By: Cassandra Nordal, PR & Marketing Coordinator

Heating pads, chronic pain, uncontrollable bleeding, cramps, pain medication, depression, invasive procedures, tears, embarrassment, hormone therapy, infertility, bloating, debilitation, thrush, anemia, hormone imbalances, never being able to sleep and always wanting to sleep, extreme swelling and bloating, constant weight fluctuations, extreme dietary changes, painful scar tissue, late night/early morning ER visits, body aches, migraines, tension headaches, vomiting and IBS, and loss of function with certain organs - This is Endometriosis.

​Let's face it, raising kids can be a challenge in the best of times. Throw in a global pandemic which brings with it economic impacts, anxiety over the spread of illness, and the isolation that has accompanied the lockdown restrictions and closures, and you have challenges for which the impact on youth and their caregivers is far reaching and not yet fully understood.

​As a rule, I don't like jumping on trends in the media. I've been around long enough to see that hashtagging, hanging decals and signs, or making poignant posts are all well-intentioned. But eventually the posts fade, our collective attention span shifts, and the decals lose their charm so someone has to scrape them off into the garbage since we're all onto something new. 

By: Kelly Graham, MSW, RSW

​Often, you’ll hear how bad video games are for society. Many people are quick to blame them for increased violence and other social problems.
 
Not many people look at the positive side of video games except those that enjoy them the most, but I think it’s important that we take a moment to acknowledge their worth.

By: Cassandra Nordal

​Returning to work after a lay off or leave in general, is difficult. You add a pandemic onto that and well, how do we begin to function properly?

By:​ Laura Groulx, MSW, RSW

Typically, as a parent, you want the best for your child. You want your child to both survive and thrive. The Western society we live in is individualistic, meaning that success is often viewed from an every-man-for-themselves type of perspective.

Because of this, life can feel competitive at times. For instance, perhaps at one time or another you felt that pressure to make it on that sports team, get into that school, land that perfect job, find that perfect relationship… and have that perfectly-behaved-and-over-achieving-child.

THIS IS A TRAP. 

By: Laura Groulx, MSW, RSW

​I don’t have answers, only thoughts. I’m not a lawyer, but I do speak with a lot of people about relationships and family dynamics. Recently, with everything happening in the world, I’ve been wondering how co-parents are handling shared custody and access regarding children that are currently in isolation; after all, some children have more than one family.