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What should I know before counselling?
- How do I access counselling services?
- You can access counselling directly through email or phone. You can contact your EFAP (Employee and Family Assistance Program) provider if you have one, as psychological services are usually a part of your workplace benefits plans. You can claim partial benefits through Blue Cross coverage. Alberta Health Insurance Medical coverage does not include psychological services.
- Do I need a referral for counselling?
- You do not need a referral from a doctor to attend counselling; you can self-refer. Continue reading
Posted in Live Better, Psychology
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The Do’s of Coping with the Uncontrollable – Bad Weather
Today is a sunny and warm day.
The sky is so very blue. The white puffy clouds are bouncing across the sky.
The higher thin whisps of cloud are lazily streaked on the blue. The mountains
seem cut into the sky. The thought
enters my mind, “I think it’s summer”. That’s a rare thought in this mountain town. It’s amazing how good I feel just
sitting on my balcony, basking in this warm, slightly breezy hug. Ahhhhh…I
think most of us feel better when there is this type of weather. Do you? Continue reading
What is EMDR and How Can It Help you?
fI would like to give you an introduction to this exciting and effective approach in my practice that can make your counselling experience more efficient and effective.
EMDR is an acronym that stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is also known as eye movement therapy or accelerated processing. In 1987, Dr. Francine Shapiro made a chance discovery that has been developed over the years into an effective mainstream treatment option based in research on posttraumatic stress and endorsed by the American Psychological Association.
EMDR is a brain based approach for reprocessing disturbing emotional content from immediate memory to long term memory. EMDR involves an eight step standardized procedure. It starts with a thorough history taking with a focus on early trauma that might be connected with the present difficulty. Once the background information is taken and the targets for reprocessing are identified in conjunction with you, there is less talking involved than with a traditional counselling approach. Continue reading
Posted in Live Better
Tagged accelerated processing, anger, anxiety, chronic pain, depression, EMDR, eye movement therapy, post traumatic stress treatment
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Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work
In the previous blog on Tips to Better Vacations, I mentioned that you may have relationship challenges arise on vacations by virtue of spending more time together and
being out of the regular routine.
Today I will address what makes a successful relationship as outlined in Dr.
John Gottman’s book, “The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work”.
The information and approach can be beneficial to you in learning about the things
you are doing well in your relationship and what needs improvement. I use the
Gottman approach in couples’ work and the book is an excellent resource. I am
going to give you a taste of the book and the approach.
Posted in Live Better, Psychology, Tips
Tagged couples, divorce prevention, improve relationships, marriage, marriage counselling
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Welcome & Tips for a better Vacation Experience
Welcome everyone. I have recently returned to private practice both in Canmore and Calgary. This is my official first blog and the launch of my website. The website and blogs are intended to be a venue for sharing information and ideas. I will be writing regularly and look forward to hearing from you on this. I hope this goes far and wide as I love hearing how you are doing.
The process of writing and honing material for the website was a challenge, both positively and negatively. My great website designer, Norja Vanderelst of Colour Infusion Web Design, was infinitely patient and had good humour with my careful, measured speed toward the process. That means I took a long time to write the content by virtue of putting it off and then had several rewrites. My friends Dr. Matt Graham and Kelly Green did the critique for me… And they’re still friends. Lol. It was overwhelming at times to figure out what to include so that it could be most helpful to you in deciding if my counselling services fit your needs. In the end, it was rewarding to go through the process. I highly recommend it. And have Norja do a website for you and with you. Continue reading
Posted in Psychology, Stress Relief, Tips, Vacation
Tagged dreams, hopes, Patricia Lavelle, psychologist, psychology, relationships, stress, vacation
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