The Creative Social Worker with Tiffany McCabe
167 centre st Shelburne, ON, Canada

@townefitness @rise.physio walking my fav road - bringing awareness for safe roads at night

Felt so overwhelmed today. Took a moment to add some happy colours to paper 1 nothing special but helpful in perspective #anxiety #emotionalhealth #arttherapy #thecreativesocialworker

Today is orange shirt day, our kids are taught about the injustices and awfulness that happened within residential schools. They are taught that each person matters and each person’s uniqueness is special and contributes To our community in different ways. My heart aches for Joyce Echaquan, whose life was taken by two nurses in the hospital in Quebec. Joyce was allergic to morphine and they injected her with it knowing about her allergies along with a bunch of profanity about her race. We are not truly liberated until we are all free- free from discrimination, free from judgements based on skin colour, body image, economic status etc... let’s all stand up for our liberation and know that this is not acceptable.

Here is a directive for adults- where is your to happiness? What does the door look like? How can you unlock it?

Does anyone else think about billy Maddison when it’s back to school time? #arttherapy #thecreativesocialworker #mentalhealth #selfregulation

My poor sweet Asha had to go to the dentist today. She cried all the way there because she was missing first recess. I said she could get a #smilecookie after her appointment. She looked at her cookie and yelled this one is perfect! I turned around to look at it- it legit looked like my picture lol. But for her- it was completely perfect because of the extra icing on the eyes. In that moment I thought it was completely profound. Flaws are perfection- just depending on what your looking for

I am so excited that the amazing @sinehannah from @townefitness and holistic nutritionist @rachelmurrayholisticnutrition and I have teamed up to deliver an amazing program for your body, mind and soul. Hannah asked me to write a blog about mindfulness (still working on it Hannah, it’s coming) but what keeps coming up in my brain is this one time where a friend and I decided to go white water rafting on the #nileriver in Jinja, Uganda- some of the craziest white water in the w...orld- what was I thinking?!? ( I wasn’t) I don’t have any pictures from this event (the pic is just from the net) but I spent more time being flung out the boat than I did in it. What is my point here? It’s hard to be mindful when you aren’t safe!!! Safety and a calm place is the first thing I work on with my clients- sometimes my office is the only safe/ calm place for people. #mindfulness #feelingsafeintherapy #thecreativesocialworker #arttherapy See more

I’ve been quiet this week- and for good reason. I’m still trying to let all the training settle in from EMDR. I’m so excited to be using this therapy technique in my practice. Let’s chat if you want to know more! #thecreativesocialworker #itsokaynottobeokay #itsoktogototherapy #emdrtherapy

Had to share this

A great drive in movie night! Thank you @townofshelburne for a great night! It was also so much fun being able to paint rocks and sun catchers for our beautiful community garden!!! #communityart #townofshelburne #arttherapy #thecreativearttherapist

Put your hand up if you got so tied up in back to school anxiety and talking through new routines that you forgot about the exhaustion your kids go through once they are home?!? I quickly remembered when I got home lol- the kids had a great first day back- but Nora’s poor little brain and body was on overdrive. She has the skills to be able to self regulate while at school, but had to let it go at home. This is great news! It shows attachment and how her brain is functioning. Coming home she did things like regression in her language (grunts, points, cries), up and down in her moods. Here is what I did- gave her a tight warm hug (her fav), calm voice, less stimulation, early bedtime, and she intuitively did some upside down time (a great way to get blood flow towards your brain- where she needed it the most!)

First day of school! I heard Nora yell this morning it’s my first day of school!!! It was like Christmas morning

Who else has been loving the CBC #vinalcafe #stuartmcleanvinylcafe stories from the volt? I just listened to Arthur the dog. Stuart said, we do this thing. We open our hearts to the world around us. And the more we do that, the more we allow ourselves to love, the more we are bound to find ourselves one day- standing in the kitchen of our live, surrounded by the ones we love, and feeling empty, and alone, and sad, and lost for words, because one of our loved ones, who should... be there, is missing. This is a picture of my parents kitchen table- it’s known lots of family dinners, dance parties, conversations, crafts and loss. I think that’s why I have my grandparents kitchen table in my office- it’s not fancy, but it’s a place where you can take all those layers off, celebrate, express and also mourn- sometimes just mourning the loss of the person who we use to know, and trying to figure out our new skills that we bring to the table. #mentalhealthmatters #arttherapy #thecreativesocialworker #itsoktogototherapy #emotions #loss See more

Have you ever tried to fit an entire pack of hubba bubba in your mouth than talk to a room full of people? That’s how I feel right now #ibitoffmorethanicanchew #overwhelmed #arttherapyforthewin #thecreativesocialworker #planofaction

What is your rainbow mood? What is your wish? Can you achieve it? How does your wish affect your mood? #arttherapy #thecreativesocialworker #therapy #mentalhealthmatters #wellness #thoughtoftheday

It’s back to school!! I think I can say that collectively we are all feeling anxious about school and all the unknowns. However- I am really excited about this year! I think that there are so many different possibilities to explore. I think that collectively we can challenge old ways that are no longer serving our children l. I believe that all our teachers, admin, and support staff will be doing everything in their power to shape a beautiful school year.

Look at this magical art work. Asha created at her QT’s (grandma for who doesn’t know what a QT is lol) they went for a nature walk, found some rocks and made art with them. Asha painted what she saw around her- the rocks turned into beautiful birds, there is a tree, a sky, and QT standing there. I love it so much!!! What do you see? #family #arttherapy #perspective #thecreativesocialworker #shelburneon #mentalwellness #itsoktogototherapy

Earlier this week I did a tutorial for hand tracing. I wanted to share a little more about this. My fav population to do this with is people who have a life altering illness or people living with dementia. I will trace their hands with the question or thought with these hands powerful meaning will come out, powerful memories of proud moments, completed projects, and life long achievements. The art becomes a center piece of discussion with loved ones and a keepsake to cherish forever. This picture is of a quilt my Granny and I embroidered together. @eflear I am pretty sure Williana would have quilted it for my granny. #legacybuilder #arttherapy #deathanddying #family #itsoktogototherapy #thecreativesocialworker

Do you have a dream? A vision for your future? This is my dream- 5 years ago we moved to our country home, there is a beautiful yet broken barn foundation- made of rocks and a welcoming red door, my dream is to clean this up and build a studio with lots of windows and a courtyard with a labyrinth. A place to share unwind, surrender and share with everyone

My girls came to work yesterday! So we finished some art work together. I traced their hand in the Centre of mine- they loved it because it tickled the inside of their fingers. Each had a turn to share what’s special about each other, mom, dad, and themselves- a wonderful way to cultivate self confidence! We got the stickers out and added to our art work!

I finally brought in my big bag of real clay- the stuf you need to put in a kiln! When I moved into my farm house- I inherited a beautiful kiln! This clay is grounding and easy to work with- much better than the dollar store clay. I made a little pinch pot- breathing into it. The transformation from blob to pot is perfect- the symbolism of then placing it into a fire kiln is powerful. I also invested in a pottery wheel- I haven’t used it just yet, but I am excited to start!!!