Though I am not a psychotherapist that takes OHIP, my services can be covered under most extended health plans. Please contact me for more information.
I appreciate you visiting my site. I see patients facing a number of difficulties. Details about the various conditions and circumstances I treat can be found down the left side of the page.
I am not one of those therapists that sits silently asking how you feel. While emotions do lead to change, if I repeadly ask you "How do you feel about that?" feel free to throw a Kleenex box at me. None-the-less, the process of therapy can be challenging, but the rewards are worth it. You will make fundamental change and have more empahty and patience for yourself, those around you and your circumstances.
I practice in mid-town, very close to TTC, and have free parking. I answer all inquires from this website 24 hours. If you need to see someone quickly, I can accomodate rush, evening and weekend appointments.
Next week I will be giving a talk to a wonderful group called MindShift in Toronto , on such topics as depression, mental health, setting limits other issues regarding people'e relationship to work.
I thought I may share some of the topics I will be discussing at that talk.
Next week I will be giving a talk to a wonderful group called MindShift in Toronto, on such topics as depression, mental health, setting limits other issues regarding people'e relationship to work.
I thought I may share some of the topics I will be discussing at that talk.
- Depression is perhaps the most common mental health risk workers have. According to one poll, 22% of workers presently suffer from depression.
- Depression can be effectively treated through psychotherapy. Research suggests that drugs work well on Major Depressive Episodes, but that they are no more or less effective for mild or moderate cases.
- It is OK to allow yourself to feel bad, or blue - but when it begins to impact your behaviour or thoughts, one needs to seek help.
- Perfectionism is a form of anxiety. Simply put, if one were not perfect, one would become anxious. Perfectionism, however, is relative. Exploring the underlying anxiety that accompanies perfectionism is often helpful.
- Enforcing boundaries in terms of how long we work, or not entering into bad situations in our work requires that we have the fortitude to handle the emotions that arise when we say "no"
- It is rarely about how good you are at your work. The more important factor is HOW WELL you work.
When you suffer from depression, it may seem like "effective treatment" is a world away for you. Why though, when you listen to therapists and other professionals talk do they often repeat the phrase "There is effective help for depression"? There are any number of reasons why this is done,...
When you suffer from depression, it may seem like "effective treatment" is a world away for you. Why though, when you listen to therapists and other professionals talk do they often repeat the phrase "There is effective help for depression"? There are any number of reasons why this is done, and quite frankly true. First, within Toronto, there are so many kinds of professionals that treat depression to begin with. It is likely that you will find someone that will be able to effectiely help in one way or another, whether it be drug therapy, psychotherapy or even coaching.
However, it is important to go deeper than this, and ask why depression is treatable - what factors in it make the prognosis seem positive compared to other conditions? In many cases, depression is significantly helped simply by talking to someone about it. Most depressed people do not feel as if they can talk to many people about their thoughts, behaviours or feelings. As such, just getting things out in the open is often a big first step.
Therapists often talk about people who are "resistant" to therapy. In the case of depressed people, if they are able to get themselves to see a therapist, they are usually very open to the process. The issue becomes more one of pacing - how fast can changes occur, as opposed to a question of whether change will happen or not.
Another factor is that depression is so common that there is no shortage of research into the condition. This research often begins to inform clinical practice and allows for advances to be translated fairly quickly into therapeutic strategies and tactics.
Depression involves three key areas of psychological functioning - behaviour, thoughts and emotions. All of those areas can be targeted by the therapist, and all of those areas seem to respond well to treatment. In fact, with depression adjustment in just one area tends to have immediate impact on the other two. A therapist does not necessarily need to focus on all three areas in order for a depressed patient to see improvement. Once improvement happens in one area, it will likely spill over into others. In fact, just focusing on the "thoughts" aspect of depression, the thoughts that accompany depression are so readily identifiable and so clear that it is fairly easy for the clinician to spot them and begin to work with them and change the other two areas of functioning.
The phrase "There is effective help for depression" is not just another platitude, nor is it another way of telling depressed people "To get over themselves". Rather, there is a lot of truth to the fact that depression can be helped effectively, even if it may not feel like that to you today.
