Have you ever experienced a physical sensation in your body that defies verbal explanation? I’d invite you to recall a time when this was true for you. The reality is that long before we can cognitively process a stressful event, our nervous system has already mobilized into action, preparing us to fight, flee, freeze, or, in overwhelming situations, shut down and collapse.

If you’ve lived with anxiety at any point in your life, you’ve probably experienced moments where it felt all-encompassing. Your chest tightened. Your temperature increased. Thoughts were racing - you imagined worst-case scenarios and tried to figure out ways to avoid them. Your system was locked into survival mode.

It can seem like the bad news never stops. We have more access to news, and faster, from further reaches of the world, than any society before us.

How bad do things need to be before a couple reaches out to book a session with a therapist? It can be hard to know when and how to get help. What warrants inviting a third person to support your relationship in such a formal way?

Many people living in the Western world have been shaped by predominantly individualistic values that view a person and their problems in isolation from other factors.

Some of the hallmarks of grief are a sense of chaos, messiness and confusion. It can feel like we are spinning adrift in a sea of painful thoughts and emotions with no discernible signs of rescue. All of them remind us of the loss we have sustained, and their constant chorus is often too much for us to bear. We long for someone who can be with us in the midst of this tumult; a lifeline that helps to mitigate the loneliness. Sometimes, though, the platitudes that people offer only further amplify our pain.