We live in a world of quick “fixes”. Unfortunately, when it comes to dealing with who you are in the world, real change is usually quite gradual. That is not to say that we don’t have epiphanies, realizations, surprising moments in the process of change: the clock ticks after all, but movement (when we notice real difference in the hour …
Demystifying Therapy
A few months ago, Toronto psychotherapists had a booth at a large trade show in Toronto; thousands of people attend this particular venue. What I found, and this has astonished me ever since we exhibited, is that many people have very black and white ideas about therapy. There were people who saw our banner, and reacted with “I’m not crazy, …
The Expectation of Help
Everyone experiences difficulties in life. Why is it that some people have no trouble asking for help to overcome these difficulties while others in the same situations would seemingly rather do anything than ask for help? Through my work as a psychotherapist, I have come to realize that asking for help feels very different for each person and is coloured …
21 Tips to Keep Your Shit Together When You're Depressed
diycouturier.com/post/47249603128/21-tips-to-keep-your-shit-together-when-youre
The Drugs Do Work but they Can’t Cure Unhappiness
theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/20/drugs-work-cant-cure-unhappiness-antidepressants
What is Psychotherapy? A Way to Refer
By Valerie Gerechter There is a saying that is often used in the helping professions. “Give a person a fish and they will eat, Teach a person to fish and they will eat for the rest of their lives”. I believe that saying is also relevant to psychotherapy. Hailed as “talk therapy”, the basic structure of psychotherapy consists of a …
Dreaming and Duality
I’m often asked, with some trepidation, about the role of dreams in therapy. People are fascinated by them, but also wary. Dreams open the doorway into the unknown, and it’s only right that we do that with some caution and thought. One of the questions asked most frequently on this subject is: “What does this dream, or situation in a …
Expectation at the Water Fountain
Many of us feel trapped in the land of expectation. We feel that we have to be a certain way in life. We feel…unnatural somehow in how we have to be in our everyday existence. We fit in as best we can, and then reconnect or rebel in different ways. We let off or drown out the pent-up energy we …
Why Choose Psychodynamic Therapy?
What is Psychodynamic Psychotherapy? How does it differ in, practice and results, from other forms of psychotherapy available today? Psychodynamic therapy traces its roots right back to the very first psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud. Though much progress has been made in the field of psychotherapy since Freud pioneered a new understanding the human psyche, it was Freud who created a unique …
Excerpt: APA's Resolution on the Recognition of Psychotherapy Effectiveness
Excerpt from the American Psychological Association’s Resolution on the Recognition of Psychotherapy Effectiveness “Be It Resolved that, as a healing practice and professional service, psychotherapy is effective and highly cost-effective. In controlled trials and in clinical practice, psychotherapy results in benefits that markedly exceed those experienced by individuals who need mental health services but do not receive psychotherapy. Consequently, psychotherapy should …