Wellness culture and its unfair burden
July 30, 2020 | Social Justice
I used to believe that everything could be resolved in one’s life by changing oneself. If only we could have the right thoughts and feelings, things would be great. Looking back, I understand where that belief came from. So much of our Western, colonialist culture holds myths of individualism, meritocracy, and self-reliance. To an extent,…
On BIPOC mental health and stigma
July 21, 2020 | Social Justice, Society
First recognized in 2008 in honour of Bebe Moore Campbell, USAmerican author, journalist, teacher, and mental health advocate, BIPOC (formerly Minority) Mental Health Awareness Month aims to shed light to the fact that BIPOC and other historically excluded groups are often less likely to receive diagnosis and treatment for mental illness, receive a poorer quality…
The traumatizing experience of systemic discrimination
June 29, 2020 | General, Social Justice, Society, Therapeutic Process, Trauma
I’ve always thought it strange that we have the “day of” or the “month of” in our calendars. I think it often ends up as a perfunctory exercise on performative involvement, or as a marketing strategy at worst. Despite this, today I’d like to choose a less cynical, more hopeful outlook, and focus on thinking…
On activism, race, and privilege
June 01, 2020 | General, Social Justice, Society
I am an immigrant woman; I have an accent. I’ve been told my skin is too light and I’m white passing. I’ve actually been told, “to me you’re white!” which hurt because, guess what, I am Latina. My experiences and background align with my identity of Latina, too. On the other hand, I’ve also heard…
Learning to trust again after pain
May 29, 2020 | Anxiety, Connection, General, Society
When I work on the issue of trust with my clients, I like to tell them that we all need to trust each other. We need to trust that the driver next to us knows what they’re doing, we need to trust the grocery store will be stocked with what we need, we need to…
As a therapist, I’m a GPS
April 23, 2020 | General, Therapeutic Process
Do you wonder what a therapist is actually doing in session? Trying to describe my job can be difficult. How do you explain the dynamic interaction between client and counsellor? Research consistently suggests that the quality of the therapeutic relationship is one of the main aspects of making therapy work. An important ingredient to this…
Adapting to change through curiosity
April 07, 2020 | Awareness, General, Self Care
Life has changed. In the past few weeks, I have done my best to adapt to the new normal. I run my practice fully online now. To do so, I researched multiple video call platforms, read enough Privacy Policy documents to last me a life-time, talked to several colleagues, and studied best practices for telepsychology….
My practice, you, and COVID-19
March 23, 2020 | Seaglass News
We’re all going through a lot right now. The whole world is. Sometime in the near future, I hope to share with you everything I have been doing to respond to the current situation. I would also like to tell you about how I am hopeful that all of humanity may have the chance, right…
COVID-19: Learn about my continuity plan
March 15, 2020 | Seaglass News
Due to the rapidly changing scenario in the province regarding COVID-19, I wanted to share with you the continuity plan for my practice. It is my aim to be proactive while remaining committed to my social, professional, and ethical responsibilities. As of today, the risk level in Alberta for COVID-19 is low. To align with…
Micromeditating as self care
February 28, 2020 | Awareness, Connection, Self Care, Spirituality
Finding time to engage in self-care can be hard. We live such hurried, busy lives! Knowing how important self-care is motivates me to keep trying to make time for it. Also, it feels really good to take care of myself. A fail-safe way for me to make time for it is to do things that…