Reflections about living with a chronic illness on a higher symptom day.

If you’ve been following along on my social media, you’ll know that my life has seen some pretty major changes recently. As of August 15, 2022, I officially started my graduate school career with the University of Waterloo to obtain my Master’s of Social Work (MSW)!!! It’s an exciting new chapter of my professional journey, but one that means a big shift in my life over the next year.

Summer is the season where we are often bombarded with messages about what your days “should'' look like. Women on beaches in tiny bikinis or enjoying a mimosa on the back of a boat (which 9 times out of ten is not even theirs). Outdoor concerts, markets, festivals, events. And don’t even get me started on all the vacation posts! Summer is probably one of the worst times of the year for FOMO, which can have a negative impact on your confidence and self-esteem.

Social work is probably one of the most misunderstood professions. Social workers are constantly faced with barriers that make it difficult to fulfil our mandates, from unrealistic systematic expectations to societal stigmas about what it is we actually do. But honestly? I love being a social worker everyday. Today I want to share with you some of the reasons why I love being a social worker, specifically working as a psychotherapist in private practice.

Virtual therapy, like other virtual services, became much more widespread during the pandemic. Here in Ontario, we have a great telehealth network that therapists were able to join. Therapy became available literally at your fingertips - on your smartphones, tablets, and computers. But now, like other fields, therapy offices are once again starting to open their doors. So, what does this mean for you?

We live in a world that places value on productivity. Hustle Culture. The Grind. Much of our passive entertainment contains messages about becoming more, becoming better, about how to turn your hobby into a profitable venture. Our workplaces are the same, and many of us struggle with overwhelming to-do lists and not enough hours in the day. Our health is paying the price. So today, I’m sharing some of the strategies that I use as a therapist in my own life to foster healthy living in a busy world.

I wish there was an exercise or practice or a program I could give that would help their client with this goal. But the truth is that I can’t - and, honestly, probably shouldn’t. Because our emotions are not inherently good or bad. They can be desirable or undesirable - nobody enjoys feeling scared or crying - but that does not mean that they do not sometimes serve a purpose. Our emotions simply are. If we eliminated certain emotions, but kept others, we would actually be setting ourselves up to fail.

I’ve been asked many times what it’s like to be a caregiver. People who have never experienced the role are curious about what it entails. How it feels to support a friend or loved one, or how it feels if you have made caregiving your career. The questions are always interesting to me, because there are many aspects of my identity that come into play.

What is grief? It is more complex of an experience than you might think. In fact, there are different types of grief.

Let’s turn our focus away from the big scary problem of “how do we save our planet?”. That’s an overwhelming question. Instead, this Earth Day I encourage you to break that massive challenge down into a much smaller question: “what actions can I take today to work towards change?”