Wellman Wellness: Counselling and Psychotherapy

A broad vocabulary for all the feelings is helpful so your littles (and you!) can fully express and process whats going on right now. Give them the words to share how theyre feeling. As Dan Seigel says, youve got to name it to tame it. Labeling our feelings helps our mind quiet down when we feel overwhelmed.

Tomorrow, September 10th at 8:00 pm, join the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (CASP) by lighting a candle in your window in the Light a Flame of Hope - Candle Vigil campaign, to mark World Suicide Prevention Day and remembering all lives that have been impacted by suicide.

This video is about accepting and acknowledging sadness, and how we can learn to sit with and soothe it. I hope its helpful if youre feeling waves of sadness right now. Please reach out for support if it feels too big for you on your own. Youre not alone. www.wellmanwellness.org

This video explores times of transitions, and how we can move through the 3 stages of transition in ways that can be helpful and healthful. Thanks so much for listening.

Ive been following "Refuge in Grief" on Facebook. She shares such powerful and important messages about grief. This page stood out to me, as Ive been talking with clients about this very thing. Grief is not a problem to be solved. There are no solutions, no tricks, no "fixes". It needs only to be seen and acknowledged and held. If youre living through and with grief, you may want to check out "Refuge in Grief".

Today I felt like it might be helpful to tap into the beauty and stability of big old gorgeous trees... Id like to share this beautiful grounding meditation with you. My heart feels very open and tender about all the nervousness and worry and distress Im hearing as we move toward the end of August. I also feel inspired by the strength, resilience, and authenticity that people are showing during this time. Humans are amazing, that we can hold space for the light and the dark at the same time I hope this is soothing and helpful in the days ahead.

How do you adjust to an ever-changing situation where the new normal is indefinite uncertainty? https://elemental.medium.com/your-surge-capacity-is-deplete

This video explores the spinning mind, which may be active for a lot of people as we move toward kids and teachers heading back to school in the fall. And really, just for everyone as were over 5 months into this pandemic. Its a challenging time for so many, and the mind may be busy trying to figure it all out. We need great amounts of self-compassion, and also some strategies to work with the spinning mind. I hope you find this short and quick video helpful. Take very good care. www.wellmanwellness.org

Please share The mental health issues related to our quarantine and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. Financial challenges, loss o...f employment, isolation, living in constant fear and trying to keep yourself healthy mentally and physically. Talk about it, lend your ear to those isolated. The 24 hr National Suicide Hotline in Canada is 1-833-456-4566 or text 45645. Please copy and re-post to share these helplines far and wide.

Rest can be healing, can ground us when life feels agitating, can give us space and time to come back to ourselves when weve gotten busy and disconnected. What types do you need most now? Is there a way you can fit those into your life?

Crisis mental health resources for people in and around Toronto: https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/crisis-resources

This video is a reminder to access and use the tools we have to support ourselves in this time of uncertainty. As we move toward the fall, big fears and anxieties might be rising. We can take care of ourselves, and offer ourselves great kindness and gentleness during a time of high stress for many. Thanks for watching. Please feel free to share if it resonates for you. And dont hesitate to reach out if you need support. www.wellmanwellness.org

Shame is a powerful emotion that can have detrimental impacts on our lives. Its most destructive when its kept silent and kept in the dark. It can keep us small, and can cause us to disconnect from other people. Heres a helpful infographic to explore how we can work with shame and shift from shame to self-compassion.

This is a time of big emotions for a lot of us. How can we be with them, regulate ourselves, and move through them toward greater balance and equilibrium? In this video I share Tara Brachs RAIN technique for being with our emotions. Thanks for checking it out. And please reach out if you have questions or comments about it all. Take very good care of you! www.wellmanwellness.org

Today Id like to share a blog post Ive written on Radical Acceptance, and moving toward saying "OK" instead of "But why?". I hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions or comments, Id love to hear from you. Thanks for reading.

What a helpful breakdown. How to release those happiness hormones...

Happy International Self-Care Day! Self-care isnt selfish. Its how we fill up so we can be our best selves in all areas of our lives. Self-care leads to resilience, health in all areas of life, and a balanced, happier way of being. Have a little check-in today. In what areas are you rocking self-care? In what areas might you need a little more self-care? Im going to go for a walk along the lake and say hello to the swans. And make myself a delicious lunch. Id love to hear how youre celebrating Self Care Day!

Thanks for visiting Wellman Wellness! This video is about anxiety, a short and sweet exploration of what it is, and how we can live with and manage it. Facebook is having a hard time with videos right now, so I apologize for the video quality, but I wanted to release this today. Perhaps this is a good one for audio only:) Thanks for listening and sharing if it resonates for you. Please dont hesitate to reach out if you or people you love need support. ... www.wellmanwellness.org

It can be really hard to hear when someone we care about is hurting. The fixing tendency can be strong, because we want to ease their pain, and because it may feel really hard to simply sit with a persons pain. The truth is, most of the time, its most helpful to just hold space. To be with them and listen instead of fixing them. Very often, if you can do that, their emotions will soften and often they can move to their own problem solving IF thats what they need. (Often, nothing needs to be fixed, they just want to be heard!) Can you think of a time when someone offered either dismissive or empathetic listening to you? Which felt more soothing and helpful for you? And please know: its a skill, it takes practice, and its ok if it feels unnatural at first. Youll notice how relationships change as you develop the skill.

Its not always this simple, but *sometimes* it is: shifts in how we respond to intrusive thoughts from PTSD or anxiety can shape our internal response and the ...strength of future intrusive thoughts. Sometimes just shifting from "OMG NO! The intrusive thought is here! Run away! " to "Oh, hello. You are back, huh? Ok, lets deal with you and put you back where you belong " can bring a lot of relief. For myself and many of the individuals I have worked with, noticing without judgment, then engaging with it in a meaningful way (through writing, moving, visualizing, or languaging a conversation about it), and then a gentle body shift (like getting up to water plants or making a cup of tea) can help manage intrusive thoughts in a much healthier way than frantically trying not to have the thought. Download this flowchart as a PDF at: http://lindsaybraman.com/intrusive-thought-flowchart or get a coffee mug, pillow, or tote bag at https://society6.com/lindsaybraman?sort=new Welcome to new and recent followers. I love learning with you and sharing my art. Gentle reminder: my content is not mental health treatment, social media is not therapy, and my content is for general educational purposes only. I am unable to answer messages or comments about your mental health. If you are in need of mental health support, reach out to a therapist in your area to establish a professional relationship and get the care you deserve, or text "home" to 741741 to get in touch with the crisis text line for support today. [IMAGE DESCRIPTION} Image depicts a hand-drawn flowchart, on the right side of the image is white text on a dark teal background, the left side shows teal text on a white background. Circle in center states: intrusive thought. One arrow from this text extends left and one arrow extends right. Left side of image: line from "intrusive thought" connects to bubble with the words "noticing without judgment. From noticing without judgment there are three connecting lines: 1. Writing it down and sealing it in an envelope until therapy, 2. Talk with the thought and parent it, 3. Visualizing putting it on a shelf until later. All three options connect back to a box at the bottom of the left side which states: move on with your day. Right side of image: the line from "intrusive thought" center bubble connects with a box labeled "BLOCK IT!" From this box in arrow extends to a box labeled "thoughts get louder" the next arrow points to "frantic attempts to block. Arrows depict a cycle of back and forth movement, as thoughts get louder despite attempts to block the thought. The cycle ends with an arrow pointing to a box titled "panic," which has an arrow pointing to a box titled "crash." Crash has an arrow that returns to the top center bubble titled "intrusive thought"

Saying these things to your therapist can be a sign of real healing and growth. In a safe therapeutic relationship, you can set boundaries, get angry at your therapist and express it, and even have ruptures that can be worked through and healed. All of which can transfer into healthy relationship skills outside the therapy room. So when your therapist says youre feeling this or I wonder if this is why..., you can say nah, thats not quite it. Thats not accurate. Thats not what I meant. What beautiful clarity and honesty to offer yourself.

I am drawn again and again to the helpfulness of awareness, noticing whats going on in our minds and with our emotions. When might your inner critic be loudest? What does your self-talk tend to focus on? Are you offering yourself words of kindness and self-compassion in times of struggle and suffering? Today is for observation. Where does your mind wander naturally - into fear or fantasy, humour or stress? Follow your mind and observe where it goes to feed itself. Do you like what you see? ~Carolyn Myss Can we do this with gentle curiosity? When we bring things out of the darkness of unconsciousness and into the light of conscious awareness, they have less of a grip, less of an impact on our present moment.

Virtual counselling really is effective, if youre curious!

This is a great infographic to explain the brain, and how we can regulate fear, anger and anxiety. I used to use this in my work with parents, to explore what was going on with their teens. Their frontal cortex isnt finished developing until their mid-twenties. So their big emotions and impulsivity are to be expected, along with challenges with problem-solving, rational thinking, and a clear sense of consequences. They may not be rebelling or misbehaving; they may not yet have the brain structures to access those higher level ways of thinking.

Oh, this is good. Clear, specific examples of how we can talk with our children, our partners, our friends, our colleagues, and Id venture to say, even ourselves when were struggling with our emotions. There is a tendency in many of us to want to fix, give advice, teach, problem-solve. But sometimes, empathy is what is needed. And in modelling it, you teach your children how to express empathy. Thank you to the Gottman Institute.

In this video, I simply want to check in with you. How are you doing? Are you able to remember self-compassion as we continue through these bizarre times? Are you able to accept, acknowledge, allow? Its hard, this human experience. And youre doing a great job, the best you can! Dont forget to reach out if you need support. Youre not alone. https://wellmanwellness.org/contact-us

Some interesting strategies to help shift a bad mood.

You know I believe it!

In this video I put on my Yoga Teacher hat and lead you through a 10-minute guided breath meditation. Focusing on the breath is one of the most effective and efficient ways to soothe the nervous system and get into our body and this present moment when were feeling anxious or overwhelmed. I hope you enjoy it! And if youre finding you need support with struggles in life, please feel free to reach out. www.wellmanwellness.org.

That internal voice (the ego) is not your own it was once someone elses. Freedom comes from understanding you are not your thoughts, you experience thoughts. ...And, with consistent practice, you can change the way you respond to them #selfhealers thank you to @awarecounselingchs for creating this See more

One of my previous employers, Rideauwood in Ottawa does incredible work with addictions of all kinds. This will no doubt be an excellent presentation for those of you who might be concerned about your kids tech use.

Boundaries can be a challenging thing for many whove been programmed to say yes and to give and give and give. And yet setting boundaries can bring about such a feeling of empowerment, joy, peace, health, and wellness. Guilt will likely be along for the ride, but we can show up so much more fully and lovingly in our relationships when we set boundaries.

Beautiful. Yes. Its true!

This video explores an important tool in tolerating distress and uncertainty: radical acceptance. I walk you through 5 stages in moving toward acceptance, in the hope that we might bring peace to our minds and quiet our nervous systems in these curious times. Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoy it. If you need any support or have any questions, please feel free to reach out. https://wellmanwellness.org/contact-us

We simply cannot do it all, and we certainly cannot do it all well, and thats okay.