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 [...]
A Puppy Pandemic: Unleashing the Mental Health Benefits of Having a Pet
Growing up, I never had a pet dog. My parents, both working professionals, had to balance their employment schedules with raising four children, and it was simply not in the cards for our family. While we had fish, birds, and even turtles, my siblings and I attempted to use our best persuasion skills to convince my parents that we could somehow manage to take care of a dog whilst being in school all day. This, of course, was unrealistic and we instead turned to the [...]
Pandemic Protection: More Than Just Masks
Please Note: The names of the clients have been changed to protect their privacy and confidentiality. During a regular follow-up with my 17-year-old client, Lily, she was thrilled to inform me that against all the odds of the lockdown, she had matched with, and fallen for, an older guy, Jack, on a dating app. She exclaimed that this was her first “real relationship”. Even though her parents had firm expectations around COVID-19 precautions, Lily was determined to spend time with her new boyfriend. To [...]
How Living an Active Lifestyle can Improve your Mental Health & Well-being
By: Nicholas Commisso Physical Exercise (PE) is commonly associated with physical and aesthetic fitness. People who regularly partake in PE typically appear more fit, carry more lean muscle tissue, have greater cardiovascular health and are more likely to excel in athletics. However, there is so much more to fitness than this! Arguably more relevant and vital to today’s climate, PE can drastically improve the quality of a person’s mental health. Continue reading to understand some of the reasons that an active lifestyle can improve [...]
Tips for Healthy Social Media Use
With the use of social media growing, so is our dependency on it. In Canada, 84.9% of internet users visit social media sites, spending hours online which can lead to negative metal health impacts. So how can we fight this?