Around Bergen and Associates Counselling, we grow hope. We grow hope in all sorts of ways with our clients. It’s beautiful to watch hope grow. I can’t even begin to tell you how special a job I have to have a front row seat to the growth of hop in the lives of the folks …
An Open Letter to Ms. Rona Ambrose
Dear Ms. Ambrose, Wow…did you see this coming? Your role as leader of the Official Opposition? I know your party was anticipating a re-election, with Mr. Harper continuing to be Prime Minister. And now–you’re the interim leader of the Conservative party. That’s an enormous job to land in. I applaud your courage to take on …
On Changing Habits and My Relationship with Fingerpicking
A guest post by Heather Pringle, another one of my favourite colleagues in our office. Sometimes at work we get to talking about situations, and life and our lives. We have the coolest conversations: When I mentioned my finger picking to Carolyn a little while ago, it felt like a slightly risky thing to do, …
Self Compassion: Being loving to your suffering
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 …