From the Therapist’s Chair: The Difference Between Solitude and Loneliness
In the middle of a cold Toronto winter, we spend a lot of time indoors and, often, a lot of time alone. In my practice, I frequently hear people struggle to figure out if they are enjoying their own company or if they are slipping into a state of loneliness.
Making the Most of Benefit Rollovers: Planning Your Year in Therapy
Planning your year in therapy isn’t just about the numbers; it’s about making sure you have a reliable space to land before life gets overwhelming. It’s a way to ensure you have the support you need to stay grounded all year long. Instead of waiting for a crisis to book a session, consider these three practical steps to align therapy with the actual rhythm of your life….
Post-Holiday Landing: How to Decompress and Re-Attune After the Rush
The holidays can be an activating demand on our nervous systems, juggling schedules, managing family dynamics, and navigating constant social input. While the events may be joyful, the pace often leaves the nervous system in a state of chronic “alert.”
The Best Gift is the Boundary. It’s Not Rejection, It’s Relationship Care
Explore the therapeutic science of boundaries and differentiation. Learn how setting a 'kind no' is a crucial act of self-care and relationship preservation.
Navigating the Social Energy Battery: A Proactive Tool for Holiday Parties
Work events and friend gatherings are kicking off, often demanding a high social performance. For many, this feels less like a celebration and more like a heavy drain on the nervous system. You may go home feeling depleted, having given away all your energy without making a single genuine connection.
Tending to your energy in all settings might feel daunting at first, but preparation is proactive care
Why You Don’t Have to Be in Crisis to Start Therapy
Therapy doesn’t have to be a last resort. It can be:
• A steady place to come back to yourself
• A way to notice stress before it becomes burnout
• A container for asking “What do I actually need right now?”
Like tending a garden, sometimes we prune, sometimes we rest. But it’s the regular tending that makes the difference.
Let the Leaves Fall: Releasing What’s Heavy
As late fall settles in, nature is already showing us what release looks like. Trees aren’t failing when they shed their leaves, they’re conserving energy, making space, and responding to shorter days. In therapy, we can do the same.
How to Ground Your Nervous System Without Overriding It
When stress builds, it’s tempting to manage it from the top-down. Meaning with thinking, planning, fixing or brain work. But somatic therapy reminds us: the nervous system doesn’t respond well to being managed. It responds to being heard.
What Kind of Grounding Actually Works?
In therapy and in wellness spaces, we’re often handed lists of “regulation strategies.”
But bodies aren’t checklists. They’re living systems. And when we override what they’re asking for, even a calming tool can become another form of pressure.
Settling In: Seasonal Light Shifts and Your Environment
This November, we’re returning to the body.
As the light changes, so do we. You might feel it already — that tug to go to bed earlier, the extra effort it takes to wake up, or a desire to stay cozy and close to home. These are not flaws in your motivation. They’re physiological cues from your nervous system.