience, it also comes with a mountain of responsibilities and expectations that can leave one [...]
Emotion-Focused Therapy: What Can It Do for Me?
With so many psychological treatments available, it’s no wonder that people struggle to figure out what the best treatment is for them. With emotions running high now more than ever throughout this global pandemic, one type of therapy that people may begin to consider exploring is Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT). However, what is EFT, and what can it do for us? EFT was primarily developed by Canadian psychologist Dr. Les Greenberg. As the name suggests, EFT focuses on people’s emotions, recognizing that “emotions are the [...]