Tag: Mental Health
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The Beachball Analogy On The Power Of Letting Go: Acceptance And Commitment Therapy
Many people often think of acceptance as the same as giving up or staying stagnant in our lives. They view acceptance as bad and the enemy of change. However, there is a lot of power in acceptance. In fact, acceptance has formed the core of more recent ‘third wave’ therapies, such as acceptance and commitment…
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Potential Pitfalls Of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (And How To Fix Them)
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is often thought of as the gold treatment standard for mental health issues. This is because CBT is evidence-based, meaning that research has consistently supported the benefits of treatment. Moreover, most hospital-settings prefer CBT as the primary psychological treatment because it is short-term (to reduce wait times to receive services) and…
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What Maintains Low Mood? Perpetuating Factors Of Depression
In life, feeling sad from time to time is a totally normal experience. When we experience loss, we feel sad and grieve – whether it’s a loss of a loved one, a relationship, or an opportunity (like not getting a job that you wanted). However, when sadness turns into prolonged episodes of depression, that is…
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5 Common Therapy Goals For Anxiety And How To Work On Them
Anxiety is a common problem that people come into therapy to treat. However, what exactly are folks hoping to change by coming into treatment? This post discusses five goals for anxiety commonly discussed in therapy. The first four relate to overarching goals that most folks with anxiety problems could probably benefit from improving. The final…
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How Sleep Problems Stick Around: The 3P Model of Insomnia
Bad nights versus insomnia disorder Everyone has a bad night from time to time. However, for some, the one bad night turns into a steady stream of bad nights. Suddenly, you are not having a bad night anymore. You have insomnia. The question is: why do sleep problems sometimes stick around? In this post, I…
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10 Key Lessons I Learned As A Therapist From My DBT Supervisors
This year I have been working full-time as a psychology resident at a specialized healthcare setting for mental health. It has been a challenging but certainly rewarding journey. One of the rotations I am working in is the Borderline Personality Disorder clinic. The recommended treatment for BPD is dialectical behaviour therapy – a form of…
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Treatment Goals For Depression For Patients Starting Therapy
Introduction Depression is a very common psychological problem that many people endure at some point in their lives. The symptoms of depression can be very distressing and impact important areas of our lives. For example, work, school, family, social connections, and our interests and hobbies. Symptoms of depression include: Importantly, depression is different from normal…
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Typical Salary For A PhD Level Clinical Psychologist
Getting a PhD in clinical psychology and becoming a licensed psychologist is no easy feat. This process typically requires around a decade of postsecondary education: 4 years undergrad, 5-6 years completing the doctoral degree, another year for residency, and then an extra year to complete supervised practice. A question then floats into many folks’ mind:…
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How Happy People Stay Happy – A Therapist’s Opinion
Happiness is a very important goal for most people. However, the art of being happy is surprisingly challenging and most folks find the goal of always being happy – or even being happy sometimes – pretty elusive. I’m not an expert of happiness by any means (besides being a fairly happy person myself). Throughout my…
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Benefits of Providing Validation As A Therapist
What is Validation? Validation is affirming that what a client is feeling makes sense. That there is something ‘valid’ about their emotional experience to an event. Providing validation is a very common skill used by therapists. It is a way to communicate understanding and acceptance of the human in front of them. In doing so,…
Simply mental health 