Counselling Services
What does it mean to be Mindful vs Mind Full? Mindful is described as “paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn) One person describes their experience of being “mind full” as the following, “Sometimes, my mind feels like an enormous noisy hall filled with thousands of busy… Continue reading What does it mean to be Mindful?
To sleep; perchance to dream (Shakespeare) Sleep can be enjoyable, frightening (those darn scary dreams), elusive, too short, too long, done at different times, alone or with others; people, cats dogs, iguanas. Sleep can be blissful or disrupted, wanted or unwanted. One thing I know as a therapist is that quality sleep and tone of… Continue reading To sleep; perchance to dream…
A client I will call "Joy" came to see me and related that she had been excited about a new job but quickly found herself with increased responsibilities and a need to do training of other employees. The first time she met with the employees she was horrified when her heart started pounding, her mouth… Continue reading When avoiding the situation isn’t helping
Enough already - all of us need to quit torturing ourselves about our weight! Write a list of things you like about your physical self - eyes, hair, smile etc. Write a list of non-physical traits you have that are positive - honest, kind, hardworking, funny etc Keep the list on your fridge and read… Continue reading Quit worrying about “weight” and start liking yourself!
Recently during a "stay-cation" I started to mentally plan for an upcoming family gathering and noticed that my usual worry and anxiety did not kick in. I had an epiphany at that moment - "I am way more relaxed when I am relaxed!" My ability to make decisions from a relaxed state caused me to… Continue reading I am way more relaxed when I am relaxed…
Do you believe the symptoms of anxiety are "real". "I am nauseated - I must be sick!" "I have a thought I am going to get in an accident if I drive - this must mean I better not drive today" "I feel frightened - this must mean something bad is going to happen to… Continue reading Are you making your anxiety worse?
Barb Larkin, M.S.W., RSW 