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I decided to write some tips for dealing with depression. I often feel that when I read others people's tips that they do not know what depression feels like or do not fully capture the essence of just how debilitating depression can be. You will often see that you have to change every aspect about you all at once that is not the case. In order to find recovery you have to take each day 1 step at a time. #1 Be ready to make a change: Reading any tips or guides is useless until you feel that you are [...]

As the first snow has startled us, reminding us of something that needs no reminding, winter is coming. I wanted to take this opportunity to remind all of you to mentally prepare for the winter. Yes this snow will come and go rather quickly but it serves a purpose to get us in the right state of mind to combat those winter blues. Many people struggle with depression, loneliness and anxiety during the winter months. Summertime is easy to be active and engaged, we love being outside and enjoying everything Edmonton has to offer. However, as the days get shorter [...]

My parents come from completely different cultural backgrounds and they ended up divorcing in Europe. My mother ended up re-marrying a widower with four children and we moved into a home that still included a hurting, bitter mother-in-law (mother to diseased wife of my step dad). Everyday life was full of “you don’t belong here” and verbal insults, later on followed by sexual abuse and a step dad that could not cope, drowning his frustration in alcohol. Most of what I remember is trying to avoid going “home” or locking myself in my room, turning up music. Men in my [...]

Wow, this is a HUGE one. I cannot tell you how much I abused this. My example is my body image. I would walk by a window or a mirror and think "omg how sick". How is that supposed to make someone feel inside? I never felt good after telling myself these things, how would anyone? It is about learning to stop that negative self talk the moment you realize you are doing it. In my case, I still do not like seeing my reflection in the mirror, but I no longer tell my self "ugh disgusting" or "omg how [...]

Thanks to Susan Pajaro for sharing her guest blog with me. Below is a great entry discussing the power of thinking and how it can help with your depression. Our thinking can have a tremendous effect on the way we feel. The more awareness we bring to our thoughts, the more we can learn to change them, thus having less power over us. Positive thinking is a key instrument to getting over depression and anxiety. If you are interested in reading more of Susan's blog please visit: http://abigaildaybyday.blogspot.ca/ "I can officially say that after my bout with depression I have learned [...]

Your weekend has come and gone which brings forth the ever dreaded Monday morning. For many people it is difficult to get up, get motivated and transition back into the workweek. For others it is getting back on track with the diet and exercise they excused themselves from over the weekend. There are worries of work to catch up on, uncompleted tasks, errands to run, and the feeling of despair and longing until your next weekend arrives. Monday’s can seem incredibly overwhelming as we try schedule, plan and set goals for the week. It is a slow transition into productivity [...]

Please take a moment to read this therapeutic letter. Letter writing is a tool I often use in working with clients. The intent of this letter was to focus on providing support to this client’s younger self. The kind of support which she never received from her own parents. The intent of this was for it to be written to her younger self as if she was in the parenting role. All identifying information has been excluded from this letter. I have also been given permission by the individual to share it with all of you. I am sharing this, [...]

Psychologist Blog As I sat last night browsing my colleagues various websites, it dawned on me that the majority of psychologists, myself included have made the mistake of trying to sell you (the potential therapy client) on something that you have no interest in. Many of us psychologists convey that each and every person is unique and has their own personal experience with depression, anxiety and numerous other mental health related problems. In many ways we are saying “book a session with me, because I will understand and empathize with your individual situation.” Although empathy and understanding are critically important [...]

When you Google anxiety you will see it defined as: A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. A desire to do something, typically accompanied by unease. A nervous disorder characterized by a state of excessive uneasiness and apprehension, typically with compulsive behavior or panic attacks. What I am going to focus on in this blog is how these states of anxiety are reinforced through avoidance. At a very basic level, anxiety is about having an irrational, emotional reaction to a certain event or situation, despite your brain recognizing the [...]

You are paying for a service and you are entitled to get the full benefit from that service. Your psychologist works for you. Through my experiences with clients there appears to be a large discrepancy between a psychologists approach to counselling and a client’s expectations to counselling. Many psychologists are trained as facilitators in the sense that they will help you navigate problems in your life in a way that empowers you to problem solve and come up with creative solutions. Furthermore, many psychologists are taught or trained never to give direct advice. However, many clients are not aware of [...]