The Psychology of...

Your superior at work tells a racially insensitive joke and you want to speak up but fear repercussions. You have a political belief that departs from your family's traditions and you sit at the table biting your tongue. You negotiate your vacation time with your new employer. You feel depressed and you wish so badly to tell someone you love but the possibility that they will not be emotionally available or supportive scares you into secrecy. As human beings we are constantly put into positions where our boundaries and values get tested. We wish so badly to have the courage and self-worth to stand up for ourselves but sadly, many of us put other's needs above our own, causing resentment and an overwhelming sense of defeat. We punish ourselves for lacking a spine and vow to be more assertive the next time. We are trapped in what sociologists call a double bind. You are damned if you do. Doomed if you don't. If you speak up you risk being rejected but if you don...

Wave of ethnic killings in South Sudan town 'could evolve into genocide,' UN warns - CBC News "Terrible..." (Waits a few seconds to show an "appropriate" level of concern) ..."OMG Kendall Jenner quit Instagram?!" We live in the age of information. We have access to most of what is going on anywhere on the globe 24/7. In our day and age with our resources we should hear stories like this on a Thursday, call  up our elected officials or non-profit organizations on Friday and organize an intervention on Monday to prevent any more unnecessary human suffering... right? Alain de Botton wrote a ground-breaking book called News: A User's Manual in which he explains what the news could be and should be. I recommend it. Here is a link to a talk he gave at google which sums up his book. One of the most poignant arguments he makes is that when it comes to world news we are parachuted in for spectacularly horrendous events for a moment and ...

It's National Addictions Awareness Week here in Canada when we get a chance to shine a light on the effects that substance and behaviour addictions have on individuals, families, societies and the nation as a whole. I started my career as a therapist working with a specific population of people who struggle with addictive behaviours. I had the privilege of being invited into the exclusive and very personal space that is the heart and mind of a person in recovery. It's challenging work that requires a specific set of skills and theoretical orientation. And now I'm an elementary school counsellor. What business do I have working with children ages 6-11 given my background in addictions counselling? (Not to mention my lack of experience in play therapy which I'm working on). I think one of the hardest parts of working with adults in recovery is that they are constantly lamenting the fact they felt neglected and overlooked as children in some significant way. Many f...

Not many Canadians were expecting last night's US election results, nor the Brexit results that came before that. There is no denying that there is significant momentum for nationalism, protectionism, and fiscal conservatism that most would say is fueled by fear and frustration. But should progressive Canadians be concerned about a similar shift on our home soil? Absolutely. We are not immune to it. Kellie Leitch is gaining support as the leader of the federal Conservative party and is unabashedly calling for Trump like policies to be brought to Canada. In Alberta we just need to look to the PC leadership race that is currently taking place. Recently, the two women in the race for PC leadership dropped out due to an almost violent reaction to their support for even the slightest progressive ideals. Most who follow the race are expecting a Jason Kenney victory which would shift the PC party to the right of where it has been over the last decade or so.  True cons...

In Canadian politics, (and I'm sure in most if not all democracies) we have a system in which political parties, with their carefully marketed brands and historically established norms, compete for our check-mark every four years or so. They take our vote and then draft policy, pass bills, and make decisions on our behalf. The only power we hold over them is that in a few years we go back to the polls so that we can "hold them accountable". My observation is that conservatives get into power long enough to pass policy that discourages enough liberals to mobilize themselves to the extent to which they can then elect a liberal government, then the liberals do the same. Back and forth. The Left stays in long enough to raise taxes on the rich. The right stays in long enough to lower corporate taxes... yadda yadda yadda. It's absurd these days to suggest that a good idea could get bipartisan support in parliament or congress. In the US we've seen 8 years of congress ...

po·lit·i·cal cor·rect·ness noun the avoidance, often considered as taken to extremes, of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against. In my attempt to try and genuinely understand why so many good and intelligent people are still supporting Donald Trump for POTUS I keep stumbling across the general frustration with "liberal PCness" gone amok. If I understand correctly, conservatives  feel like their freedom of speech has been threatened and limited by the liberal media. That their favourite jokes are now scorned. Their ideologies are unpopular. Their worldview is devalued. All of this makes being mainstream seem shameful. White, heterosexual, cysgendered, males are the enemy! As far as I can see, I agree that there is an argument that in the attempt to stick up for the little guy we have overzealously created some unnecessary conflict. Wh...

I love education. I love learning. I love learning about how to be a better person. Which is why I am often left with an uneasy feeling whenever the topic of morals in public schools is brought up. I have been working in the school system for seven years, across various grades, schools, and school divisions and my experience tells me that morality is being taught to our kids more than ever before. Anyone that says to me that morals are no longer taught in school has obviously not spent time in today's classrooms. I have observed lessons on kindness to others, gratitude, teamwork, self-regulation, respect, delayed gratification, multiculturalism, healthy relationships, etc. You get the point. I think where most parents who have this concern are coming from is an issue not with the absence of morals but the source of them. Parents assume that since values aren't being taught from a religious point of view then they aren't values at all. The institution of education, whil...