Newmarket Psychotherapy Team
130 Prospect Street L3Y3T5 Newmarket, ON, Canada

READ: Our latest blog post from Newmarket Psychotherapy Team https://bit.ly/3hTZ26c

As we move into a new year, a whole new what’s going to happen, we need to take a minute and feel gratitude for going through a pandemic! And adapting! Is it hard? Yes!... Do we want this to continue? No! Are we learning a lot? Most definitely! The point is as we enter the season of holidays and festivities, we will definitely be disappointed and sad about not seeing our favorite people like we used to. All those work parties we loved dressing up for - probably not the same as before. But we’re still able to celebrate, physically distanced, or virtually and at least we still get to do that. Practicing gratitude should never end. And this season make it a regular practice.

We’re only human. Part 2 As a reminder from our last post: The human experience has many levels, and many emotions. They are acceptable, they are expected, and they are okay.... We’re only human. In addition Covid hasn't been easy and you are doing FANTASTIC! Give yourself a break and dance these emotions out.

We know, changes can be really difficult. They can throw us right outside of our comfort zone and shake up our world. We encourage you to see change or transition as a time to embody your self-compassion and let the change reveal what’s most important to you!

We hope the latest blog post can provide some comfort/validation to parents/caregivers during this very difficult time. #newmarketpsychotherapyteam #healingjourney #mentalwellness #helpyourselfhelpyourchild #survivalfirst #mentalhealthprevention #mentalwellnessbeforeacademia

We’re only human. The human experience has many levels. We are calculating, intelligent, and patient. We are also sporadic, excitable, and messy creatures.... These characteristics are not bad as mainstream society likes to tell us. They are acceptable, they are expected, and they are okay. We’re only human.

Change is difficult. Transitions are rough. BUT, sometimes, there can be a silver lining in an otherwise cloudy time. Here are some ways that living in the new normal have impacted our team - positively!... We hope to help you recognize the positives in your new normal as well. What's something positive YOU have experienced?? We'd love to know below!

One of the ways of growing our self-love is to increase our self-care. If you are wondering what to do for yourself, think back to your younger self. What did you enjoy doing? Rekindle your childlike wonder. Write a list of some of those things and then try a few. Have fun!

We might sometimes say something like this to ourselves. There isn’t anything good about me. While we are saying it, we might even have the feeling that we have heard these words before, not from ourselves but from someone else. A key step in finding self-love is lowering OTHER people’s expectations of us. We do not need to live up to the standards or vision someone else has for us.... We get to decide who we will be, what we will do and how we will live. When we are in a space to make these decisions, we can find a life that we love and begin to express that love back to ourselves.

An important part of taking care of your mental health is being able to care for yourself. Self-care can come in many forms. Sometimes it’s glamorous (bubble baths, reading at the spa, etc), and other times it’s practical (create a budget, meal planning, etc). Here are some of the ways our team likes to take care of themselves - we hope it will inspire you to take some time for yourself this week!

Have you ever gotten ready to take a selfie and took a closer look at the face staring back at you? You might say something like, Wow! My nose looks funny and my teeth are so yellow. That feeling of hating the way you look starts to rise. It’s tempting to swipe through the filters until you find the one that makes you look flawless. When we overly compare ourselves to the unreal image of a filter, it can eventually lead to depressive symptoms and low self-esteem.... Our self-love plays such an important role here. Our conscious and intentional decision to hold on to the idea that we come from and live in a place of love will help us to retain a positive self-esteem. We are worthy of love, attention and affection just because we are, not because of the way we look.

Self care is NEEDED for our happiness. It is merely anything we do to make ourselves feel good, to improve our mood, and to relax. @psychcentralcom reminds us that self-care is knowing what we need to do for ourselves in order to be able to take care of the needs of others. ... So it may be spas and facials, BUT it could also be 15 minutes of breathwork, laughing until our sides hurt or taking a walk in the park. What do you do to improve your mood or reduce your anxiety?

People sometimes use the terms self-love and self-care interchangeably. But let’s think of this a little differently. Self-love is how we feel about ourselves. Dara Poznar @embracethemud says it like this, To begin loving yourself, you must begin to remember who you are and come into total self-acceptance of yourself. Self-care is how we show what we feel about ourselves. Because I love myself, I might start going to bed 30 minutes earlier every evening, so I can wake u...p feeling more at my best. The more we love ourselves, the better care we will take of ourselves.

In the last 6 months, we have seen our world turn upside down. Yet, this doesn’t mean that we have lost all control. One of the healthiest ways to regain a sense of personal control is to let go of expectations, especially unrealistic expectations which don’t serve us. We can decide which information we will let into our lives and hearts and let go of the expectation to keep updated on every last detail of COVID. ... We can decide to rest when we feel overwhelmed and let go of the expectation to always keep pushing through. We can decide to change behaviors that don’t fit this season of our lives and let go of the but I have always done this expectation. This is self-care.