Stacey Steele Psychology

09/10/2026

Grateful to be a part of this organization! Psychologists' Association of Alberta is working diligently to not only to support psychologist's in Alberta at every stage of career and practice area, but also to improve access for Albertans.

08/26/2026

Dolly Parton spent a career being underestimated in a room full of men who thought her voice and body were decoration. She wrote "I Will Always Love You" and "Jolene" in the same sitting. She built an empire out of rhinestones, curves, and a Tennessee accent that people mistook for softness and equated that with weakness.

She showed us little girls, seeing her on our TVs or hearing her songs on our parent's eight tracks, how to use our voice. For ourselves and for the people who don't have one.

I think about that a lot in the healthcare profession. The way women, especially the ones trained to caretake, learn to make their voice smaller so the room stays comfortable. We hold everyone else's story while keeping ours quiet, but we call it professionalism when it's actually erasure.

I did this too, for fear I would be seen as too much or not enough. But after a while, biting my tongue started to hurt more than the discomfort of being heard. So I stopped asking for permission to use my voice and started asking what it was for.

We have one good life....

Pick up the mic.🎤

Rest in power Dolly 🦋

08/23/2026

I’m really happy to share something my dear friend Kayley Ch*****ne is offering through Soul Vibes.

Kayley has created Runs Hot, a free weekly virtual somatic class for people whose brains don’t always know how to switch off.

It’s open to everyone, but I think it may be of particular interest to first responders, veterans, and frontline health-care workers!

The class is grounded in gentle somatic practices, nervous system awareness, grounding, and rest. No yoga experience, equipment, or flexibility required. Camera on or off, and you can simply come as you are.

Kayley is an Intern Yoga Therapist with extensive training in trauma-informed yoga, and I know firsthand how thoughtful, caring, and deeply committed she is to creating spaces that feel safe, accessible, and human.

Runs Hot
Tuesday evenings, 7:30–8:30 p.m. MT
Starts August 25, Virtual & no cost

Learn more and register at www.soulvibes.ca

08/16/2026

Last weekend I did the MUDGIRL with my two of my sisters and my two nieces, and somewhere along the way I realized it felt a lot like therapy.

At the first mud pit, everyone knew they were going to get dirty. There was really no avoiding it, we all signed up for a mud run after all.

But some people were still trying so hard not to get dirty by tip toeing into pit looking for the cleanest way to get through.

And honestly, it looked to me like more work than just getting in the mud.

So I waded in nonchalantly and promptly fell on my ass, like a self imposed dunk tank. And as I lifted my head out of the water and wiped the mud out of my eyes (nose, mouth, and ears), it got me thinking about healing and therapy.

We can spend so much energy trying to do it neatly. Trying not to feel too much, change too much, or make too much of a mess.

But sometimes you just have to get in.

It’s messy and uncomfortable and when you're in the thick of it, you might wonder why you signed up for it in the first place.

And then you get to the other side, look back, and think:

Holy s**t...I did that.

The goal isn't to feel better every time, or to be untouched and have aha moments. It is to get to the other side, covered in mud, knowing that you can get messy and be ok.

What’s one hard thing you’ve gotten through that made you realize, “Holy s**t, I did that”?

08/02/2026

Hot summer day and reading "Masking in Autistic Adults- A Clinician's Guide to Neurodiversity Affirming Care" by an Alberta psychologist who writes from both lived and clinical experience, Iain Dolan. I JUST read this passage and had to stop:

"The same capacities that define effective clinical work can also serve as an elaborate camouflage for autistic traits. A methodical approach to problems, an ability to recognize subtle patterns, and the stamina for sustained, focused listening are hallmarks of effective therapy. They are also common characteristics of an autistic neurotype, which can be strengths for autistic clinicians (McCowan et al., 2021). The therapy setting itself, with its predictable structure and clear roles, offers a controlled social environment that aligns well with the autistic preference for structure. The result can be a professional persona that is highly competent while the underlying autistic neurology remains unseen by both the clinician and those around them."

This clinical excellence? For some of us, it might also be a lifetime of masking.

Burnout isn't always 'overworking', it's sometimes the cost of masking while managing a high acuity caseload in a system built for a neurotypical world.

I'm going to get back to my book! DM me to keep the conversation going or comment below.
..and I wonder if Inna Kanevsky, Ph. D. has any thoughts on this?

07/31/2026

07/29/2026

A former client told me once, years after we'd ended, that therapy changed her life. I said thank you. What I didn't say, because it didn't need saying, is that she did that in the thousands of hours she wasn't in my office.

There's a Wall Street Journal piece going around asking if therapists are to blame when someone cuts off a parent.
No we are not to blame but we can't take credit for healing either.

We hold privilege in that room. We carry real ethical obligations and responsibility and sometimes the work does mean walking beside someone while they difficult choices.

But we are not the only voice in anyone's life.

The therapeutic alliance matters is one of the better predictors we have of how therapy goes. And yet there are other, more impact influences that predict outcomes. That's client factors, the life happening outside the room, the choices people make in it, and what they carry home and actually do with what shows up in our office.

If we don't take credit when someone heals, we don't get blamed when someone sets a boundary either.

Estrangement isn't something a therapist plants. By the time it reaches my office, it's usually been years in the making. We witness the decision but don't make it.

07/23/2026

Have my snacks and emotional support bevvies ready and taking a learning break with Hexagon Training about future practice with AI for psychologists.

(They have a whole suite of live and on demand trainings for psychologists and other mental health professionals through the lens of the Canadian landscape. HIGHLY recommend).

Standards of practice and ethical guidelines are built in boundary architects for our practice whether it is in public health or private practice. Taking the time to get solid on where my lane is and how fast I can drive, gives me the space to do the best work I can.

07/19/2026

Last night, I put on my favourite comfort show, changed into my new Frank And Oak pajamas, and opened my Kindle for the first time in a very long time.

Apparently, I have 24 unread books and another six in various stages of being finished.🫣

This is not a post about how we should finish one thing before starting another. It is not about better focus, stronger discipline, or finding the perfect bedtime routine.

It is about doing what actually works for you.

I like having a familiar show playing while I read. It helps my brain settle. I don't mind having several books on the go, or owning the same book on my Kindle and on my bookshelf so I can reference it when I need.

I like wearing comfortable pajamas that don't always match. Sometimes I drink chamomile tea before bed, and sometimes I have a root b**r.

Sometimes my yoga practice is 60 minutes of restorative bliss. Sometimes it is five minutes of stretching while sitting on the edge of my bed.

Working in healthcare, whether you are in mental health like I am or another area entirely, can make it easy to believe that caring for yourself needs to look consistent, impressive, or perfectly optimized.

But sustainability does not always look like a beautiful routine.

Sometimes it looks like pajamas, a half-finished book, a comfort show, and choosing what your nervous system can actually receive that day.

And sometimes the things that used to help stop feeling like enough.

If you are a therapist or healthcare practitioner who cannot quite remember what sustainability feels like anymore, I created ReLit Practice™ with you in mind.

You can learn more through the link in my bio. 🤍

07/17/2026

Normal and comfortable are not the same thing.

Therapy doesn't always look or feel like "therapy."
It can be messy, ordinary, uncomfortable, and incomplete...and still be meaningful.