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In my counselling psychotherapy practice, I often hear people talk about how they relate to others—partners, parents, children, friends. But when I gently ask, “And what is your relationship with yourself like?” , the room often grows quiet. Some people look down, unsure. Others laugh nervously. A few say, “I’ve never even thought about that.” Your relationship with yourself shapes everything: your mental health, your stress levels, your boundaries, your resilience, your capa

Most of us grow up learning how to treat others with kindness, grace, and respect. But few of us are taught how to develop the same steady, supportive relationship with ourselves. In therapy, I often meet people who are compassionate friends, loving partners, and considerate colleagues—yet speak to themselves in ways they would never speak to anyone else. Your self-relationship is the quiet and constant connection you maintain with your inner world: your thoughts, beliefs, em

Anxiety is a normal human response — it’s our body and mind’s way of saying, “Something feels uncertain or unsafe.”  But when that alert system stays on too long, anxiety can start to disrupt how we think, feel, and function each day. What many people don’t realize is that anxiety can show up in three ways: emotional, mental, and physical.  Recognizing which kind you’re feeling helps you respond in a way that truly soothes your system. It is possible to experience anxiety in

Zoe gets into her car, slams the door, grips the steering wheel, and stares straight head in confounded numbness. Waves of shame, embarrassment, disappointment, and frustration surge through her. She wants to crawl into a hole, fill the opening, and never come out. She has just finished a big interview for a position as a marketing executive – something that she has wanted for a long time but hadn’t had the courage to seek out until recent months, when work as an administrati

As the season changes from summer to fall and daylight hours diminish noticeably in the northern hemisphere, some of us experience seemingly inexplicable shifts in our mood, energy, and overall functionality, even when everything in our lives remain constant. If this pattern persists for two years or more, we may be experiencing seasonable affect disorder (with the apt acronym of SAD). As humans, our functionality is influenced by external factors such as the amount of daylig