Good For Me Blog | Julia Kristina Counselling

What If the Shoe Doesn’t Fit?

By Julia Kristina|2017-05-21T16:06:05-07:00July 31st, 2011|General|

There are countless discussions, arguments, and opinions out there in the psychology world about whether or not mental illness diagnoses are helpful or detrimental to the individual. I’m torn and I think that my official opinion is… It depends. One thing that I’ve come across in my work as a counsellor is clients who have told me about mental illness labels or diagnosis they have been given by said psychiatrist, psychologist etc. and the diagnosis itself has become a significant source of distress, and reason for therapy… especially if they believe the diagnosis is downright [...]

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Contagious People… Catching What They Have.

By Julia Kristina|2017-05-21T16:06:05-07:00July 23rd, 2011|Psychotherapy|

In his national bestselling book TheTipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell dedicates a few pages to writing about types of people called “senders.” These types of people, he writes, “are those who are very good at expressing emotions and feelings, which means that [they] are far more emotionally contagious than the rest of us.” These are the types of people who, after spending some time in their presence, we can’t help but be greatly influenced by whatever energy they are sending out. I find I often notice it most when I am feeling blah, have an encounter [...]

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Below the Surface

By Julia Kristina|2017-05-21T16:06:05-07:00July 15th, 2011|Psychotherapy|

There's an idea out there in the psychology world that we create, to a large extent, how people treat us, and recently I've been finding myself thinking and philosophizing about this idea more than usual. Now obviously if we are rude and mean to someone most likely they will respond to us with anger or resentment... nothing profound there. And, sometimes friends, loved ones, and even complete strangers will be overtly rude to us for no apparent reason... I'm not saying we necessarily caused them to treat us in this way... sometimes people are just [...]

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Happy Canada Day!

By Julia Kristina|2017-05-21T16:06:05-07:00July 1st, 2011|General|

Today I have an extra opportunity to think about and reflect on why I am grateful to be Canadian. I am grateful to live in a country with an incredible health care system that takes care of me when I’m sick. I am grateful that when I enter any hospital from coast to coast , and when I need it most, I don’t have to worry about whether or not my insurance will cover me. I am grateful to live in a country with a police force that protects my safety and keeps the peace. [...]

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Picking Up the Pieces

By Julia Kristina|2017-05-21T16:06:06-07:00June 24th, 2011|Psychotherapy|

When we make choices that are obviously destructive and harmful – no matter how well we can justify them in the moment - they are more than likely to harm our bodies, our minds, and often our relationships, but also our psyches and our spirits. Bodies tend to heal more quickly, whereas the psychological repercussions of our choices are often longer lasting. It’s amazing to me how we can make a split second decision, and then be left to pick up the pieces for weeks, or months, or sometimes even years. Those who have used [...]

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The Vancouver Riot: Sense of the Senseless?

By Julia Kristina|2017-05-21T16:06:06-07:00June 16th, 2011|General|

Here in Vancouver we are trying to wrap our heads around and understand what happened last night downtown Vancouver after the Stanley Cup Final hockey game. To say that it is absolutely disturbing, abhorrent, and shameful would be a serious understatement. What did happen? And why did it happen? I find myself thinking about our search for significance. Why would people set fire to cop cars and then proceed to jump on top of them and throw their hands up in the air in triumph? Why would people stand out in front of a crowd and hurl hard objects, taunts, [...]

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Let Them Eat Cake!

By Julia Kristina|2017-05-21T16:06:06-07:00June 10th, 2011|General|

Recently I came across some psychology literature that caught my attention. The author, well-known psychiatrist Scott M. Peck, points out that one of the most important skills we can teach our children, and also practice as adults is delaying gratification. By getting the pain over with first we set ourselves up to experience greater and more satisfying pleasure (Peck, 1978). He also talks about instilling this skill into our children as early as possible is imperative - one of the most important things we can teach them. In the Marshmallow Study (hilarious) we can see how even children who are [...]

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CCPA Annual National Conference 2011

By Julia Kristina|2017-05-21T16:06:06-07:00June 3rd, 2011|General|

On May 19th I had the honour of facilitating a professional workshop at the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy's (CCPA) Annual National Conference in Ottawa. The presentation was on the topic of Bringing Religion and Spirituality into Therapy for both spiritual/religious and non-spiritual/religious therapists. I had a really wonderful time sharing my research and experience with a very engaged and intelligent audience, and I was really moved by the very thoughtful and meaningful questions and comments that were offered. My only regret is that we didn't have more time to discuss our thoughts and ideas with one another... I think if given [...]

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Scott Miller at the CCPA Annual Conference

By Julia Kristina|2017-05-21T16:06:06-07:00May 19th, 2011|Psychotherapy|

Yesterday I had the pleasure of once again hearing Scott Miller present. I won't go into too much detail about what he spoke about, but there was one thing that really stood out for me. He was giving a clinical example with a video of a case he was brought in to consult on. The individual he was called in to work with was a "very challenging case" - a man who had been receiving therapy and support primarily for his alcohol addiction for about 4 years. Now his mental health team was having a really hard time with this gentleman because they could not seem to convince [...]

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The Not-So-Hot Job Market

By Julia Kristina|2017-05-21T16:06:06-07:00March 9th, 2011|Career, General|

Some of the clients who I see come for career counselling and the most popular opening line they use is "I'd like to go to school to get training for a career that I will love, that will pay me well, that will give me flexibility, and that will guarantee me a good job by the end of it, and oh yeah, I don't want to go to school for very long. What do you recommend?" sigh. If there was such a thing I would not be working as a counsellor but sitting outside on a [...]

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Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference

By Julia Kristina|2017-05-21T16:06:06-07:00October 22nd, 2010|General, Psychotherapy|

Last winter some colleagues and I made our way down to Anaheim California for the Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference. It was almost surreal when we received our workshop schedules a few weeks before the conference and I discovered many of the presenters were people who's work I'd been reading and studying for years. I know it sounds pretty dorky to those not in the psychology world, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little star struck. Okay, A LOT star struck. The highlight of the conference for me was definitely any and every presentation, workshop, discussion [...]

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