Grief
Retirement Success
Baby Boomers (born 1946 onwards to 1965) are either working full or part time, fully retired or in the process of retiring...depending on their circumstances or goals. Tom worked as a banker for years and now, in his mid 60s,...
Age-Related hearing Loss and Mental Health
Mary is 67 and she came in to discuss her fear that her 69-year-old husband had something terribly wrong with his behaviour. She noted that he was experiencing depression, irritability, isolation, confusion, anxiety and, at times, what appeared to be...
A Few Thoughts on the Death of George Floyd
The tragic death of George Floyd is yet another example of the nastiness of discrimination and prejudice that exists in the United States and across the world, including Canada. The sense and tone I’ve gotten from social media is one...
How to Talk About Suicide
Suicide is an emotional word. Feelings of confusion, fear, anger, and even disgust are common responses when the topic comes up in conversation, rare as that might be. As a clinical counsellor, I have felt all of these emotions when...
Up In Flames – part 2
About three and a half years ago I wrote the article: 'Up In Flames' that can be found at Psychealth.com. It was written shortly after my apartment burned down and shares my experience navigating through that challenging life event. This...
Using Pop Culture to Impact Positive Change – Part 2
Welcome back! In Pop Culture Part 1, I discussed how, when connecting with children/youth, I utilize pop culture to: 1) develop and enhance rapport, and 2) gather information in regard to values, traits and indicators of resiliency. Please go to...
Up in Flames
On February 16th 2015, at around 4:15pm, I received a call while at work from a friend who lives in my apartment building. She said “Chris, there’s a fire in our building and we’ve been evacuated. But don’t worry; the...
Chasing Happiness
"I just want to be happy." "The thing I wish for my kids is that they would be happy." These are common statements that people give to explain why they decided to engage in therapy. We all love to be...
EMDR: A Client and Therapist Perspective
EMDR has been used and researched for 25 years, and is considered a highly effective therapy for resolving trauma. Nevertheless, it remains somewhat mysterious and misunderstood. Written explanations can become jargon filled very quickly. Visual demonstrations of the process can...
