Almost all of us turn to a loved one for advice when we are going through a rough patch in life. That may provide you some solace but the issue or the pattern keeps coming back to you. These issues mostly include depression, anxiety, stress, relationship issues and career issues. Mental health services can help you identify and resolve these issues. Mental health practitioners include psychologists, therapists and counselors. Here are the top reasons why mental health services are so important to a healthy, happy life. Mental Health Services improve the quality of life Mental health services help to overcome depression, anxiety, stress, addictions and other psychological problems. This enables you to live life to the fullest. Mental Health Helps to: 1. Have healthy relationships 2. Make good life choices 3. Maintain physical health and well-being4. Handle the natural ups and downs of life5. Discover and grow toward our potential Mental Health Treatment Can Reduce Medical Costs Excessive anxiety and …

We are pleased to announce our new location in Cold Lake, Alberta. You can our new location and the services here. Kate Kolsog Cold Lake Psychologists & Therapists   Kate Kolskog Registered Psychologist   Whitney Huckstep Registered Psychologist

Child Behavior: When nothing else works, consider these 7 strategies: Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW Parents are saying discipline, consequences, time out and stickers don’t work. Parents are presenting as more and more defeated when it comes to managing the behavior of their children. They have a long list of tried that – didn’t work scenarios including many of the more popular parenting programs. What’s up with that? Why does it seem near impossible to get kids to listen? What can parents do differently? To know what to do differently, we first need to appreciate what’s at play creating challenges out of children’s behavior and undermining parental authority. This brief history of the world is needed – or at least a brief history of the past 70 years. It goes like this: 1950’s: Intact two parent families with a primary breadwinner and a primary homemaker; 1960’s: Women’s Movement begins and gender equality begins to be examined publicly; 1970’s: No-fault divorce appears in many …

The ADHD Homework System That (Really) Works Homework stress is real — and exhausting for parents and students alike. Spare your family the drama and fights by following this six-step homework system designed for children with ADHD and learning disabilities. Homework requires children with ADHD to copy assignments correctly, bring home the right books, keep track of due dates and hand in finished work — all difficult for anyone with poor memory, focus, or attention to detail. While it may take a few months to become a habit, creating consistent routines at home and at school will result in better work skills, a sense of accomplishment, less homework stress — and lots of after-school smiles.

It’s not just hormones A teenage girl is a force of nature, with emotions so powerful they shock even her. In this exclusive excerpt, psychotherapist Lisa Damour uses neuroscience to help parents – and anyone perplexed by teenage girls – understand what’s really going on in their heads. The following is an excerpt from the book Untangled by Lisa Damour, Ph.D. When I was in my first semester of graduate school, the professor teaching my psychological testing course handed me a stack of Rorschach inkblot tests to score. Before sending me on my way, he offhandedly said, “Double-check the age of the person whose test you are scoring. If it’s a teenager, but you think it’s a grown-up, you’ll conclude that you have a psychotic adult. But that’s just a normal teenager.” Twenty years later, I don’t need to score inkblot tests to know that healthy teenage development can look pretty irrational. Parents tell me about it every day. They describe how a minor …

How Well Do You Truly Know Your Kids? Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW I had the pleasure of talking with middle school students in three groups: grade sixes; grade sevens; and grade eights. Each group had about 70 students. Their teachers and principal were present for the talk. The talk was actually a dialogue between me and students, asking about the issues they grapple with as students, issues that may at times interfere with their ability to concentrate in class. All three grades identified bullying. A show of hand poll demonstrated about 90% of all students experienced some form of bullying. Interestingly, about 80% indicated they had bullied others. About 15% of students indicated that as a result of bullying, they had trouble concentrating at school. Virtually no one confronted their bully. About 3% of students would tell their parents about being bullied. Cyber bulling emerged as the greater form of bullying moving from grade six to eight. Beyond bullying, students …

Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers High profile acts of violence, particularly in schools, can confuse and frighten children who may feel in danger or worry that their friends or loved-ones are at risk. They will look to adults for information and guidance on how to react. Parents and school personnel can help children feel safe by establishing a sense of normalcy and security and talking with them about their fears. 1. Reassure children that they are safe. Emphasize that schools are very safe. Validate their feelings. Explain that all feelings are okay when a tragedy occurs. Let children talk about their feelings, help put them into perspective, and assist them in expressing these feelings appropriately. ​2. Make time to talk. Let their questions be your guide as to how much information to provide. Be patient; children and youth do not always talk about their feelings readily. Watch for clues that they may want to talk, such as …

Child Behaviour Problem? Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW Maybe it’s to do with toilet training, maybe concentration at school or perhaps it’s concern for drugs and alcohol. It may have to do with not listening, breaking curfew, escalating conflicts or perhaps about sex. Whatever it is, at some point you may seek help for a child related concern and the first door opened can be that of the family doctor. Your physician can bring perspective to your concern. In so doing, this alone may resolve the issue. If not, then your physician may refer you or your child for counseling. It is important to note that there are many issues that can give rise to behaviour problems. Some of those issues include: a learning disability; attention deficit disorder, distraction by problems at home and with parents (domestic violence, child abuse, parental alcoholism/drug abuse, financial struggles); prior academic absences due to recurring illnesses creating gaps in learning; prior concussions; inadvertently permissive parents …

Retrieval Practice: The Most Powerful Learning Strategy You’re Not Using by JENNIFER GONZALEZ WHAT IS RETRIEVAL PRACTICE? Retrieval practice is the act of trying to recall information without having it in front of you. Suppose you’re studying the systems of the human body—skeletal, muscular, circulatory, and so on. You could do retrieval practice by attempting to name those systems without looking at the list. Once you’ve listed all you can remember, you’d open up your book or notes and check to see if you got them right. You might be thinking, This is nothing new. The whole concept of flashcards is built on retrieval practice, and flashcards have been around forever, right? What’s new is the research: In recent years, cognitive psychologists have been comparing retrieval practice with other methods of studying—strategies like review lectures, study guides, and re-reading texts. And what they’re finding is that nothing cements long-term learning as powerfully as retrieval practice. THE RESEARCH Agarwal and her colleagues studied the …

10 important habits of emotionally healthy families by Natasha Sharma Ah, family. The very word is likely to conjure up mixed emotions in most of us: peace yet resentment, happiness yet anger, jealousy yet joy, anxiety yet safety. Family members have a way of getting under our skin while simultaneously being some of our favorite people in the world. So how do you navigate the tricky business of promoting the long-term health and wellbeing of your family? It requires ongoing effort, reflection, adjustment and flexibility. Here are 10 vital habits practiced by families that function well and are mostly happy: 1. Set clear boundaries. There are few things more important in life than deciding how you want to be treated by others—what kind of behavior you will and will not accept. Healthy families have very clearboundaries on how family members treat other members. Even children should be allowed to set boundaries between themselves and siblings/parents. Although they may not be able to assert many when …