Jessie Langlois Vancouver Clinical Counselling & Psychotherapy
Suite 906, 750 West Broadway V5Z 1K1 Vancouver, BC, Canada

Love this Stay home, take good care of yourselves and one another, and stay connected - Source Emma Zeck on Instagram

Love this Stay home, take good care of yourselves and one another, and stay connected - Source Emma Zeck on Instagram

It’s the holiday season, and for many of us this can be a stressful time of year. It can also be a time where you notice more aches and pains in your body. In this short video, Dr. Ange Cooper from Emotihealth discusses how the emotions we may be unaware of experiencing at this time of year can lead our body to create a tension system to keep them from coming up. This tension system that keeps in emotions can create a variety of problems, including an increase in physical pai...n symptoms. While this tension system and its effects are not exclusive to the holiday season, watch as Dr. Cooper nicely explains why pain may have a tendency to increase during this time of year and for some great tips on how to better manage these. May you and yours have a peaceful holiday season.

Discomfort is the price of admission to a meaningful life. - Susan David

This is my dog Shaps. He’s 15 years old (or 105 in dog years). Unfortunately, time has caught up with this little guy and his body is showing undeniable signs of ageing. Sadly he suffers from a serious enough heart condition that requires daily medication and he has mild, yet progressive, kidney disease. On the milder spectrum, he has a few missing teeth, has gone grey, has new and strange looking bumps on his skin, and stares at me through a cloudy haze of cataracts in his e...yes. An ageing body can be so cruel! Shaps’ body has clearly betrayed him and slowed him down some; but, he keeps running. If I’m lucky enough to make it to 105 years of age I can only hope to be as spry as Shaps. That said, I can’t help seeing the reality of Shaps’ ageing body and get scared of losing him. I know I can’t actually stop reality from happening. But I still have the urge to protect him (i.e. protect myself from an inevitably painful loss). As you can see, Shaps clearly doesn’t share my concerns! That, or those Bosley treats are especially yummy and worth running for!! While we can’t stop time or our bodies from slowing down, Shaps reminds me that we can still keep what we love in our heart and do our best to run toward it. Sometimes life’s teachers come in many forms. It just happens that one of mine comes in a furry (and super cute) package. I acknowledge that I am entirely biased. But, I love my teacher more than words can say. Luckily an abundance of love already exists between us and it transcends ageing, illness, and eventual death. So, I let him run. Keep loving and keep running

Fault vs Responsibility: Taking responsibility (of your heart, your life) is an act of emotional self-defense, it’s about taking your power back.

Just watched 'Manchester By The Sea' for the second time. It is, in my opinion, an emotional masterpiece. A warning that the movie deals with significant themes of loss, grief, and guilt and is not a voluntary journey recommended for everyone. That said, for those who may be curious and interested in it, I share my personal takeaway from what unfolds (thematically speaking, so no spoilers here). Tragedy changes people. Some people find their best way out of it, others stay ...stuck in it. Some people do what they feel they need to do to keep the walls from caving in on them and are able to move forward. Others' best way may lead them to sit endlessly in the pain of self-destruction and loneliness. The movie is exemplary at demonstrating how much humans vary in both their capacity and willingness to face pain when tragedy and heartbreak strike. And no matter the path taken following heartbreak, it never fully goes away. The devastation felt from tragedy can never be fully escaped, despite our best efforts. Manchester By the Sea is not just a sad movie. Albeit subtle, there is a healthy hope that weaves in and out of the background of the tragic story. I believe the movie is successful at tapping into the viewer's desire to see the characters heal rather than sit in their heartbreak. So much that the viewer and characters are simultaneously reminded that while pain is the inescapable reality of life, hope and resilience are the ways we are living and surviving through it.

A beautiful explanation of growth potential through adversity.

Despite our best of intentions, we do things that hurt ourselves and our loved ones. We don't mean to, but we do. These contradictions within can be painful to see. In response, we may be tempted to deny, avoid, punish ourselves, and even invite others to punish us for our mistakes, failures, and flaws. The ways in which we do this can take many forms. Perhaps we lose control in some way and we say and do things we don't mean. Often, we react in these ways without awareness, ...until the damage has been done. We react with the hopes we will avoid the pain and discomfort in the moment; but, we also hope that if we deny and avoid what we dislike or that when we, and others, punish what we dislike long enough, we can somehow eliminate those parts within ourselves. Part of taking accountability for our actions includes self acceptance, forgiveness, and love for all the 'multitudes' within ourselves. It's a challenging journey toward healing and personal freedom. It's often times a downright messy process; but, it can also be a beautiful one.

The decision to prioritize emotional health is not an easy one. Yet, it is through our hardest decisions that we often experience invaluable experiences of healing change and growth.

Here's a recently featured interview for Capilano Courier on depression and anxiety.