What is one thing that long lasting healthy relationships have in common? They make the time to build rituals of emotional connection within their relationship.  A ritual is a regular behaviour that preserves and honours things that are important to people.  What can be more important than hounouring yourself and the relationship that you have with another person?  Building rituals of emotional connection help couples turn towards one another, builds trust, increases closeness and intimacy, and improves friendships. Rituals of emotional connection can come in many forms from daily rituals to traditions, etc.

There are many ways to create rituals for emotional connection within your relationship:

​Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that is related to changes in seasons. SAD begins and ends at about the same times every year and, if you're like most people with SAD, your symptoms start in the fall and continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody.

​It is never too late to start over and build the life that you want!

​When I used to hear “emotional manipulation,” I’d usually think of a five-letter word that I despise - abuse. Four years later – I now think of myself.

For some the opportunity to work from home has been a glorious and welcomed change, while for others this change has been difficult and the wait to return to “normal” cannot come fast enough. While there are many work environments and workplace needs, there are some things that can help make the “new normal” more manageable.
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Where possible, things to consider when working from home:

Pandemic Fatigue is not just tiredness or exhaustion. It’s feeling demotivated and depleted about following recommended guidelines to protect yourself and others from the virus.

Now it is more important than ever to engage in self-care!  During a pandemic it is necessary to care for yourself, before you can help others.  Getting back to the basics is important.

​This phrase, so commonly uttered during therapy sessions can represent weeks, months and even years of misery for some.

​The mental weight of body shaming can be heavy.

By: Seija Grant, MEd CP, RP

I have always loved spending time outdoors in nature.
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As a child I have fond memories of catching tadpoles in buckets, and noticing ones that had started to develop tiny little legs and the ones that hadn’t. A few years later I recall building a “girls only” fort in the trees behind my family home and running and playing in the forest with child-like wonder and natural curiosity. 

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. 

​Recently, I have really been reflecting on the meaning behind the cliché about our lives being broken down into “chapters”.  I have been seeing it this way more now than ever before, in both my life, and in the lives of the people around me. Our lives can change so dramatically in one day, by either making a single choice, or having something happen around us that is totally out of our control. Life is fluid and dynamic, and the uncertainty of it all can feel kind of scary. 

By: Kelly Graham, MSW, RSW

​If you’re anything like me, you love sleeping in and hate waking up early for anything. While this lifestyle was alright in my teenage years, the older I got, the more I wanted to wake up and be productive in the morning. While this is much easier said than done, here are some tips that can help you learn to rise with the birds and get stuff done.

​The experience of coping with difficult situations, significant changes in life, and other life challenges might leave you feeling low in mood and even hopeless. The challenge with feelings of hopelessness is that this feeling carries with it a certain reality: that things won’t get better, that it is not worth trying, and that you might as well just give up.  

By: Kelly Graham, MSW, RSW

Right now, a lot of people are feeling stressed, anxious, and afraid. We don’t know how badly COVID-19 will affect Canada or Thunder Bay. We are also unsure of when schools and workplaces will open, and when we can spend time with family and friends. ​