A perfect storm is upon us. We are witnessing an unparalleled rising tide of people who require mental health services coupled with a widening social-economic gap between those who can afford psychotherapy and those who cannot. And the current system doesn’t support people on the lower end of the social scale, those who often need psychotherapeutic services the most.

While the issues described exist globally, I am committed to offering free psychotherapy professional services to one person per year who otherwise cannot afford professional help and will benefit from the support.

The Mental Health Post Covid Aftermath

The demand for mental health practitioners is skyrocketing due…

Anxiety can be debilitating. At times I witness the effects on a close family member who becomes overwhelmed, cannot breathe, and loses their ground. We hear the phrase “find your ground” quite a lot. But what does this statement mean, and how can a person recoup themself once again? The 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 technique addresses this challenge.

First, let’s explore the definition. Grounding yourself is the process of balancing your physical, emotional, mental, and energy state and reconnecting them. Therapistaid.com states:

Grounding techniques help control these symptoms by turning attention away from thoughts, memories, or worries, and refocusing…

The following story is written by Sheila Beasley, the mother of Lisa Bradburn.

Waiting For An Event To Unfold

Have you ever waited for an event to occur with such anticipation that you thought you would burst before it happened? As a little four-year-old girl, living in rural England, I waited for my Grandparents to arrive. The anticipation I felt was almost too much to bear. Their visit brought visions of luxurious and decadent food items to mind, sweets, fruit, cakes, and things that lower-income, struggling families never dared to dream of. I stood on the side of the road waiting for their familiar little Mini…

One of the most common challenges with work is an overabundance of meetings and lack of quiet time for concentrated work. Time is our most valuable commodity, more so than money, food, etc. And we know conceptually it is impossible to replace time, especially when wasted, forever lost, never reclaimed. So in the context of work, what is one small improvement you can make today to ensure you’re not wasting your valuable time or others?

When sending a meeting invite, write clear objectives and outcomes. By clearly articulating your intention and expected results within the body of the invite, you…

A saving grace is something positive in an otherwise bad situation.

Are you ready for an embarrassing true story? Here we go. In 2002, at the plucky age of twenty-five, I moved to London, England, with four thousand Canadian dollars. Given the horrid exchange rate, my money ran out fast. I moved into a dingy flat in Fulham with two younger girls who, I later found out, weren’t paying rent, and we were all about to be evicted. To top off a depressing situation, I sought employment, and no promising prospects were on the horizon. A huge part of me…

I recently sat down with two Toronto-Silicon Valley contacts who opened up about traumatic and psychologically unsafe practices they have experienced firsthand or observed during their time in tech trenches.

For this article and to protect anonymity, we’ll call one of my contacts Jane Doe, who works in a design capacity in the tech industry. My other contact, Mark Cortejos, works in a development position in the same industry. Here, using a conversational format, we explore Jane's experience in confronting leaders and peers who have used humiliation tactics to achieve the desired effect. …

Topdog vs. Underdog is a phrase coined by Fritz Perls, the father of Gestalt therapy, to describe a self-torture game that people play with themselves in order to avoid the anxiety that they encounter in their environment. — Wikipedia

Topdog versus Underdog is a game we play with ourselves, one we cannot win. In this article, we discover the definition of Topdog and Underdog, how humans use the defeatist self-manipulation technique, and ways to shift mindsets into a positive way of being.

The Theory Behind Topdog Versus Underdog

To avoid or reduce anxiety, humans often develop complex manipulative behavior to satisfying personal needs, but in reality…

Conflict is inevitable on agile teams. Most of the issues that arise in groups stem from differences in approach, opinions, and varying personality traits that make up the chemistry and interpersonal dynamics. The role of a Scrum Master and an Agile Coach is to listen to the system and observe the root cause of the pain points. If you encounter an agile team in conflict, here are five helpful practices to diffuse the struggles and strife.

Note — the following exercises work either in person or on-screen.

1. Deep Breath

When anger is present in the space, people tend to forget to breathe…