Some days have neat moments when things come together and the world just feels like it’s a good place to be. It sort of makes a deep giggle come from somewhere in me–it’s not that anything is particularly funny, bur rather just profoundly delightful. It’s not even that big of a deal, except that it …
Feedback Enhanced Therapy–Good Success
Had a great therapists’ meeting on Saturday. The therapists at Bergen and Associates Counselling get together every so often for lunch on a Saturday. After going over the mundane usual matters (clean up your dishes, this is where the new form is kept, blah, blah, blah), we spent some time talking with each other about …
What happens at a first counselling session?
With a few trips to the electronics store, and a little trial and error, me and mine (well, mostly the “mine”, to tell the truth) have figured out how to make and upload videos. I’m kinda liking how it turned out. Although I’m a bit of an introvert by nature, and being in front of …
Feedback Enhanced Therapy…Off and Running
The iPads have arrived…and with it, our official launch of feedback enhanced therapy. They are so much fun to use, and learning how to use them has been a breeze: I got a call from Dr. Eric Kuelker, a psychologist with Mental Health Pros, last fall. He called to tell me about a …
It’s OK for a warrior to seek help
Yesterday’ America’s Got Talent show had an act that auditioned for it that caught my ear. I love a capella singing at the best of times, but this one melted me. It’s not easy to be a military veteran, trying to assimilate back into North American culture after having witness the atrocities of war, after …
A Wince that Heals and Understands
I’m a student of the therapy profession. I love to know what makes an therapist an exceptional one, what a therapist does that is helpful, that gives a person hope, that has the person believing enough after the first session that it feels worthwhile to come back. Therapy is a risky venture as a person …
Consider counselling
Therapy, or counselling as it is often known is seen by skeptics as something for the weak who don’t have the strength for their own problems. Or for the clueless, who can’t think for themselves. Or for the self-centered who need to hear themselves talk. Or only for women who need to “talk about their …
Flat Tire Wisdom
There are times when something works, but isn’t a sustainable realistic solution. Think about that. One of my favorite questions, which usually gets a good chuckle in therapy, is: So…how’s that workin’for ya? I was at Costco a few weeks ago, when a Good Samaritan passing by let me know that the passenger side rear …
Learning what Vulnerability is
It’s not easy going to a therapist.Sometimes us therapists need to really feel what that is like. Being vulnerable and doing some strange in an unfamiliar environment. That’s a tall order and therapists really need to “get it”. Last week I finished off the fall teaching with my students at the University of Manitoba. The …
Discovering Your Own Strength
Adversity brings out the best in many. One of the privileges of counselling clients is that I regularly have the honor of watching men and women triumph over challenges: refusing to let a marriage that is on life support die. A spouse digs deep and breathes deep and with hesitation and even a healthy dose …