MindScape Psychology Inc.
380 5th St SE T1A 0M8 Medicine Hat, AB, Canada

I feel like it’s time to change the narrative a bit about our kids returning to school. I don’t say this to belittle anyone who is struggling with the decision.... In fact, I have tons of my own anxiety about my own children’s mental and physical health upon returning to school. My heart hurts for the teachers who have to make immense changes to their teaching style and learning environment. It’s so hard. It’s scary. It’s different. And we are all grieving that change in our own way. But for our children’s sake, I think it’s time to acknowledge that we are grieving and then look at what else we are not saying. It will be hard, yes. It will be different, yes. Will it be sad? It feels like yes - but that’s where we are forgetting that we have choice in how we see it. Right now we are telling our kids and ourselves that different is sad. That distance is sad. And it can be. I know we are hard-wired for connection and community. Be we are also hard-wired to survive. And to adapt. Nowhere in the collective conversation about returning to school am I seeing the focus on resilience. We can do hard things. We can do change. We can connect differently. Our kids need to hear this message. When all they hear is our own anxiety, they will forget that they can do hard things. They will forget that they can have fun and make friends and learn and find joy and fulfillment even through tough times. If we want to change our children’s year for the better, and if we want to shape our children’s mental health to be resilient and strong, then we need to tell them the message that just because it’s hard does not mean it’s impossible. Just because it’s hard does not mean it has to be sad. So many things in life are hard and the sooner we can start equipping our children with the inner narrative of I-Can-Do-This and I-Can-Be-Happy-Even-In-Hard-Times, the sooner we begin to ease the strain on our mental health system and simply promote a happier, more well world. Yes, it is hard. But we can do hard things. -Tobi, mom of 4, psychologist.

From The Holistic Psychologist...give her a follow. Good stuff going on over there. Emotional dumping feels good temporarily. It also can become such a deeply... engrained pattern that we have no awareness that someone else is there with us. We need connection. We need people to be our sounding boards, offer unique perspectives, + give us grounding, attached security. Most of us haven’t experienced mutual, authentic sharing in childhood, so it’s a skill we must practice. Some Ways To Break From Emotional Venting: 1. Pause before bringing up what’s going on for you and ask are you in an emotional space to listen to something that’s going on for me? 2. Have awareness that someone else is also experiencing emotions as you share your own How are you feeling? Tell me what this is like for you Is there anything you’d like to share? 3. Notice how often you connect over your own emotions + life events vs how often you reach out around someone else’s 4. Honor that someone has held space for your experience I really appreciate you listening to this as I work through it. 5. Affirm the safety the person has in doing this for you Please know you can come to me to work through things as well #selfhealers

We’ve been busy helping protect our community! Matt (my partner and an engineer), along with two of his colleagues, designed face shields that tuck below the chin and are entirely washable/sanitize-able. They designed, collaborated, sourced material, produced and (with the help of PPE Medicine Hat) distributes these in under two weeks. MindScape has donated funds to make sure these ingenious shields can be used by professionals who cannot hide their face with a mask. We will continue to find the production of these as long as the Matt’s small nonprofit group is willing to make them. Stay safe everyone!

Pandemics are tough on HR professionals and your employees, alike. Join registered psychologist Tobi Ceh of MindScape Psychology Inc. as she helps identify stru...ggling employees, understand what Mental Health is, and how to create a healthy workplace. When: Monday June 22, 12pm-1pm Find the link to join at chinook.albertacf.com/current-events Community Futures Entre-Corp Business Development

Weve been busy helping protect our community! Matt (my partner and an engineer), along with two of his colleagues, designed face shields that tuck below the chin and are entirely washable/sanitize-able. They designed, collaborated, sourced material, produced and (with the help of PPE Medicine Hat) distributes these in under two weeks. MindScape has donated funds to make sure these ingenious shields can be used by professionals who cannot hide their face with a mask. We will continue to find the production of these as long as the Matts small nonprofit group is willing to make them. Stay safe everyone!

Looks like business restrictions will slowly be lifting in Alberta next week. What a relief for so many! MindScape will continue to offer online and phone sessions, as well as offer limited blocks of face to face sessions. We will monitor the status of Covid in Alberta and flex as needed. Stay safe everyone!... Tobi See more

Check out this treasure trove of private parenting thoughts. Shared en masse throughout the world, alone but #together. Do any of these ring bells for you right... now? Lots of beauties on The Mom Brain Therapist page. https://www.instagram.com/mombrain.therapist/ https://linktr.ee/mombrain.therapist #neurochild #selfcare #parentlife

I used to work with Dr. Garland at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre. She knows her stuff!

Mental Health support for our doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and all other medical professionals is a vital part of the COVID 19 battle. Which is why Im starting an online support group for those amazing people. Stay tuned for more details. https://www.theglobeandmail.com//article-ive-fought-epide/

This is a great article about how were feeling, and what to do with it. https://hbr.org/20//that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief#

So today the provincial government announced their response to the mental hardships caused by Covid; they have set up a text line where you can receive inspirat...ional quotes daily... How much more insulting could they be? How misguided are they and how misunderstood is mental health, still? People are going into crisis. All Albertans are literally fighting for our lives and livelihoods. Meanwhile, psychologists have been lobbying the governments at all levels to increase access to psychological care for years. Now, when faced with a true crisis never seen before and guaranteed to create massive amounts of psychological turmoil, does our government increase access to mental health help? Do they create a fund for Albertans to use to help get a counsellor? Do they increase staff at their woefully understaffed AHS mental health services? No. They set up a text line so you can get an inspirational quote. What a punch in the gut. Please, if you care about people getting help, write to your MLA. None of us will be able to help as we will all be unemployed in a few months..

And remember also, Fight or Flight isn't always our response. More often than not our mirror response to trauma is Tend and Befriend. And that is necessary now more than ever :)

I have increased my hours and will be offering telepsychology/Skype sessions during the COVID pandemic. If you know anyone who is looking for counselling, I'd be happy to take the referral!

Take care of your mental health. And your neighbours

This room. I love this room. Its where Ive seen so much pain. And so much joy. Tears happen here every day. And so does bravery. Courage to face corners within a person so dark that they threaten to overwhelm, but faced anyway because without doing so would be to succumb to fear and live half a life. I love this room and I love this view. And I know that psychologist training is heavily focused on keeping love and self separate from client work, but Ill be damned if that ...training has stopped my heart from melting into each and every one of my clients lives. Ive often thought that psych training was too sterile and unrealistic. Being a postpartum mom and a psychologist has brought a lot of blended lines into my life, but I dont mind. My vulnerability has made me a better therapist even if it costs me a bit more energy. Which is why I need to send this message today to all my clients. I love you. All of you. And Im finally ok saying it. This world is too scary right now for clinical, sterile lines between our emotions. There are already too many lines being drawn between our bodies, for good reason. Social distancing will save lives. But emotional distancing will end them. So let me say this to all of you that need to hear it: I love you. You inspire me and give me purpose and strength. You are brave. And maybe you are scared. I know I am. And thats weird to say out loud because Im kind of a proud person. But scared is ok. It wont kill me. I can do hard things and I know you can too. You are not alone. We are not alone. I may have to change therapy to a screen pretty soon, but that doesnt matter. I will still be with you, and you with me. Thats the magic of therapy, however its offered. Thank-you for letting me into your life. I hope we can all lower our emotional distance as times get tougher. Lets not let the virus leave people lonely and afraid. Instead, lets let it leave people filled with connection and grit. Thats the point of therapy. Thats the point of love.

And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were sti...ll. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently. And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal. And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed. Kitty O'Meara

Its easy to panic as we are forced to slow down and stay home. But perhaps this is our chance to choose to slow down, reconnect, and be with loved ones. This can be an adventure or a struggle. You get to choose which.Its easy to panic as we are forced to slow down and stay home. But perhaps this is our chance to choose to slow down, reconnect, and be with loved ones. This can be an adventure or a struggle. You get to choose which.

Self-care is often a very unbeautiful thing. It is making a spreadsheet of your debt & enforcing a morning routine & cooking yourself healthy meals & no longe...r just running from your problems & calling the distraction a solution. It is often doing the ugliest thing that you have to do, like sweat through another workout or tell a toxic friend you dont want to see them anymore or get a second job so you can have a savings account or figure out a way to accept yourself so that youre not constantly exhausted from trying to be everything, all the time & then needing to take deliberate, mandated breaks from living to do basic things like drop some oil into a bath and read Marie Claire & turn your phone off for the day. A world in which self-care has to be such a trendy topic is a world that is sick. Self-care should not be something we resort to because we are so absolutely exhausted that we need some reprieve from our own relentless internal pressure. True self-care is not salt baths & chocolate cake, it is making the choice to build a life you dont need to regularly escape from. And that often takes doing the thing you least want to do. It often means looking your failures and disappointments square in the eye and re-strategizing. It is not satiating your immediate desires. It is letting go. It is choosing new. It is disappointing some people. It is making sacrifices for others. It is living a way that other people wont, so maybe you can live in a way that other people cant. It is letting yourself be normal. Regular. Unexceptional. It is sometimes having a dirty kitchen & deciding your ultimate goal in life isnt going to be having abs & keeping up with your fake friends. It is deciding how much of your anxiety comes from not actualizing your latent potential, & how much comes from the way you were being trained to think before you even knew what was happening. If you find yourself having to regularly indulge in consumer self-care, its because you are disconnected from actual self-care, which has very little to do with treating yourself and a whole lot do with parenting yourself and making choices for your long-term wellness. It is no longer using your hectic and unreasonable life as justification for self-sabotage in the form of liquor and procrastination. It is learning how to stop trying to fix yourself and start trying to take care of yourself and maybe finding that taking care lovingly attends to a lot of the problems you were trying to fix in the first place. It means being the hero of your life, not the victim. It means rewiring what you have until your everyday life isnt something you need therapy to recover from. It is no longer choosing a life that looks good over a life that feels good. It is giving the hell up on some goals so you can care about others. It is being honest even if that means you arent universally liked. It is meeting your own needs so you arent anxious and dependent on other people. It is becoming the person you know you want and are meant to be. Someone who knows that salt baths and chocolate cake are ways to enjoy life not escape from it. Words by the incredible Brianna Wiest Incredible artwork by Amanda Oleander Art The Motherhood Project Follow: https://www.instagram.com/themotherhoodprojectnz/

Sign up!! Share with the youth!!

Exactly my thoughts.

NOT due to mental illness... https://www.apa.org//press/re/2019/08/statement-shootings

Good news! You can now book directly into my calendar if youd like counselling! https://outlook.office365.com//MindScapePsycholo/bookings/

On being a human

PTSD does not have to be a death sentence! I was honoured to be interviewed for the article below. In January Ill be partnering with other local psychologists to offer a PTSD support group. Message me if youre interested https://chatnewstoday.ca//firefighter-raising-awareness-fi

Its not too late to get help

Because Sharing is what I believe in :) Im honoured and excited to be sharing space with no less than 5 other talented psychologists in town. Thankyou Ana, Angie, Paul, Carla, and Neil for welcoming me with open arms! If youre looking for therapy and are not sure where to start, try our office out. We all have unique specializations and training.

So many parents are hungry for strategies to help their children. They are looking for how to promote good mental health, reduce mental illness, and grow resilient adults. This is a great starting point.

There's an excellent job opportunity for anyone who is passionate about Mental Health Promotion and has a Bachelor's Degree or related experience :) https://www.mhc.ab.ca//Contract_Mentalhealthprogrammer1190

Good news! I am back in business! (Well, I was never really out, just on maternity leave). If you or someone you know is looking for psychology services, please consider MindScape Psychology. I offer 1:1 and group therapy during evenings and weekends, so you dont have to leave work to get help. If sitting down and talking in an office isnt your style, try walking therapy. And if childcare is a barrier to attending - keep your eyes on this page. Coming soon: babysitting for your little ones while you can focus on your therapy! I am so excited about knocking down barriers and helping Redcliff and Medicine Hat be as healthy as we can be!

Spending time in nature and green space is one of the cornerstones of anxiety reduction! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas/2018//180706102842.htm

What if we talked about physical health the absurd way we talk about mental health?

Happy Mental Health Awareness week! To celebrate, MindScape now offers direct billing to Alberta Blue Cross. What have you done to take care of yourself this week? Send the message to others that mental health matters by seriously taking care of your own.

Mental health problems affect everyone, royal or not. And good mental health is possible for everyone, if we just are willing to talk about it.

It's springtime and the weather is beautiful in Redcliff! MindScape Psych offers walking sessions - therapy while we walk and talk outside. Research shows that exercise and time in nature both boost mood and lead to a reduction in symptoms. As does therapy. So why not do all three at once?! If you're struggling with motivation, this is a great option for you. Contact me at MindScape for more details. See you on the trails!

"I hope you find the strength to start over" My favorite piece. Please follow for wellness tips, inspirational quotes and soulful articles to heal the mind, body and soul, as well as information on upcoming teleseminars. Soul Serenity Healing, Deanna Lupinacci