How we can help

 Do you feel like you can’t control your emotions? You may be struggling with emotional regulation:

• Angry/irritable, feeling like little things can set you off
• Feeling like it’s difficult to get out of bed, get moving or motivated
• Finding it difficult to fall or stay asleep 
• Mood swings or frequently crying
• Feeling like you’re “zoning out” and are unsure of how you spend your time 
• Feeling like you have to control a situation to feel okay
• Judging yourself or others harshly
• Experiencing perfectionism

Depression, fear, and anxiety are some of the most common and uncomfortable emotions that we can experience at some point in our lives. Through counseling and treatment, we are able to help you recover motivation, perspective, and joy in your life. 

Many individuals can experience symptoms associated with painful and traumatic circumstances. Anxiety, fear, and hopelessness are a few emotions that can linger after traumatic events. We can help you overcome these symptoms and guide you through the process of grief and healing.

Awareness is the first step towards change. From there we teach new skills and tools to better manage emotions to help you thrive and achieve greater peacefulness in your life. 

We work from an attachment-based perspective which understands that we are shaped by our closest relationships and childhood experiences. By examining your relationship history we can connect past experiences and learned behaviour to current unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviours. We provide healthy relationship education and communication skills to help you navigate setting healthy boundaries and improving your relationship skills. 

Signs that you are struggling with relationships:

• Feeling lonely and like you have no one to turn to
• Frequently feel wronged in relationships 
• Patterns of being in unhealthy romantic relationships or finding yourself months/years into a relationship where you've come to realize that you are not being treated with love or respect
• Determined that you can only be happy if someone else changes their behaviour 
• Experiencing frequent fighting at home, work, or school 
• Noticing that you attract the same “type” of unhealthy people/relationships in your life
• Struggling with self-esteem and feeling shameful about yourself 
• Becoming angry or annoyed with your parents/siblings and/or having difficulty feeling close to your family members
• Craving approval or acceptance from your parents and experiencing feelings of failure or being unloved

 There are many different life situations that can overwhelm a person’s capability to cope and that can leave lasting emotional scars, long after the situation is “over”.  People often think of trauma as war, serious accidents, death, being assaulted, being abused or having surgery. Traumas can also include losing a job, experiencing a breakup or divorce, chronic illness, rejection, bullying or humiliation. These experiences may be seen as something that a person “should just get over”, adding invalidation to an already painful situation.  While many people think that trauma is something that happens to you, trauma can also constitute the absence of attuned emotional support and nurturing. For example, some people had happy, stable families and because of their own mental health challenges or hectic lives, their parents were not able to give them the attuned support that young people need to develop emotionally. Engaging in therapy can help you fill in the developmental gaps that may have been missing from your childhood, so you can feel mentally healthy, confident, and resilient. 

Symptoms of trauma

• Avoiding people, places, or situations that remind you of a past situation
• Sudden feelings of panic 
• Feeling hyper-vigilant to danger, and feeling as if you are constantly anticipating something bad will happen
• Experiencing nightmares 
• Trouble falling or staying asleep
• Feeling persistently tired, lethargic, or depressed 
• Feeling shame about who you are as a person 
• Difficulty trusting others 
• Engaging in unhealthy relationships 
• Feeling numb and disconnected from your body
•  Experiencing flashbacks or sensation of "reliving" your trauma