Why where you live matters for how you heal & why you don't have to leave it to get support. I grew up on the Sunshine Coast. My son capturing the sunset at Diver's Rock in Lund, BC The particular quality of light on the water in the morning. The feeling of standing at the edge of a forest so dense it holds its own weather. The way the mountains from that part of BC don't just sit in the background. They press in, they're present, they're part of the air you breathe. I carry

A metaphor born from the landscape I live near the Fraser Valley. On clear mornings, I can see where the mountains begin; sharp-edged and snow-capped, the peaks holding their cold long after the valley has thawed. The Fraser River moves through this landscape with a kind of quiet authority, carrying what the mountains have released all the way to the Pacific. I have thought a lot about that river. And the more I work with trauma, and with clients who carry memories that feel

My opinion on pathologizing mental health & the use of DSM labels I personally resist labeling and pathologizing most mental health issues I see in my counselling practice, as negative connotations are often associated with these labels. For instance, I prefer to reframe a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder as an adaptive and completely sensible nervous system and psyche response to difficult relationship dynamics at an early age. These are coping mechanisms that we

At this point in my career, I’ve come to appreciate three key aspects of trauma recovery, which I have affectionately named "the essential ingredients of nervous system recalibration". And while “nervous system recalibration” can sound like a complex feat, the three essential ingredients are actually quite simple (to explain, anyway). The primary ingredient, the base of the recipe (like flour) is a safe environment . Through the trials and tribulations of working with people