A couple of weeks ago I was at a family wedding, chatting with a woman I’d just met (a distant cousin in my partner’s enormous family whose names I try to but can’t keep straight). When I mentioned that I help women with chronic emotional and health-related problems, she started to tell me how frustrated …
How handholding is the superpower you didn’t know you had
What touch does to help us feel connected and safe Can you think back to a time when you had to go through something challenging, so you asked a friend or supportive family member to be there with you? Maybe it was something stressful like a medical appointment or a test result. Maybe it was …
What to do when the world scares you
Most mornings I like to turn on CBC Radio 1 to listen as I get ready for the day. It feels companionable and I get to keep up to date with some of what’s happening in my city and in Canada. Normally it feels good to listen. But the last several months have been challenging: …
Forget self-care — it’s not working!
Alex (not her real name) came to see me feeling utterly defeated by unexplained chronic pain that she’d been having for several years. During our check-in, on the verge of tears, she gave a big sigh and said, “I’m doing all the ‘right’ things — I do yoga, I meditate, I eat healthy food. So …