Blog

Join my personal mailing list

Get free articles and resources for help with Anxiety, OCD, and Perfectionism. No spam here! Unsubscribe at any time.

* indicates required

How is OCD Treated in Therapy?
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition that affects 1-2% of the population. The World Health Organization estimates that it is one of the top 10 causes of illness related disability worldwide. You might wonder if OCD can be cured? The …
Is Online Therapy Effective and Is It Right For Me?
What is the effectiveness of online therapy? Since the pandemic, so many jobs have turned from in-person to work from home… therapy included! Now that a lot of the world has opened up and returned to working in-person, you may be wondering …
How Are Panic Attacks Treated in Therapy?
Disclaimer: If you notice yourself experiencing what you think are panic attacks, it is always best to visit your Doctor (GP) as a first stop to make sure these symptoms are not caused by an underlying health condition. Once your doctor gives …
How To Overcome Being a Perfectionist
Being a perfectionist is something I know all too well! I remember back in my university days, waking up with overwhelming anxiety thinking about upcoming exams and projects. I would tell myself, today will be the day that I will tackle all …
Emotions as Allies
We all know that being human means we experience a wide range of emotions; happiness, sadness, anger, fear, guilt, surprise, joy, loneliness, and love to name a few. Yet quite often when a difficult emotion comes up, we try to avoid it, …
Connecting with Your Values (Part 3)
This article goes into practical ways we can start living by our personal values. If you have not clarified your own values yet, check out part two of this article series here. Flavour and Savour Any given value has an infinite number …
Connecting with Your Values (Part 2)
This article contains 3 written exercises that are designed to help clarify your own personal values. To get some background on what I mean by values, check out part one of this article here. I highly suggest taking out a pen and …
Connecting with Your Values (Part 1)
The word ‘values’ can trigger different meanings for different people. Some people will instantly think of valuing their family or their relationship. When I speak of ‘values’, I mean something much more specific. I mean deep down how do you most want …
Handling Our Minds
Have you ever been somewhere beautiful, maybe on a vacation with the people you care about most, yet you just can’t seem to get out of your head? You feel unable to enjoy the moment and relax even though this is the …
Why is it so hard to be happy?
Happiness! We all want it, but why does it sometimes seem so far out of reach? Quite often when someone is asked what they want out of life, a common answer is ‘I just want to be happy!’ Seems reasonable enough. But …
Self-Care: Why we all struggle with it
Self-care simply means doing things to look after your own health and well-being. It’s very broad and can include anything from sleep to hobbies to going to a doctor’s appointment to taking on new challenges. It’s no surprise that caring for yourself …
Listening to Our Boundaries
When we hear the word “boundaries” we often think of boundaries with other people. While it can be helpful to set boundaries with others, boundaries are really about how we care for ourselves. Our Inner Yes and No Sarri Gilman is a …
What if anxiety was not the problem?
Anxiety, it’s painful, it’s annoying, it’s inconvenient, sometimes it can feel downright unbearable. But what if anxiety itself was not the issue? Anxiety is there to protect us Anxiety is an emotion that we all get to experience. It shows up to …
Tips on Dealing with COVID-19
What a few weeks it has been! With many of us being forced to abandon our routine, stay at home and with all upcoming plans being cancelled, it is normal that feelings of sadness, disappointment, frustration, anxiety, or anger will come up. …
Self-Compassion
Self-compassion has received a lot of research recently (over 1,000 published studies)! Psychologist Dr. Kristen Neff was the first to come up with a formal definition of self-compassion, and use it as a measure in psychological research. Her definition of self-compassion is …
The Social Comparison Machine
Do you find that your mind often compares you to others? Tells you that you are not as good as those around you? That you don’t have the best job, or you are not as kind, smart, funny, pretty, or courageous as …
Mindfulness. What is it really?
Mindfulness has been a buzz word in the mental health field for a while now. I think many people have misconceptions about what it is. For good reason, as there is no one agreed upon definition! From the therapeutic approach I am …