Parenting comes with many challenges and can be frustrating! You may be tired of repeating yourself, feeling out of control, and wondering how to get your children to do what you want them to do or to stop them from doing what you don’t want them to do.
We can help! Come and join How to Talk so Kids Will Listen & Listen so Kids Will Talk, a 7-week Parenting Workshop to learn tools that will help you improve your communication and your relationship with your children.
Many of us come from an upbringing where punishments were common, and we have been taught that using punishments is the main way to discipline a child or correct behaviour. But is it really the best way? Dr. Vanessa Kurdi want us to reconsider what we know and think more deeply about why we reach […]
How best to respond when your child feels anxious or worried? Should you crack a joke to distract them? Reassure and say there’s nothing to worry about? Protect them from the source of their distress by avoiding it? Intuition often leads us in those directions, but the best strategies may be ones that help our children recognize the source of their anxiety in order to overcome it. Clinical psychologist Dr. Sara Colalillo shows how caregivers can help kids cope with their anxiety by helping them face their fears.
Why is being kind to ourselves harder to do than being kind to others? Why is it so hard to give ourselves a break? What it means to be self-compassionate, and how we can put it into practice, are things we will explore in this blog post on the ins and outs of self-compassion.
For many, although part of us wants to change, another part of us has a hard time imagining doing things differently. In her blog on Exploring Ambivalence, Dr. Maeve O’Leary-Barrett looks at the value of paying attention to ambivalence with a special regard for how it relates to difficulties in our relationships.
What does “being” versus “doing” look like? How can this be explained? In her blog To Do or To Be, clinical psychologist Leanne Rondeau shows how the Guided Discovery experiential exercise from Dr. Paul Gilbert, founder of Compassion Focused Therapy, can help us understand the difference.
We can’t always say ‘yes’… in fact ‘no’ is not only sometimes necessary but also, a good answer. Dr Lisa Linardatos discusses people-pleasing, boundaries and the discomfort at the root of our avoidance when it comes to letting other people down.
Exploring and understanding reasons for a teen’s reluctance to therapy – from fear of judgment, pride, or feeling forced by an adult, to prior negative experiences in therapy, disinterest, or confusion about the process – can help prevent mislabelling teens as treatment resistant. Dr Amanda Plokar shares pointers for parents to consider that can help make teens more receptive to getting the help they need, and sticking with it.
“It’s your fault… no, it’s your fault… no, it’s your fault…” Does this blame game sound familiar? We have a tendency to assign fault to ourselves or others, for things that go wrong both inside and outside of our control. But is it always helpful, or even accurate? Dr. Amber Labow urges us to look at ways we can build awareness and curiosity in order to arrive at more constructive and mindful solutions…and resist the urge to engage in the blame game.
“Why do I have to talk about my past when I’m dealing with a present problem that is causing me so much pain and suffering? Can’t you just give me tools to help me get rid of these feelings so I can feel better?” Connecte clinical psychologist Dr. Krista Pratte walks us through what emotions are, where they come from and why that matters to how we feel now. An indispensable read for anyone in therapy or considering therapy.
