Book Review: The Whole-Brain Child 17 April 2019 Bliss Team No comments Categories: Book Recommendations If you enjoy reading, it is likely that you already understand the therapeutic nature of a good book. At Bliss Counselling, we also recognize the power of reading and the numerous benefits that books provide for us. Reading can encourage individual growth, develop or strengthen empathy, teach us better ways of interacting with the world, or provide much-needed support in difficult times. Below is my review of a recent book recommended to me from Bliss therapist Jenna Luelo! Book Reviewed The Whole−Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel M.D., and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D. What It’s About The book provides 12 revolutionary strategies to nurture a child’s developing mind. Why You Should Read It I think this book is great for any parent, caregiver or anyone who has an interest in learning more about the developing brain! As a parent, it can be challenging when we are confronted the strong emotions from our children. I enjoyed this book because I believe that it helps us to interpret what is happening in a child’s mind when they are experiencing extreme emotions such as fear or anger. It is a fantastic reminder that sometimes a child is not able to connect their “upstairs brain” (reasoning skills) with their more intense emotions. Each chapter in the book describes twelve revolutionary strategies that can be used with children. Below is a link to a quick guide outlining each strategy mentioned in the book: A Quick Guide of Strategies Favourite Quote “Imagine a peaceful river running through the countryside. That’s your river of well-being. Whenever you’re in the water, peacefully floating along in your canoe, you feel like you’re generally in a good relationship with the world around you. You have a clear understanding of yourself, other people, and your life. You can be flexible and adjust when situations change. You’re stable and at peace. Sometimes, though, as you float along, you veer too close to one of the river’s two banks. This causes different problems, depending on which bank you approach. One bank represents chaos, where you feel out of control. Instead of floating in the peaceful river, you are caught up in the pull of tumultuous rapids, and confusion and turmoil rule the day. You need to move away from the bank of chaos and get back into the gentle flow of the river. But don’t go too far, because the other bank presents its own dangers. It’s the bank of rigidity, which is the opposite of chaos. As opposed to being out of control, rigidity is when you are imposing control on everything and everyone around you. You become completely unwilling to adapt, compromise, or negotiate. Near the bank of rigidity, the water smells stagnant, and reeds and tree branches prevent your canoe from flowing in the river of well-being. So one extreme is chaos, where there’s a total lack of control. The other extreme is rigidity, where there’s too much control, leading to a lack of flexibility and adaptability. We all move back and forth between these two banks as we go through our days—especially as we’re trying to survive parenting. When we’re closest to the banks of chaos or rigidity, we’re farthest from mental and emotional health. The longer we can avoid either bank, the more time we spend enjoying the river of well-being. Much of our lives as adults can be seen as moving along these paths—sometimes in the harmony of the flow of well-being, but sometimes in chaos, in rigidity, or zigzagging back and forth between the two. Harmony emerges from integration. Chaos and rigidity arise when integration is blocked.” Written by Jill Stroeder
Group Therapy -Spring 2019 17 March 2019 Kelly McDonnell-Arnold No comments Categories: Self Care, Therapy, Workshops You are longing for a more fulfilling sense of connection with yourself and others. You want to improve your relationships and maybe even feel better about yourself. Making meaningful connections is hard for you. You often wish you could connect in a more deep and meaningful way with others. Perhaps you have noticed a recurring pattern in your relationships that you would love to change or understand better. You know you need to get better at creating healthy boundaries, but you have no idea where to start. And social situations—UGH! You often struggle and feel anxious. You would like to know how you relate to others, but do not have anyone to give you an honest (and kind) opinion. What if you had a safe and supportive space to explore your feelings, connect with others, and practice new behaviours to help you create more fulfilling relationships? Imagine feeling more connected to the important people in your life. Picture yourself communicating in a way that feels good to you and helps you to feel seen and heard. Envision that you are excited to sit down and have conversations with your friends, family, or your partner and are confident in your ability to be supportive of others, while asking for the support you need. Finally! Visualize feeling better about yourself and creating and deepening the relationships that matter most to you. You can do all this in Group Therapy. Group therapy is a powerful tool for growth and change. In therapy groups, you will use the group format and a proven process as a mechanism to help you explore, heal, and change through developing and examining interpersonal relationships in the group. What to expect: 7 Weekly Sessions: You will meet your group once per week for 90 minutes for 7 weeks. Small Groups for Multiple Perspectives: This group will consist of 6-10 individuals who meet face-to-face to share their every day struggles and concerns with two registered social workers and relationship therapists, Kelly and Melissa. Support and Encouragement:You will tap into the power of this group with the unique opportunity to receive multiple perspectives, support, encouragement, and feedback from other individuals in a safe and confidential environment. Deepened Self-Awareness: You will have the opportunity to deepen your level of self-awareness to learn how you relate to others and to practice new ways of being in a relationship with others. Topics That Matter Most To You: You will enjoy the unstructured nature of the group. Instead of covering one specific topic for each group session, you can focus on a particular theme or issue that’s important to you. Practice Giving Support:You will become more supportive in your personal life as you get a chance to give support and feedback to others. Are you interested in joining us? Great! We’d love to have you. Join the waitlist here and you’ll be the first to know when our Spring group opens up! Coverage: For many people, group therapy with a social worker (MSW or RSW) or psychotherapist (RP) is covered under their insurance plans. THE GROUP AS LABORATORY In trying these new ways of interacting with others, the important thing is to do something that feels difficult. Old, familiar ways of behaving will probably not result in productive experiments. Moreover, a new behaviour may seem difficult at first, but with practice, it gets easier. Then the new behaviour may be added to your repertoire-your range options-and it’s available whenever you need it.