Sometimes having a healthy boundary means that it is alright to move forward in your life, even though someone you care about is not yet living a healthy life. You may feel guilty about leaving someone behind, and yet there is an important gift that you are giving the other person.

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:

There are a number of different modalities or types of couples and family therapy. Here is a quick look at some common types.

There are a lot of ideas about what makes a good friend…a friend should be there for you no matter what, doesn’t judge you, is kind and respectful. While this idea is nice, I question whether this is realistic, does this idea perpetuate perfectionism in friendships, and what happens when a friend does not live up to these expectations?  

​Do you ever feel like you and are partner are repeating the same pattern over and over again? You or your partner says something that pushes buttons, one or both of you lose it, and then down the rabbit hole you go! The flooding of emotions during conflicts with a partner can be overwhelming and can lead to hurt feelings, regret, fear, and can even result in relationships ending. 

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.

Everyone has different things they love about the holidays. This could be the decorations, spending time with loved ones, the snow, the food, getting gifts, or giving gifts. Have you ever noticed how some people just love gift giving? They want to find the perfect present and get joy just from you receiving this gift. But why? Isn’t this just buying into the materialistic culture of the holidays? Not always. A lot of the time it isn’t about what the gift is, but how happy it makes the person getting the gift. Let’s explore some reasons some people love gift giving. ​

​Cheating, whether in a monogamous or polyamorous relationship, is sometimes so difficult that relationships have difficulty withstanding the hurt and pain of cheating, and sometimes the relationship will end.  For some, cheating is a limit or boundary that cannot be accepted because of one’s values and beliefs, and as such, the relationship cannot be recovered.

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

​Why is vulnerability important?  Vulnerability allows us to share our feelings and emotions, our experiences, as well as our mistakes, to improve self-awareness and to practice accountability.

​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.

​Often couples evaluate their relationship based upon how much they fight.  When they are not fighting, things must be going well and when they are fighting, things must NOT be going well within their relationship. It is a myth that healthy couples do not fight or do not fight often.

It has been a popular trend on social media about how to ruthlessly cut out and eliminate toxic people, suggesting that this toxic person is a poison that needs to be eradicated from our lives altogether.  While I have considered the idea and have somewhat enjoyed the idea of living free from guilt or shame in not having a person in my life who has hurt me, something about this just does not feel right.  Do you ever wonder that by cutting toxic people out of your life, whether you have become a little toxic yourself?

​In any relationship it is important to consider how open and transparent you may want to be within that relationship.  Sometimes there are expectations that I will be open with you if you are open with me, or if I am open with you, then you ought to be open with me, as if this is some kind of mutual exchange of goods.

​The mental weight of body shaming can be heavy.

​Often after a breakup, you’ll see people cut or dye their hair, get a piercing or tattoo, or change their wardrobe. I, for one, am guilty of all of the above. But why do we do this?

WIN. You’re probably wondering what I’m talking about. Win what? Communication? A fight? How do I do that? - Let me explain.

​Try not to fall into the trap of right and wrong, when, in fact, multiple truths can exist in any given situation.  When you disagree with someone, that does not make you right and the other person wrong. 

​A quality that makes a human, a human, is the ability to feel empathy.  

​Can you distinguish a comment from criticism? Being able to distinguish between the two is important.  

​After having endured a challenging or difficult experience such as grief and loss, trauma, an accident, or a significant change in life such as retirement, major illness, or diagnosis of a degenerative disease, one may begin to question:

What is the purpose and value of my life?  Why is this important? ​