Sanctuary Counselling and Training
148 Bedford Road N2G 3A4 Kitchener, ON, Canada

Please consider joining me next week for another free online workshop. Anyone can register (you don't need to be a Laurier student) Details below: Posted @withregram @consentisgolden Free Workshop! What does your heart need to hear?: Attachment focused Healing for Survivors of Trauma. Dec 14, 3pm.... When we have experienced relational harm, we often internalize negative messages about the self and the world around us as a way to make sense of our experience. These narratives built of shame and fear continue to loop in our brain and body and make it difficult for us to connect with safety, pleasure and joy. Learning to connect with our inner resilience and activate our healing resources can be an empowering way to rebuild our internal templates for safety, connection and worthiness. Join us to learn how to use self compassion practices, soothing touch, and sensory based visualization to create feelings of ease and comfort in the body and tap in to your inner resiliency. All are welcome. Register at [email protected]. This workshop is brought to you for free by Laurier's Office of Dispute Resolution and Sexual Violence Support (Consent is Golden) and Sanctuary Counselling and Training. This event is a part of the Connected Healing Series. Find the link in our bio! Any questions about the series? email [email protected] Bio: Sunna Murphy (HBA, MSW, RSW) is the owner and lead clinician at @sanctuarycounselling , a queer focused clinical private practice that specializes in providing trauma and attachment focused therapy, community based workshops and organizational training on trauma informed practice, mental health and diversity. She weaves together creative expressions such as storytelling, art, and movement with an extensive knowledge of neurobiology and trauma research that is communicated in an approachable and authentic style. To connect with her further visit www.sanctuarycounsellingandtraining.ca or @sanctuarycounselling You are not alone. Reach out. [email protected]. #trauma #healing #16daysofactivism #workshop #attachmenttheory #attachmenttrauma #wlu #laurier #laurierlove #wilfridlaurieruniversity

Splitting is when we see things (or people) as all good or all bad based on the current circumstance. For example: When someone is kind or thoughtful towards us we see them as - 100 % amazing, and when they disappoint us, see them as 100% terrible. Splitting might also apply to how we feel about ourselves- one day we feel on top of the world and the next day feeling like we are total garbage.... Bouncing back and forth between these extremes is exhausting and confusing for folks. It means that when we are in the idealization phase, and something disappoints us, it is one heck of a drop, and when we are in the devaluation phase it's hard to believe that things could ever be good again. Sometimes these extremes in perspective also create extremes in our reactions, which may destabilize our relationships. We can reduce splitting by noticing nuance, by holding together that two opposite things can be true at the same time. We can be independent and also want help We can disagree with the rules and also follow the rules We can be angry with someone and also love and respect them. We can validate our emotions and acknowledge our errors We can work on improving ourselves and accepting ourselves as we are. We can accept reality as it is and work to change it We can acknowledge our parents did the best they could with the skills and resources they had available to them And validate that our emotional and relational needs were not met. One doesn't cancel the other one out. Both are true at the same time. #dbtskills #bpdrecovery #traumatherapy #traumatherapist #lgbtqtherapist

This has been a very busy time in trauma & mental health with greatly increased requests for service Sanctuary is currently full, but you can access our waitlist by emailing [email protected]

What? You didn't know I was a wizard? Happy Halloween y'all #workhalloween #spookyseason #happyhalloween #therapywizard #whimsy #traumatherapist #lgbtqtherapist ... #kitchenertherapist #sanctuarycounselling See more

We often hear the phrase "you need therapy" as synonymous with "you have problems" or "there's something wrong with you ". This stigmatizes getting help and can keep people from accessing supports that would help them heal. I'd like to suggest a different message: ... You deserve therapy (Even if others "have it worse) You deserve help (Even if you're the strong one) You deserve recovery (Even if you have made harmful choices) You deserve support (Even if your family is one that doesn't talk about it) You deserve healing (Even if you've spent your whole life in survival mode) You deserve compassion (Even if you think you don't) You deserve peace (Even if you think your pain will never go anywhere) #therapyhelps #selfcompassion #antistigma #mentalhealthawareness #abuserecovery #anxietyrecovery #traumarecovery #addictionrecovery #bpdrecovery #traumatherapist #lgbtqtherapist #kitchenertherapist

Rainy days: a metaphor I used to hate rainy days. They made me feel gloomy and down.... Being wet and cold makes us uncomfortable. Sometimes I get headaches or joints pain on rainy days. I tell myself I have good reasons to reject them. I would resist what is happening by staying indoors or cancelling my plans, to avoid the discomfort. But avoiding something doesn't make it go anywhere, it just reduces our ability to cope with what's happening. What situations do you avoid out of discomfort? Could you reduce your suffering by choosing to radically accept this is reality right now? Now I go for walks on rainy days. I pull on my goulashes, and rain coat, grab an umbrella, and practice letting myself be in the cold, wet, day knowing that somedays are harder than others, and I can choose to face that rather than avoid it. They're still not my favourite. But moving toward discomfort rather than away from it helps us increase our ability to tolerate distress. What would it feel like to arm yourself with the tools you need, and face the thing that you're avoiding? Because the truth is its always going to rain. There will always be things that make us uncomfortable. Resisting reality as it is, doesn't change what's right in front of us, all it does is make it harder for us to face our struggles. #dbtskills #radicalacceptance #rainydayshappen #avoidavoiding #distresstolerance #bpdrecovery #addictionrecovery #anxietyrecovery #traumatherapist #lgbtqtherapist #kitchenertherapist #sanctuarycounselling

I just want you to think for a moment about a time when you were feeling agitated, when every little thing was getting to you, and maybe you snapped at someone or had nasty thoughts about someone going through your head. These are usually the moments when we are hardest on ourselves. When we feel like a terrible person, a terrible partner, a terrible parent. Everything is hard, and now it feels like we are failing or need to apologize (again).... Now I want you to think about what would happen if you related to your frustration with kindness, instead of 'sucking it up'. What if you took a moment, acknowledged where you were at, and chose to be compassionate to yourself instead. What would happen if you got curious about what this feeling was trying to tell you right now? Sometimes agitation shows up to tell us we need a break, or that our boundaries are being broken. If we were to get quiet and just listen to that feeling, what could we learn about ourselves? We are all very good at being hard on ourselves and we don't need more practice at that. However most of us are not as well versed at being soft with ourselves. When we relate to ourselves with kindness, it reduces our reactivity, and gives us back our choices about how we interact with others. #selfsoothing #selfcompassion #bekindtoyourself #badmoodsareok #bpdrecovery #addictionrecovery #emotionsarevisitors #traumatherapy #traumarecovery #anxietyrecovery #kitchenertherapist