(Last year, I ran into Tanya in the street the day before Mother’s Day and we had a little vent about Hallmark holidays. She’d walked into a classroom where the kids were busy colouring for Mother’s Day, and she personally knew that a lot of those students had pretty unHallmark relationships with their moms. Later, … Continue reading A plea to schools and daycares to be more mindful about Mother’s Day and ditch the colouring-in exercise that assumes everyone has a Hallmark family

Mentally healthy is not the same as happy-all-the-time. Happy-all-the-time is a fallacy, a myth, an unachievable state, it’s bullsh*t. If you take a look at the world around you and can be completely overjoyed, all the time about everything …. I’d say there’s something wrong with you. But being sad, angry, easy to anger, edgy, … Continue reading Mental Wellness: What to Do To Stay Healthy

It’s Mental Health Awareness week and the Canadian Mental Health Association is asking people to share how they #GETLOUD about mental health in order to promote mental wellness in themselves and others. Here’s my take: I get noisy by becoming quiet and listening loudly; when it is time to still the chatter of anxiety, the natural … Continue reading Listen Loudly

There you are trying to be present for someone who is struggling. You think to yourself….what do I say? Well, thankfully many of us have been in this position. So many, in fact, that Family Smart has put out this handy list of things to say: http://www.familysmart.ca/files/FamilySmart-SAY-WEB-2017.pdf • Thick and thin I’ve gotchu • I’m … Continue reading Getting loud requires listeners. So, what to say, when someone gets brave and speaks up?

Plan-y.ca can be downloaded on to your smartphone or accessed on a desktop, laptop or tablet. It offers links to local resources, phone numbers, programs and more. This resource was designed with teens in mind and I’d encourage all you adults to look at it too to find the resources for youth in your community. … Continue reading Local Youth, this is your go-to resource. Plan-Y.

Have you heard of the Child and Youth Mental Health – Substance Use Collaborative (CYMHSU)? This collaborative project began in 2013 with eight Local Action Teams (LATs) across the province aiming to do something about the lack of coordination in response systems for child and youth mental health. Over four years the initiative has grown … Continue reading Mental health starts at home. Here’s what’s been happening in the Pemberton area

May 1 -7 is Mental Health Week and the Canadian Mental Health Association is asking you to ‘Get Loud’ for mental health. What this looks like is up to you. Hashtags, photos, activities, links, words of encouragement, words of understanding, compassion, empathy and kindness -- this week is about sharing how you maintain health and … Continue reading It’s Mental Health Week. Are you ready to Get Loud?