Blog
All the writing that isn’t the Tools
In Person and Phone Sessions
As things are opening up again and cases are low in Manitoba, I’ve decided to meet with clients in person again. Ongoing precautions will include staggering client meetings so there is time to wipe down all touched surfaces between sessions and ensuring healthy social...
Teach Your Children Beautiful Questions – Part 1
One of the special things about kindergarten, and why it is so important, is that it can be a perfect environment for learning with curiosity and passion. There are no tests to “teach to” and there is very little to memorize. (Though memorizing certain things matters a lot, too.) In kindergarten, it’s still ok not to know the answer to something. In kindergarten, it’s still ok to ask questions.
Fears of a First Time Coach
Two hours before my debut as an U7 baseball coach, and I kept thinking, “What have I gotten myself into?” A part of me even wished we’d have a rain-delay. Yes, I was afraid of little league!
Saving the Sugar in our Relationships
Attention, compassion, and patience applied the right way can bring goodness back to any relationship worth preserving. Sometimes it takes help finding the "right way" and sticking with it! I was reminded of this this morning when my wife mentioned she's saved the...
How Not To Let Your Bad Behaviour Ruin Your Child pt. 1: Shame
Parents sometimes act badly and in trying to fix their mistakes, they make the situation worse. Often a parent's responses to feelings of guilt or pity undermines their child's capacity to grow as a person. That, in turn, deprives their child of their full humanity....
Apologies are Vital to Sanity
Honest, well timed apologies are a vital part of emotional health. Both when we give and when we receive them.
Therapist Office in a House?
Some people think a therapy practice at home is weird. Not only at home, but in my living room. It's not like on the HBO show "In Treatment" where the Dr. Weston has a whole separate entryway for his therapy practice. Nope. When clients come to Pear Tree, they come...
Guilt is an Alarm Clock: Let it Wake You (so you can turn it off)
Treat guilt like an alarm clock, waking you up to gratitude and making amends.
Flooded with Emotion? – Flood Proof Your Nervous System
It happens to people all the time: negative emotions like anxiety or anger build up and we flood. We start crying on the bus or yelling at our children (or yelling at the bus and crying on our children). The rivers of emotion simply overflow the banks of our nervous...