To the Bone: The Newest Movie to Cause Concern for Mental Health Practitioners
Netflix is the center of controversy once again. Not long ago the Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why, thrust the streaming service into the mental health spotlight as the series covered the issue of teen suicide. Recently, Netflix released the trailer for a film called, To the Bone, and many mental health professionals are voicing their concerns. To the Bone is set to be released July 14th on Netflix. It is a drama starring Lily Collins, Keanu Reeves and Carrie Preston. The descr
Emotion Regulation
I am sure most people have heard emotions being spoken about metaphorically as a liquid in some sort of vessel. For example, we hear people saying they are filling their cup or bucket when doing something for themselves or another to increase happiness or in doing a good deed. Such as when teachers have a bucket where children can fill it by doing tasks in the school that are helpful, kind or generous. You also hear of people saying they are filling their cup when taking care
Stride to Wellness with Walking Therapy
Walking therapy. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? You are talking to a counsellor and walking in public. About your problems! What if people see you? What if you run into someone you know? Seeking help from a mental health provider has long been stigmatized. People fear admitting they have an issue will make them look weak. Being in public may be cause for uncertainty but here is the thing: walking therapy is private. Counsellors who provide walking therapy ensure all precautions are
Career Planning Series Part 3: Research, Decisions, Action.
If you have been following along with the career planning series you should have a general overview and some insight into the first two steps of the process. In this final post of the series let's touch on the final three steps of the process: research, decisions, and action. Basically, the last three steps is where the work begins. Step three is gathering all the information you need to make your decisions. Research, ask questions and collect information. It’s fairly self-ex
Career Planning Series Part 2: Starting the Search
In part one of the career planning series I listed five steps as an overview of the process. It is my intention to highlight the importance of steps one and two of that list by further explaining and expanding on them. During career workshop presentations I noticed many parents and older students wanted career planning to start with an aptitude test. Aptitude tests measure how someone performs on specific tasks or handles different situations. I believe this to be the case be
Career Planning Series Part 1: Career Planning in 5 Steps
When I worked in the university counselling department during my practicum, I was in charge of facilitating a workshop on Career Planning. There is a tonne of information to weed through on the topic and I mulled over a way to succinctly convey what I covered in that presentation. That proved difficult so I created a career planning blogging series, instead. I think this will be especially helpful for students preparing to enter post-secondary education, those nearing the end
10 Things You Can Do For Your Mental Health
I'm celebrating the halfway point of my 30 day blogging challenge by creating a list of things, some of which I've already blogged about, that can benefit your mental health. 1. Take care of yourself A. Eat nutritious food and drink plenty of water Make sure you eat a balanced diet including fruits, vegetables and whole grains. We all know how the food we eat can make us feel but we also need to pay attention to the impact on our mood. Experiencing nutrition related groggines
Presence through Gratitude
Yesterday I wrote about being present as a way to find a more nuanced fulfilment in life. I thought I would expand on that today by discussing our ability to find presence through gratitude. I learned how to do this through a women’s group I attended. We were encouraged to notice small miracles and the many intricacies we see every day but take for granted. It can be a little unusual to do at first but once you start to make a habit of it, it comes more naturally. For example
Wishing Our Days Away
It’s Monday and I will let you in on a little secret: I’m not really a Monday person. Weekly, I anticipate Friday to spend time with family, friends and fun activities. I do countdowns in my head or on social media. What I have found, though, is that I spend a lot of time wishing my life away. I pine for every Friday and neglect Monday through Thursday, and before I know it, months have passed by! It’s astounding and a tad scary that the days seem to vanish. It’s common, in l
13 Reasons Why
If you have a youth in your life that has access to Netflix, they may be amongst a growing group of kids binge watching a series called 13 Reasons Why, which is based on a young adult novel of the same name. If you haven’t watched it, it’s about a 17 year-old highschooler, Hannah Baker, who commits suicide after recording audio tapes that she leaves behind for 13 people. These individuals are labeled by Hannah as playing a part in why she killed herself. Within these tapes th
