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How to Deal with Difficult Thoughts and Emotions? Have you ever stepped into a shower without knowing it was freezing cold? Have you ever thought about how the body responds to the cold a little like the way we handle emotions that are difficult? Let me explain. Emotions can be unpredictable and when we are hit by some difficult news, the person in traffic, or literally the sound of our alarm clock, it can feel a bit assaulting to us and we may not handle the situation just the way we want.  Maybe we will avoid the situation. Maybe we…

Life Can Throw You Lemons – Dealing with Pain and Suffering Today is the Anniversary of my Bone Marrow Transplant in 2015 at Vancouver General Hospital. I want to share a bit of my story with you today and offer hope to anyone going through something difficult at the moment. The day after my wife’s 30th birthday I was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia and this would change the rest of our life. Maybe this can help you in your journey of life’s unexpected turns it can take. Let me tell you the Backstory My wife and I both grew up…

The Four Horsemen in a relationship is a reference not to the Biblical story but instead of the four major obstacles that can ruin a relationship. Often one or all four of the horsemen will surface during conflict discussions, and it becomes essential to eliminate them by ideally replacing them with something more productive.

The Four Horsemen in a relationship is a reference not to the Biblical story but instead of the four major obstacles that can ruin a relationship. Often one or all four of the horsemen will surface during conflict discussions, and it becomes essential to eliminate them by ideally replacing them with something more productive.

The Four Horsemen in a relationship is a reference not to the Biblical story but instead of the four major obstacles that can ruin a relationship. Often one or all four of the horsemen will surface during conflict discussions, and it becomes essential to eliminate them by ideally replacing them with something more productive.

To Commune “to come together” If you don”t know what to say, don’t say anything… What is Community? As a child, I had the experience of watching my mother struggle with mental health issues after she gave birth to my sister. I won’t share all of her stories because it is not my story to tell, but what I will share is that she was part of a community that seemed to drop the ball when it came to a solid support that would impact her mental health. The root word of community is “to commune” which is also the…

by Geordy Murphy My grandmother had a dream for children and the longing to be a mother to nurture and hold dear, to feed and clothe and have the ability to raise and feel that sense of innate purpose that many who grow up with this longing would understand. To make a long story short, my grandmother had a few losses through miscarriage, which is an unimaginable grief that only one who has experienced it might understand. Thankfully my grandmother had children eventually, but it did not take away the grief of those lost lives, and it only became worse…

by Geordy Murphy MA CCC Do I need to say anymore?   The difficulty it presents is far-reaching as I attempt at connecting with others from a social distancing model and with the presence of fear, anxiety, and isolation as indicators that you are “doing it for the greater good.” I am not against being cautious and the reality that Covid-19 is a terrible and threatening disease; however, I think there are also some important considerations when we choose to focus on one threat and neglect all the others. When we focus most of our energy on combating one threat,…

"Some days are difficult and it is better to acknowledge the negative feelings and emotions because they are probably telling us something."

If you are not already aware, we are facing a global crisis with Covid19 sweeping across our world infecting numerous people and causing thousands of deaths. We are hearing updates each day on the spread and increase of more and more infected; while seeing the impact on us financially with stock markets plunging, and often the need to not work because we need to self-isolate. The other impact of the Covid19 pandemic is that of what might be going on psychologically for people. We are seeing human behavior that is unusual such as hoarding toilet paper as the first thing…

I currently started a position working with youth who have been on the brink of homelessness and always have a heart for individuals who are homeless because I think about the parents of these individuals and the narratives of each one of them.  A quote from Bessel Van Der Kolk MD “How did an innocent baby grow up and is now homeless and doing intervenes drugs?” (2014) Youth homelessness is a large-scale and complex problem. The population of youth who are homeless is diverse, and the numbers are high: 40,000 in Canada (Gaetz, Donaldson, Richter, & Gulliver, 2013). Many of…

Personal Story In the midst of doing a Masters’s in Counselling Psychology, I was diagnosed with a critical illness called Aplastic Anemia, where my bone marrow decided to stop producing blood, and my life was turned upside down. It has been one of those experiences that many have had in regard to having everything one day, and then life hits you like a ton of bricks. The only way I could live for a year was to get blood transfusions while completing my coursework. I am not sure how I did it except that I had pure determination and much…