I’ve had self-compassion on my mind lately. I gave a workshop to a group of foster parents on the topic last week, and have had a couple of profound conversations with colleagues about being compassionate towards ourselves. Self compassion: gives staying power to those in helping professions. It takes a lot of energy to …
A letter to a potential client: Yep, therapy is hard
If you find this article helpful, might I invite you to consider reading the book? It’s a big decision to decide to go to therapy, and so don’t dismiss (or grab) it lightly. Make a thoughtful decision–notice your resistance and be curious about it. Work it through thoughtfully. Available on Amazon in softcover and kindle …
Hopes for Parenting in a Fast Moving World Part 1
(alternate working title: How to Slow Down and Stop Being a Jerk) From time to time I almost have myself convinced that I’m all grown up. On those occasions, I’m doing grown-up type things like voting for a prime minister, having difficult conversations with my boss**, or re-re-reading the bedtime stories my son prefers (rather than …
Carolyn’s Shoebox Legacy
And now…we take a break from the regular blog posts and send out a “message in a bottle” sort of blog. About 132 children will receive a shoebox from Samaritan’s Purse this year with a letter that has this link to it. We don’t know where they will be from–it could be anywhere in the …
Peacemaking
Peacemaking as a lifestyle can serve to “pay it forward” to those men and women who served our country to preserve our freedom and to work towards peace. The idea that we honor those that have fought for our peace by actively supporting peace We honor those that have fought for democracy by voting and …
An Open Letter to Prime Minister Trudeau
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, I’m no political wizard, so I have no political advice or wisdom to give you. Nada. Zip. As a Canadian, however, I care about this country…and I care for it’s leaders. You are head of this very large collective family of Canada, and so I wanted to share a few things …
“I’m proud of you”
I had a smile on my face the other day remembering the conversation: A friend of mine met me for lunch… John and his wife are good friends of mine…maybe 5 years or so younger than I am. Good people. Solid. He has Junior Tribe Members the same age as I do, and our kids …
Comforting Power of a Parent
So, parenting is hard, eh? Brutal. Some days, you gotta wonder if all your efforts matter. If you matter. Some days, we as parents mess up, screw up, yell too much, micro manage, over-parent, under-parent, can’t-play-dressy-up-even-one-more-time, or use the screen as a babysitter in an all together unsatisfying way. But we always got something our …
Loving Family Rituals – Four Steps to Peaceful, Nurturing Times with you
From Carolyn: One of the greatest treats of my life (and there are many) is to work with therapists that I deeply trust and respect. I believe in their approach and their commitment to help clients that come to see us. One of those deeply valued therapists is Lindsey Jay Walsh . He writes so eloquently about …
Visiting my husband’s wife’s grave
It wasn’t an easy decision for our experience of love after heartbreaking loss being on the national stage in the Globe and Mail. We thought long and hard about sharing this story. The back story of our decision, the picture featured in the article, and another perspective of the same shot, from an entirely different angle: Composting Heartbreak …