Mindset Solutions Counselling

11/14/2026

I'm always looking for ways to deepen my understanding and support the clients I work with. ❤️

I recently completed training through the **Hospice of America training portal** on the *Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement*.

Grief is such a personal and complex journey, and I work with many clients navigating different forms of loss. This model offers a helpful framework for understanding the back-and-forth nature of grieving — moving between processing the loss and finding moments of restoration, adjustment, and comfort along the way.

A reminder that grief doesn't follow a straight line, and there is no one right way to navigate it. Sometimes, understanding the process can help us feel a little less alone in it.

11/02/2026

💭 Pondering Sunday: When You’re Growing Apart

Have you ever looked at someone you used to feel incredibly close to and wondered:

“When did we become so different?”

Sometimes relationships don't end because someone did something terrible.

Sometimes people simply grow.

Different priorities.
Different values.
Different interests.
Different directions.

And that can be surprisingly painful.

Therapy can help you explore:

🧠 Whether you're experiencing a temporary disconnect or a deeper change
💬 How to talk about difficult feelings without blame
🔎 What you actually need from the relationship
🚧 Where boundaries may be needed
❤️ How to grieve a relationship that has changed
🌱 How to build connections that fit the person you're becoming

You don't always need to decide immediately whether someone belongs in your life forever.

Sometimes the first step is simply understanding what has changed.

✨ The benefit?

Less confusion. Less guilt. More clarity about what you want your relationships to look like.

Ponder this Sunday:
Are you holding onto a relationship because it still fits your life—or because it used to?

10/26/2026

💭 Pondering Sunday: When a Relationship Changes

Relationships change. Sometimes gradually. Sometimes overnight.

A friendship becomes distant.
Your relationship with your partner changes.
Your children become more independent.
A separation changes your family dynamic.
You realize a relationship no longer feels the way it once did.

And sometimes the hardest part isn't knowing what happened.

It's figuring out what happens next. ❤️

In therapy, you can learn tools to:

🧠 Understand the patterns playing out in your relationships
💬 Communicate your needs more clearly
🚧 Set boundaries without unnecessary guilt
❤️ Navigate difficult conversations
🔄 Adjust to changing relationship roles
🌱 Reconnect with yourself when your identity has become wrapped up in a relationship

The goal isn't always to save a relationship or walk away from one.

Sometimes it's about understanding what you need, what you can control, and what kind of relationship you want moving forward.

✨ The benefit?

Greater clarity. Healthier boundaries. Better communication. And more confidence in navigating relationships that don't look the way they used to.

Ponder this Sunday:
Is the relationship itself changing—or are you changing within the relationship?

10/19/2026

💔 Starting Over After Divorce: Who Am I Now?

Divorce can change more than your relationship status. It can leave you questioning your identity, your future, and what life looks like when the plans you once had no longer fit.

You can know a relationship needed to end and still grieve what you've lost. You can feel ready to move forward and still wonder where to begin.

🌱 In this blog, we explore five ways therapy can help you navigate the emotional challenges of divorce, rediscover who you are, and begin building a future that reflects what matters to you.

Because starting over isn't about becoming who you were before. It's about discovering who you want to be next.

https://www.mindsetsolutionscounselling.ca/blog/starting-over-after-divorce-who-am-i-now

✨ You don't have to have it all figured out to take the first step.

10/19/2026

🌿 Pondering Sunday: What If Your Life Doesn't Have to Look Like Everyone Else's?

There can be a lot of pressure around how life is “supposed” to look.

The right career.
The right relationship.
The right age to have children.
The right home.
The right level of success.

But what happens when the life you're building doesn't fit the picture you were given?

You may feel behind.

You may compare yourself to friends.

You may wonder whether you're making the “right” choices.

And sometimes anxiety isn't telling you that you're making the wrong decision.

Sometimes it's telling you that you're making a decision without a clear roadmap.

Therapy can help you step away from comparison and reconnect with your own values.

You can learn to:
🧠 identify what genuinely matters to you
🧠 recognize external expectations
🧠 challenge all-or-nothing thinking
🧠 tolerate uncertainty
🧠 make values-based decisions
🧠 create realistic goals that fit your actual life

The benefit is more than simply feeling less anxious.

It's developing a stronger sense of agency — the ability to recognize that you have choices in how you respond to your circumstances and where you want to go next.

Your life doesn't have to make sense to everyone else.

It needs to make sense to you.

So perhaps this Sunday's question isn't:

“Am I where I should be?”

Maybe it's:

“Is the life I'm building aligned with the person I want to become?” 🌱

10/12/2026

You can love being a parent and still miss who you were before becoming one.

Becoming a parent can bring incredible joy — but it can also bring overwhelm, guilt, identity changes, relationship challenges, and the pressure to somehow get everything right.

And sometimes the hardest question isn't “Am I a good parent?”

It's “Who am I now?”

My newest blog explores how different therapy approaches — including CBT, Narrative Therapy, IFS, Solution-Focused Therapy, ACT, and Emotion-Focused Therapy — can help with the transition into parenthood.

Because becoming a parent doesn't mean losing yourself.

It means figuring out how to make room for who you were, who you are, and who you're becoming.

👉 Read the full blog:
https://www.mindsetsolutionscounselling.ca/blog/becoming-a-parent-changes-everything-which-therapy-approach-can-help

10/05/2026

✨ October Updates from Mindset Solutions Counselling -

This month, I had the opportunity to attend the Psychologists’ Association of Alberta (PAA) conference in Leduc. I came away with a renewed appreciation for how much our environment, relationships, and everyday routines shape psychological wellbeing. One theme that stood out was how powerful small...

10/05/2026

🌿 Pondering Sunday: You Can Grieve a Life That Isn't Gone

Not all grief comes from losing a person.

Sometimes we grieve a version of our life.

The career we thought we'd have.
The relationship we thought would last.
The family life we imagined.
The person we thought we would become.
The children being little.
The independence we once had.

And sometimes, even when a change was the right decision, there can still be grief.

This can be confusing.

You may think:

“I'm the one who chose this.”

“So why am I struggling?”

“I know this is the right thing, so why do I feel sad?”

Because knowing something is right doesn't mean it isn't also difficult.

Life transitions often require us to hold two truths at once:
I can be ready for something new and still miss what I'm leaving behind.

Therapy can help you process that grief rather than rushing yourself through it.

You can learn to:
🌱 name and validate complicated emotions
🌱 make space for grief without becoming consumed by it
🌱 separate acceptance from giving up
🌱 identify what you are carrying forward
🌱 create meaning from difficult experiences
🌱 begin imagining what you want your next chapter to look like

Healing doesn't always mean forgetting the past.

Sometimes it means being able to look back with compassion while still moving forward.

You are allowed to miss what was.

And you are allowed to build something new. 🌿❤️

09/28/2026

🌿 Pondering Sunday: When Did You Stop Listening to Yourself?

Sometimes a life transition brings a surprising realization:

You have become very good at taking care of everyone else — but you aren't sure what you need anymore.

This can happen during parenting, relationship changes, career transitions, or years of putting other people's needs first.

You may find yourself saying:

“I don't know what I want.”

“I don't even know what makes me happy anymore.”

“I feel guilty when I do something for myself.”

“I've spent so long being what everyone needed me to be.”

Over time, this can affect confidence, boundaries, relationships, and your sense of identity. 💭

Therapy can help you reconnect with yourself.

You can learn to:
🌱 identify your values
🌱 recognize your emotional needs
🌱 set boundaries without excessive guilt
🌱 understand where people-pleasing comes from
🌱 communicate what you need
🌱 develop greater trust in your own decisions

This isn't about becoming selfish.

It's about understanding that your needs matter too.

When you become more connected to yourself, relationships can become healthier because you are no longer expecting others to guess what you need — and you are less likely to lose yourself trying to keep everyone else happy.

You begin making decisions that feel more aligned with who you are.

You begin noticing when something doesn't feel right.

And slowly, you develop something incredibly important:

self-trust. ❤️

You don't need to completely reinvent yourself.

Sometimes you simply need to start listening to the person who has been there all along.

09/22/2026

A lot can change at once.

A career shift.
A child leaving home.
A relationship changing.
A routine that no longer feels familiar.
A growing sense that the next chapter is here, but you are not quite sure what it should look like.

Life transitions can bring excitement, but they can also bring anxiety, uncertainty, pressure, and a loss of direction.

For many people, the instinct is to push through, stay busy, and figure it out alone. Counselling can offer a space to slow things down, make sense of what is changing, and work through what comes next.

At Mindset Solutions Counselling, support is available for people navigating:

• Career changes and workplace stress
• Empty nest transitions
• Major life changes
• Anxiety and overwhelm
• Identity and purpose
• Relationship and family changes
• Feeling stuck or unsure of the next step

You do not need to have everything figured out before reaching out.

If you are entering a new chapter and want support in finding clarity, direction, or steadiness, counselling may be a helpful place to start.

Mindset Solutions Counselling
Strathmore, Calgary, and online across Alberta