Why You Can't Just 'Get Over It': Trauma and Your Nervous System Have you ever snapped at someone you love over something small, and then felt confused about your own reaction? Or sat in a meeting feeling strangely foggy and far away, like you were watching yourself from behind glass?
Mental Health Support in Times of Crisis If you're reading this because things feel unbearable right now, please know: you don't have to have the right words, and you don't have to wait for a scheduled appointment to get support. The resources below are free, confidential, and available right
When the Person Who Hurt You Is Also the Person You're Mourning Grieving a parent you had a complicated relationship with: There's a particular kind of grief that doesn't get talked about very much. It's the grief that shows up when the parent you've lost wasn't a source of comfort,
When your child tells you they're trans, non-binary, or questioning their gender There's a particular kind of quiet that happens after your child tells you something true about themselves. Maybe it was over dinner, maybe it was a note slipped under your door, maybe it came out sideways in an
What Anxiety Feels Like You wake up, and before your feet even hit the floor, your mind is already racing. Did I forget to reply to that email? What if today is the day everything falls apart? By the time you've had your coffee, your chest is tight, and your
Opening the Door to Having the Conversation So one of you has said the words. Maybe it came out shaky, over wine, at midnight. Maybe it came out of nowhere on a random Tuesday. Maybe it's been sitting in your chest for months and finally tumbled out mid-argument, which, respectfully,
Living with an Emotionally Unavailable Partner You know the feeling. You share something vulnerable, something that took a little courage to say out loud, and your partner responds with... a joke. Or a shrug. Or "I don't know, I guess I'm fine?" while their eyes drift to their phone. You're
Shutting Down During Conflict is not Uncommon Picture this: you're in a team meeting in a downtown Burlington office or anywhere in Halton, Ontario, and your manager starts questioning your decision in front of everyone. Or maybe you're at home in Aldershot or Oakville, mid-disagreement with your partner, and the
Can We Repair the Relationship after an Affair? If you're reading this at 2 a.m. with your stomach in knots, or sitting in your car outside work because you can't face going home yet, I want to say something first, before anything else: you are not broken, and neither is
Understanding Grief Therapy and When to Reach Out There's a particular kind of exhaustion that comes with grief. It's not just tiredness — it's the kind that settles into your bones, the kind that makes even the simplest things feel impossibly heavy. Getting out of bed. Answering a text.
You're Not "Too Much" — You're Carrying Too Much: A Guide to Trauma Therapy and Complex Trauma Healing If you've ever been told you're "too sensitive," that you need to "just move on," or that what happened to you "wasn't that bad," this post is for you. Trauma has a
Anxiety in High-Achieving Professionals — and What to Actually Do About It Anxiety in high-achieving professionals feels like: You hit the targets. You got the promotion. You have a calendar so full it has its own anxiety. From the outside, life looks polished and purposeful. From the inside? It's a
Looking for a Therapist Who Truly Understands You? Searching for a therapist in Burlington, Ontario, can feel overwhelming. Searching for a therapist who understands your lived experience as a Black woman can feel even harder. Many Black women come to therapy carrying a unique combination of stressors that are often
Image is ai generated Why Finding a Gender-Affirming Therapist Is So Hard, And How to Make It Easier Let's be honest: therapist-hunting is kind of complicated. You're already dealing with stuff; that's why you're looking for a therapist, and now you have to wade through a sea of
Walking through a narrow space Feeling Stuck. A Common Shared Experience There seems to be a particular kind of frustration that comes from feeling stuck. Not devastated. Not in crisis. Just stuck. You know something needs to change, but you can't seem to move. You spend hours thinking
Letter to my future self. A Letter You Haven't Written Yet. The Power of Talking to Your Future Self Imagine sitting down and writing a letter, not to a friend, not to a family member, but to yourself. The version of you that exists five years from now.
Closeness and playfulness Lost That Spark? How to Rebuild Intimacy in Your Relationship Why “Netflix and actually talk” might be the most underrated date night activity Remember the early days of your relationship? You couldn’t keep your hands off each other, every text felt like a tiny adrenaline
Naming what you feel isn't weakness; it's one of the most powerful things you can do for your mental health. I want to start with something honest: I grew up in a family that didn't have enough capacity to talk about emotions. So, as anyone can imagine, I used
How Anxiety Affects Relationships. And What You Can Do About It Anxiety doesn't just live in your head. It can quietly shape the way you communicate, connect, and show up for the people you love. If you've ever snapped at your partner after a stressful day, pulled away when you
The many faces of grief A Note From Margarita I have been a Registered Psychotherapist for over 30 years. In that time, I have sat with hundreds of people in the tender, disorienting space of grief, like people who have lost parents, partners, children, friendships, a pet, and
Start with a Conversation How to know whether your relationship needs a goodbye or a different kind of conversation. If you’ve found yourself Googling “Should we break up?”, chances are things have felt difficult for a while. Maybe you’re having the same argument over and over. Maybe one
Contemplating What to Say You know the drill. It starts with something ridiculous — a wet towel on the bed, a passive-aggressive sigh about the dishwasher, a comment about being “five minutes late” that somehow escalates into a full excavation of grievances from 2019. Twenty minutes later, you’re
Something powerful happens when women gather together. Not to compete. Not to perform. Not to have all the answers. Just to be real. In our psychotherapy practice in Burlington, ON, we frequently hear that for many women, life can feel like a constant balancing act—caring for children, supporting partners, managing
If you’ve ever found yourself typing “Why do I feel anxious all the time?” “How do I know I am dating a narcissist?” into ChatGPT at 1:12 a.m., you are very much not alone. Over the last few years, people have started using AI tools for everything from meal planning
Lately, many people seem to be carrying the same invisible exhaustion. The kind where: You wake up tired, Simple tasks feel weirdly overwhelming, Your brain refuses to load properly after 4 PM, And even relaxing somehow feels like another thing to accomplish. As psychotherapists, we hear versions of this every