2022 has been indeed a busy year for me with school, work, busy school, full-time work, endless school, and nonstop work – did I mention school AND work? Anyway, between the barrage of school and work life, I was able to do another interview, this time with Valeria Teles, creator of Fit for Joy IContinue reading “Interview with Fit for Joy: “Defining Life, Love, and Happiness: Insights from a Psychotherapist””
Tag Archives: therapy
Hearing Between the Lines in Child Therapy
*For the sake of brevity, I will refer to all young individuals of minority age as “children” or “child” in this post. I feel lucky in the fact that I have the privilege of working with several children on a long-term basis – and I mean it. As I have mentioned in my previous post,Continue reading “Hearing Between the Lines in Child Therapy”
Mental Health Workshop for Graduate Students
I’m pleased to announce that I have been invited by BCCRC Graduate Student and Post Doctoral Society (GrasPods) to host a mental-health workshop for grad students! In this workshop, I will talk about some of the common “myths” about mental health (counselling/psychotherapy) and barriers that graduate students face that prevent them from accessing relevant resources.Continue reading “Mental Health Workshop for Graduate Students”
心理諮詢常見問題
1）心理諮詢是聊天麼？心理諮詢是諮詢師與你一起進行專業工作，後者以心理學理論和技術去進行評估、理解，在諮詢中解決心理問題的過程。諮詢師的談話是有專業“以患者利益為主的”意圖和目的，也是有系統的，並不是像日常生活中與朋友、家人的談話單純聽你傾訴、解悶、或提議。 2）我需要做心理諮詢麼？心理問題不同於身體機能上的問題，大多是一種感受，並且自己沒有辦法緩解，這個時候，希望人們能尋求心理諮詢的幫助，不要等問題越來越大，等到事情變得非常糟糕時再行動，因為那時反而可能會有更多的潛在困難。但做心理諮詢也不代表你有病或問題：發展性心理諮詢，是一個人想要對自身了解更多、發展探索、或尋找現況的突破點。也有患者來作事業或自身探索、性事諮詢等，是為提高生活感受和質量而不是因為患病來作治療的。 3) 我需要找精神科還是心理諮詢？你是心理醫生嗎？嚴格來說，這世上沒有“心理醫生 ”只有“精神科醫生”或（臨床）心理學家、諮詢師等。精神科因有醫科背景是做藥物治療的，主要工作是精神疾病的診斷、處方權、和藥物治療。心理諮詢是用行為和談話進行治療的，一般是心理學背景，並不開藥。 4) 心理諮詢為什麼沒有辦法立刻消除我的痛苦或解決問題？很多患者因為情緒波動很大，一來就劈頭傾訴一肚子的煩惱和苦水，到最後時間到了就問了一句：“那你如何幫我？” 當聽到不能馬上好起來，就覺得時間白費了。也有患者期待諮詢師為他們做主，以為諮詢能一次性解決問題，絲毫不查覺自己沒有真正在做心理諮詢，只當諮詢師為抱怨筒，聽完就可以解決問題。實際上心理諮詢的理念是“助人自助“，是通過患者和諮詢師一起努力共同解決問題的過程，諮詢中患者還是需要付出努力和麵對自己，不是只是傾訴出來然後要求馬上解答、給你出主意、想辦法、甚至做決定、解決問題或給你一記”快速止痛劑“。諮詢師需要時間來充分理解問題和其它因素來助患者走上成長之旅。諮詢要自己付出了努力，而諮詢師的工作之一就是幫患者喚醒自己遺忘的內在淺能，從人生不同角度來獲得領悟，進而獲得成長。 除了以上問題以外，還有其他的問題和任何疑惑都可以跟您的心理諮詢師討論的，而且也有助於諮詢。 整個過程，始終是求助者主動，歡迎聯繫！
What You Want for Boxing Week: Personal Tips on How to Shop for a Therapist
Have you been naughty or nice this year? Or have you simply been anxious or depressed? Now that Christmas is over and that Boxing Week has arrived, perhaps you are thinking about self-care once again after post-holidays fatigue. Whatever your reason is for shopping for a (new) therapist, it still does not negate the factContinue reading “What You Want for Boxing Week: Personal Tips on How to Shop for a Therapist”
5 Common Signs that indicate You’re Sabotaging Yourself in Therapy
You’d think that, given the amount of time, energy, resources, and money (if paying out of pocket) spent, everyone in therapy must all be such ardent clients keen on dissecting the profound depths of their minds, tackling every homework with zeal, practicing every intervention strategy learned religiously, and reflecting on the discussions between sessions withContinue reading “5 Common Signs that indicate You’re Sabotaging Yourself in Therapy”
How to Cope with First-Date Anxiety Part II (expanding on my Interview with Georgia Straight with a clinical twist)
The first of July came and went along with the intense heat wave that had baked the West Coast. Although I am sure that the fiery inferno made many sullen, suffering hobbits happy at last to have been able to cut their trips short by finding Mount Doom on the nearest mountain or hill, itContinue reading “How to Cope with First-Date Anxiety Part II (expanding on my Interview with Georgia Straight with a clinical twist)”
Why Doesn’t Therapy Work? 3 Common Misperceptions about Mental Health and Mental-Health Professionals
“This is NOT working!” Mrs. Y exclaimed in an exasperated manner. It had been barely 20 minutes into her session, her first session with me, and her very first therapy session in her life, before she unleashed her wrath on me. I could not understand anything about Mrs. Y from her dramatic monologue aside fromContinue reading “Why Doesn’t Therapy Work? 3 Common Misperceptions about Mental Health and Mental-Health Professionals”
“BC is not Canada”: How ICBC Gaslighted Me
If I had a dollar (not “dime” as to adjust for inflation) every time a client tells me an example of how they had been gaslighted by their parent, manipulative ex, significant other, or friend, I would not be writing this post right now. Instead, I would have already bought myself an island paradise, livingContinue reading ““BC is not Canada”: How ICBC Gaslighted Me”
Can Therapists “have fun” in Sessions with their Clients?
When I tell some of my much-more experienced and older professional colleagues about the fact that I actually enjoy – and most of the time even dare to have fun in – my psychotherapy/counselling sessions, they’d look at me as if I just told them that COVID-19 is about freedom of choice. “How many yearsContinue reading “Can Therapists “have fun” in Sessions with their Clients?”
芊芊心理諮詢室 Flourishing Hearts Psychotherapy & Counselling Services Inc. 