Our Blog

– By Sharon Ashton and Raksha Dave-Gates (Counselling Psychologists) As the New Year starts, most people entertain thoughts of making a change in some aspect of their lifestyle. Whether your change goal relates to physical health (e.g. increasing healthy eating and exercise) or other aspects of your life, change is not about simply making a New Year’s resolution.   It may help you gain momentum for change if you understand the process of change and identify where you are in that

– By Sharon Ashton and Raksha Dave-Gates (Counselling Psychologists) It is human nature to search for cause-and-effect explanations of the events in our lives and in the world around us.  Believingthat things happen in a logical manner is very useful because it leads us to actively make positive choices in many areas of our life.  For example, we may focus on eating well, getting adequate exercise, and avoiding exposure to toxic substances because we wish to have the best possible

– By Sharon Ashton and Raksha Dave-Gates (Counselling Psychologists) February habitually draws attention to love relationships.  However, to carry the same focus and mindfulness about our relationships into the rest of the year can sometimes be challenging as people resume their busy and fast paced lifestyles.  Our focus in this article is about the practice of mindfulness.  Whether this mindfulness relates to mindful parenting, mindfulness in partner relationships, or personal and spiritual mindfulness, the goal is one and the same. 

– By Sharon Ashton and Raksha Dave-Gates (Counselling Psychologists) Now that Spring is at the doorstep, it’s a great time to tackle tuning-up tasks.  How about adding a diagnostic scan of the most important relationships in your life?  The positive payoff for doing this checkup regularly can be huge since relationship has the potential to be an extraordinary source of renewal, sustenance, and joy.  At the other end of the spectrum, without due care and attention, relationships can become unbelievably

– By Sharon Ashton and Raksha Dave-Gates (Counselling Psychologists) Aristotle said, “anyone can become angry – that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time,for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is noteasy”. In our practice, we have observed that when one person in ahousehold is angry, there are inevitably others who also become angry – anger iscatchy!  Examining your anger style, your predictable and repeated way

– By Sharon Ashton and Raksha Dave-Gates (Counselling Psychologists) The primary task of every civilization is to teach the young men to be fathers. – Margaret Mead Our celebrations of Father’s Day this month and of Mother’s Day in May are evidence of the high value that our society places on the importance of family. When wescan the racks of greeting cards for these two occasions, we see examples of what it means in our culture to be a good

– By Sharon Ashton and Raksha Dave-Gates (Counselling Psychologists) Just thinking of summer holidays can raise a range of feelings – joyful anticipation, anxiety, even panic. Filled with expectations and hopes, summe ris a time of transition for all family members. Summer may mean that you have to plan engaging activities for young children, that you have (or are) a college-student returning home for the summer break, or that you are awaiting less work and more time with family and

– By Sharon Ashton and Raksha Dave-Gates (Counselling Psychologists) Recently as I traveled toward downtown Calgary through a series of construction zones, I thought about how traffic signs and signals, rules of the road, motorist courtesy, and road condition, all work together to determine the ease of a commute. It seemed to me that when all of these factors are optimal, traveling in the city is a breeze. When one or more of these factors fail, stress levels tend to

– By Sharon Ashton and Raksha Dave-Gates (Counselling Psychologists) As summer ends, many families confront the daunting task of reestablishing family routines, particularly, sleep routines. Hot summer nights, longer daylight hours, and reduced time urgencies often disrupt sleep routines as adults and children alike often stay up later. Sleep is an instrumental need – people can go longer without food than sleep. Although we all need sleep, the amount of sleep needed varies based on genetics,circadian rhythm, and developmental life