Suicide Prevention

Did you know that suicide is the second leading cause of death for youths between the ages of 15 and 29? According to the World Health Organization (WHO) there are 800,000 suicides yearly. That’s one person taking his/her life every 40 seconds. Furthermore, for every one of those, there are 20 other suicide attempts.

I became passionate about the subject early in my career, as I was once a troubled teen myself. I committed myself to saving at least one person from making a desperate decision after I experienced the suicide of one of my Grade 11 students when I was teaching Social Science and Psychology.

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How to Get Through a Contentious Divorce

Going through a contentious divorce is likely to add stress and anxiety to your life. In all likelihood your marriage was already contentious before you filed for divorce. It is understandable that you might feel unfocused, exhausted, tired, angry, upset, depressed, and a whole host of other feelings that negatively impact your life in a variety of ways.

                            


You might also find yourself questioning your ability to make sound decisions for yourself and your children. How do you re-ground yourself when you feel like things are out of control? Read more here...

Pride

This June marks 50 years since the Stonewall riots, and 50 years of global Pride celebrations. Pride is all about recognizing and celebrating the contributions of LGBTQ people, communities and organizations.

                           

As a therapist and social worker, I have been privileged to work extensively with and for queer people. I realize that, because it’s been such an integral part of my experience, I often take this knowledge, learning, and mentorship for granted—so, this Pride, I’d like to take a moment to recognize and share some lessons I have learned about resilience, courage and strength from my LGBTQ clients and colleagues. Read more here...

Professional Women and Stress

For everyone living in the 21st century, stress is a daily reality.

A writer left her home at 6:50 AM with her laptop, lunch, overly packed purse and cell phone in hand.  She dropped her husband off at his work, and then grabbed breakfast at a local fast food restaurant.  The fast food took 5 minutes longer than anticipated, and she really had to employ a relaxation strategybecause of the delay. She mentally recitedher schedule for the day as she filled her car up with gas. As she considered the looming traffic jam she was about to battle, she thought this day was different. “So, the stress begins…” she thought to herself while she looked at the swarm of cars.

Researchers around theglobe have been studying the stress of professional women for many years. Many stressors are anticipated, and many more are unforeseen. For working women in particular, do a juggling act, similar to what is seen above, with increasing vigor and tension.

Alexander-Stamatios Antoniou, AikateriniPloumpi and Marina Ntalla (2013) studied the phenomenon of occupational stress amongst388 primary and secondary teachers in Greece, including how coping strategies alleviated burnout rates.

In this study, these researchers discovered:

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