anxiety depression abuse family youth relationships friendship counselling

Anxiety is the most common mental illness in Canada. Anxiety is a serious mental health condition. With anxiety one feels nervous, irritable, or on edge; has a sense of impending danger, panic or doom; experiences an increase in heart rate, starts to breath rapidly (hyperventilation), starts sweating, and/or trembling; has difficulty concentrating, trouble sleeping and even experiences gastrointestinal problems. Panic attacks, as a part of anxiety, can be very distressing. They can begin suddenly and strike at any time — when one is driving a car, at the mall, sound asleep or in the middle of a business meeting. Psychotherapy deals effectively with anxiety and anxiety related disorders. It is possible to be 100% anxiety free!  We will teach you (and provide you with tools) that will help you to recognize and control your anxiety related issues.

Depression is a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. It affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. You may have trouble doing normal day-to-day activities, cry and sometimes you may feel as if life is not worth living.

Depression is not a weakness and you cannot simply "snap out” of it, "stop complaining" or "get over it". Depression kills people and this cannot be taken lightly. Nearly 800,000 people die from suicide due to depression every year. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-29-year-olds worldwide.

Depression may require long-term treatment and may require the use of medications. However, recent research shows that CBT psychotherapy is equal in effectiveness as medication for curing depression or depression related issues. We are trained in CBT and we are able to effectively help you to overcome your depression and related issues. 

Dissatisfied with your partner? Yourself? Kids? In-laws? 

Family/Couples therapy, can help to discover invisible problems, detect and resolve family gridlocks, and teach how to cope with conflicts. Many couples learn to deal with their issues and build happy, successful relationships after professional therapy.

We use Sound Relationship House Approach, developed by Dr. John Gottman, one of the modern and prominent family therapists.  Your goal, according to John Gottman, is to move “from gridlock to dialogue.” Once you’re able to do that, you can learn to live with almost any perpetual problem.

A personality disorder is a type of mental disorder in which you have a rigid and unhealthy pattern of thinking, functioning and behaving. A person with a personality disorder has trouble perceiving and relating to situations and people. This causes significant problems and limitations in relationships, social activities, work and school.

In some cases, individuals may not even realize that they have a personality disorder because their  way of thinking and behaving seems natural to them. And they may blame others for the challenges they face. 

We practice CBT, DBT, Mindfulness and Neurofeedback therapies while helping personality disorders sufferers. 

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that causes significant changes in mood, behavior, and energy levels. The mood swings from depression to mania that affect people with this disorder can last for days, weeks, or even several months. We practice DBT, CBT, SFT, Strength Based Therapy, Mindfulness and Neurofeedback to help individuals with this disorder.

People who have schizophrenia or those who are on this spectrum do not always act abnormally and can at times be perfectly normal, even while they experience hallucinations or delusions. However, these people require lifelong treatment, even after their symptoms have subsided. Treatment includes medications and psychosocial therapy. Therapy includes:  

• Individual therapy to help normalize thought patterns and to learn ways  to cope with stress. Identification of early warning signs of relapse can help people with schizophrenia manage their illness. 
• Social skills training - this focuses on improving communication and social interactions and improving the ability to participate in daily activities.
• Family therapy - this provides support and education for families dealing with schizophrenia.