Meet the Author
Hi, I'm Sarah, a Registered Psychotherapist offering somatic and talk therapy at my Roncesvalles and Junction offices in Toronto's west end, and online across Canada. This is where I share what I'm noticing in my work, with practical Tend to It Tuesday posts and reflective Friday Field Notes. Take what's useful, and leave the rest. Learn more about me
For education only, not a substitute for therapy or medical advice.
Preparing for Seasonal Affective Disorder Before the Days Get Even Shorter
What SAD Actually Is
Seasonal Affective Disorder is a pattern of low mood, low energy, and other depressive symptoms that show up at a similar time each year, most often as daylight decreases in fall and winter. It's linked to changes in light exposure, circadian rhythm, and how your nervous system regulates itself without the cues it usually gets from longer days. It's not a character flaw or a lack of willpower. It's a physiological response….
Friday Field Notes: Getting Curious About Therapy This Fall
A simple, pressure-free look at starting therapy this fall: who it suits and how the first session might go.
The August Slowdown: Using the Quietest Month to Build Self-Awareness
There is a common misconception that reflection and integration happen automatically when we rest. They do not. The nervous system needs a certain quality of quiet, not emptiness, but spaciousness, to do its deepest consolidating work…
Are You Ready to Start Therapy? How to Know When the Time Is Right
Most people who eventually come to therapy have thought about it for a long time before they actually book. Months, sometimes years. There is a version of the idea living quietly in the background, surfacing when things get hard and receding when they ease up again….
Your Pace, Your Process: How the Therapeutic Relationship Shapes the Work
Therapy is not a conveyor belt. There is no standard speed, no universal milestone, no right way to move through it. What there is, when the relationship is working, is a finely tuned collaboration between what you bring and what I notice….
Slowing Down on Purpose: What the Summer Solstice Can Teach Us About the Pace of Therapy
There is something real happening neurologically when the sun stays out longer. Increased light exposure raises serotonin levels, improves sleep quality, and generally gives your nervous system more resources to work with. For many people in Toronto, where winters are long and grey and genuinely hard, summer is when the nervous system finally feels safe enough to rest….