It’s that time of year again, where parents pull out school supply lists and dust off indoor shoes to see if they still fit for the upcoming year. Lazy summer routines make way for structure, and boxes of KD head back to the pantry in favor of bagged lunches and portable snacks. For some people, …
The Mask of Humor
Robin Williams died last week. A man who made us all laugh. I think this was where I first met Mr. Williams: A man whose movies challenged us to not only laugh but to see how laughter fits in with challenge, and war, with growing up, and loving your kids so much it hurts. Robin …
The privilege of grumbling
When I was a little girl, I couldn’t decide between being a teacher or a nurse or a ballerina when I grew up. But I knew that no matter what, I wanted to be a mother. Being a ballerina was out pretty quickly, as I never actually took ballet. (Apparently having beautiful ballerina pillow cases …
Hump Day Nudge: Great Dads
“My name’s dad…and proud of it…all dads should be.” {! social/video/youtube?url=http%3A//youtu.be/6GYxH2-WeZY !} I love peanut butter. But I’m not at all sure about mixing peanut butter and Cheerios. I am completely sure that this is the sort of dad that is inspiring… I think it’s something about the encouragement, empowerment, boundaries, playfulness, affirmation towards his …
Meet our new intern…Heather Pringle
Introducing Heather Pringle! We, at Bergen and Associates Counselling are thrilled to let y’all know that Heather Pringle is joining our team, beginning to see clients at the beginning of September. It has been tradition, ever since our first loved intern, Rod Minaker, phoned me up and told me how much sense it made for …
6 Facts about Mental Health and Money
How does mental health and money intersect? Well, so glad you asked! As I’ve been doing some reading and listening lately, the topic of a person’s relationship to money and how that impacts the relationship to themselves and others has come up lately. What I’ve discovered is this: 1. A minimum amount of money is …
Complaining
Complaining costs a soul…and being mindful of complaining can change your life. The world conspired to have me think on complaining this last week. Dahlia Kurtz suggested a week ago that we talk about “complaining” for our weekly radio chat this week. She suggested an article to springboard off: I went 21 days Without Complaining …
Hump Day Nudge: Shake the Dust
This stirs my soul in the way only exquisite poetry can. It pulls tears in unknowing, curious, only half understood ways with it’s pulls and turns. It somehow challenges me to grab life, to reach out hard, and run forward bravely…knowing many other also reach out terrified but brave…opening up to all life has …
Hump Day Nudge: You don’t have to try
FAQ’s about Adult Bullying
Bullying sucks, at any age. Bullying hurts…the irony being that the bullies in the schoolyard are often the ones being bullied in another arena. They feel hurt and powerless…and so exert power over another to push away the helplessness. Those that are bullied are often hesitant to disclose to others that they are bullied…no matter …