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What Your Emotions Are Trying to Tell You: Understanding Anxiety Through a Nervous System Lens
Our emotions are a gift, a support system, a call to action and a guide map. Learn how to use harness the powers of your emotions.
Why Self-Compassion Feels So Hard (Especially If You Grew Up With Self-Criticism)
Have you ever noticed that you're kinder to almost everyone else than you are to yourself? Many of the people I work with are deeply compassionate. They support their partners, children, friends, and colleagues with patience and understanding. But when they make a...
Why Some People Leave You Feeling Drained: Protecting Your Energy and Nervous System
Have you ever spent time with someone and walked away feeling completely drained? Maybe you felt fine before the conversation. But afterward, you feel tired, irritable, heavy, or like you need some time alone to recover. Sometimes we describe people who have this...
Why Love Doesn’t Always Feel Like Love: A Trauma-Informed Look at the Five Love Languages
Many people have heard of the Five Love Languages, a concept developed by Dr. Gary Chapman that describes five common ways people tend to give and receive love: Words of Affirmation Acts of Service Receiving Gifts Quality Time Physical Touch The idea has helped many...
The Power of Gratitude: A Daily Practice for Your Mind, Body and Nervous System
Gratitude is one of those practices that sounds incredibly simple. Notice what is good. Appreciate what you have. Say thank you. But I think there's something deeper happening when we practice gratitude. Gratitude shifts our attention. It asks us to slow down long...
What Does It Actually Mean to “Process Trauma”?
Understanding the Phases of Trauma Therapy One of the most common things I hear prospective clients is: “I really want to process my trauma.” And yet, when I gently ask what that means to them, many people aren’t entirely sure. Sometimes they imagine it means talking...
6 Signs You May Be an Introvert (And Why That’s Not Something to Fix)
For many years, our culture has celebrated qualities that are often associated with extroversion: being outgoing, highly social, quick to speak, and always ready for the next event. If you're someone who prefers quieter environments, enjoys spending time alone, or...
Why Confidence Feels So Hard (And Why “Fake It Till You Make It” Isn’t the Whole Story)
Many people assume confidence is something you either have or you don't. They look at confident people and imagine they must feel certain, fearless, or naturally self-assured. But that is rarely what I see in therapy. More often, I meet people who are waiting to feel...
6 Somatic Strategies to Help Calm Anxiety
Have you ever tried to think your way out of anxiety, only to find that the racing thoughts, tight chest, or restless energy simply won't settle? That's because anxiety isn't only a thinking problem. It's also a nervous system experience. When your nervous system...
IFS Therapy for High Achievers: Why Success Never Feels Like Enough
You’ve worked hard for the life you have. The career, the title, the income, maybe even the house, the partner, the whole picture. By every external measure, you’ve made it. So why does it still feel hollow? If you're a high achiever in Toronto quietly wondering “why...