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….
Relational Repair in Summer: What to Do When Closeness Brings Conflict
Our nervous systems are wired for connection, but they are also wired for self-protection. When we spend sustained time with another person, even someone we love deeply, our systems are constantly reading and responding to theirs. This is co-regulation: the way two nervous systems influence each other, for better or for worse.
What Does “Regulated” Actually Feel Like? A Canada Day Check-In
Canada Day is almost here. The Junction and Roncesvalles will be full of people spilling onto patios, wandering down to the lake, watching fireworks from blankets on the grass. On paper, it is one of the most enjoyable holidays of the year.
And yet, for a lot of people, a holiday in the middle of the week does not feel the way it is supposed to….
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….
The Anatomy of the "Sunday Scaries": Why Your Brain Manufactures Dread
It’s Sunday afternoon, the sun is out, you might have just wrapped up a walk through the park, and you are technically safe and relaxed. Yet, like clockwork, a familiar shift begins. Your chest tightens, your thoughts drift to unread emails, and a low-grade dread settles into your stomach.
Welcome to the "Sunday Scaries."
When Life Piles Up: Why Rest Alone Can't Restore Lost Resilience
I write about stress and burnout so frequently because I see this exact pattern across all of my work. Life has a way of compounding stressful events over time. We might start out with a lot of resilience, but as the pressure builds, we can suddenly find ourselves with nothing left and nothing left for ourselves.
How Stress Gets Stuck in the Body (And What Helps)
Stress is part of daily life, and it shows up differently depending on your situation.
Stress is meant to move through the body. It rises in response to something, and then gradually settles once the moment has passed like surfing a wave….