​​​With summer around the corner, how will you be navigating screens? This topic is a sign of the times, and speaks to the how much screens have become a part of many children’s everyday life especially over the course of covid. With screens not going away anytime soon, and yet also knowing the negative impacts of screen time, for many parents it can be hard to strike the right balance for your family and child(ren). An article from the Canadian Pediatric Society shares that passive screen time use and even background tv has negative effects on a child’s development including lower cognitive abilities, diminishing child-parent interactions, negative impact on executive functioning, and decreasing focused attention. In addition, in my experience, if your child has challenging behaviours, reducing screen time tends to have a positive impact. And most of us post-pandemic has heard the correlation between higher screen use and increased risk of mental health concerns including anxiety in depression, this includes for children, youth and adults. Lastly, if your child is going to use screentime the research supports reducing passive watching, and encouragement of educational and interactive screen engagement. Please find below 5 strategies to consider in navigating the terrains of screen time with your child(ren):

​Building off the posts in May about Art Therapy, each month I aim to write one post about some commonly asked questions of clients and professionals about Art Therapy. In this post we will look at what an Art Therapy session may look like. 

What is mother rage? What is the difference between anger and rage? And how can I cope? These are common questions circulating among mothers in various platforms, groups and other areas. The National Library of Medicine describes “mother rage” as a term growing in popularity referring to a mother’s experience of anger or rage during motherhood. Anger is a normal emotion that we all experience, it shows up when our boundaries are being pushed or our needs are not being met, and it is healthy to express this in safe ways so anger does not build up and accumulate in our body. Rage is a more intense form of anger that can feel uncontrollable and all consuming, this experience can be a result of “stuffing emotions”, unprocessed anger, and/or an intense warning sign that something is out of balance. When we have an experience of intense emotion it is important for us to seek the supports and resources we need, please find below a few suggestions to consider as well as additional information:

​The mind-body balance is a key part of recovery and healing. Dr. Bhakti Murkey Sisodia shares the mind and body acting in sync with one another, with the mind interacting with the body through the Pineal gland and our body interacting with the mind through various neuro-chemicals (tiny molecules acting as messengers between neurons). The Neurology Centre of Toronto explains the connection as the interconnectedness of our minds and bodies through various communication networks of our brain and the neurological, endocrine, and immune systems of our body. A beautifully written article from Positive Psychology about the mind-body connection shares a quote from Selhub (2007) stating “In mind-body medicine, the mind and body are not seen as separately functioning entities, but as one functioning unit. The mind and emotions are viewed as influencing the body, as the body, in turn, influences the mind and emotions”. There are ways through therapy and various holistic modalities that someone can support mind-body balance. Please find below four considerations: