Amanda Young Counselling

08/20/2026

A quick note to let you know I’ll be out of the office for the next two weeks. 🤍

I’m taking some intentional time to rest, recharge, and focus on my own self care. It’s something I often encourage my clients to make space for, and I believe it’s just as important to honour that in my own life too.

I’ll still be accepting bookings for when I return, so if you’ve been thinking about reaching out, please don’t hesitate. You’re welcome to send me a message anytime or visit my website to learn more and request an appointment.

http://www.amandayoungcounselling.com

Thank you for your patience while I’m away. I look forward to connecting with you when I’m back.

See you soon. 🤍

- Amanda

Compassionate individual and couples therapy in Saint John, NB. Book a free 15-minute consultation with Amanda Young, MC, LCT, CCC. CBT, trauma therapy, and more.

08/14/2026

Have you ever felt a sudden wave of panic, shame, or fear that made no sense at all? 🧠

No warning.

No clear reason.

One second you're fine, and the next you feel about six years old, with something in your chest screaming that you're in danger even though nothing around you actually is.

Then it passes, and you spend the rest of the day wondering what's wrong with you.

Nothing is wrong with you.

What you're describing has a name. It's called an emotional flashback, and it's one of the least understood parts of trauma.

Most people think flashbacks are vivid memories, scenes replaying like a movie.

But that's rarely how trauma actually shows up. More often it's just a feeling with no picture attached.

A tone of voice that echoes someone from your past. A silence that feels too familiar.

Your body reacting to danger from years ago, in a moment that has nothing to do with the present.

Your mind has no idea why you suddenly feel small or panicked or ashamed.

But your nervous system knows exactly why. It hasn't gotten confused. It's simply reacting to something old as if it's happening right now.

Once you can name it, everything shifts. You stop asking "what's wrong with me" and start asking "what does this remind me of." That question is where healing actually begins.

You're not broken. Your body has just been trying to protect you, and it never got the message that it's safe to stop. ❤️

That message is something we can help it learn.

I'm Amanda, a Licensed Counselling Therapist offering virtual sessions across Canada. Direct billing is available with most major insurance providers, so there's no paperwork on your end.

Whenever you're ready, send me a message. We can take that first step together.

- Amanda

08/10/2026

I think social media is making a lot of people quietly feel like they’re wasting their summer.

Every time you open your phone, someone is somewhere better.

At the beach. At the cottage. Surrounded by friends. Watching the perfect sunset. Making memories. ☀️

And maybe you’re just... home.

Before you know it, you’re wondering why everyone else seems to be living more than you are.

But here’s what we forget.

Nobody posts the drive home.

They post the sunset. Not the argument in the car afterward.

They post the smiling family photo. Not the stressful morning before it.

They post the friends laughing around the table. Not the person sitting there who still somehow feels alone.

We see a few beautiful seconds of someone else’s life and our brain fills in everything we didn’t see.

Usually, it fills it in with perfection.

You’re comparing the entirety of your life to the most photographable moments of someone else’s.

Of course your ordinary Tuesday can’t compete with that.

But ordinary doesn’t mean empty.

Maybe your summer is quieter this year.

Maybe money is tight. Maybe your circle is smaller. Maybe you’re working more than you’d like. Maybe you’re going through something nobody online knows about.

Or maybe you’re simply living a normal life that doesn’t give you something worth posting every day.

None of that means you’re falling behind. 🤍

Some of the best parts of life will never make it onto social media.

A quiet coffee. A conversation you needed. Laughing with someone you love. An ordinary evening where you realize you’re actually content.

Those moments count too.

Your summer does not need to look good to anyone else to be good to you.

The people you’re comparing yourself to have ordinary days too.

They just don’t post the drive home. 🌿

I’m Amanda, a Licensed Counselling Therapist offering virtual sessions across Canada. I work with people who are tired of feeling behind, overwhelmed by comparison, or disconnected from their own lives.

Direct billing is available with most major insurance providers.

If this felt familiar, send me a message whenever you’re ready.

08/05/2026

You slept eight hours and woke up tired. 🤍

Not the kind of tired a good night fixes. The kind that is already there when you open your eyes and follows you through the whole day.

And the hardest part is you cannot point to a reason.

Here is what most people never realize. This kind of exhaustion often has very little to do with sleep. It comes from what you have been carrying while you are awake. A nervous system stuck in survival mode. Emotions you never got the chance to feel. The quiet, constant effort of holding it all together.

That is a kind of tired no amount of rest can fix, because the problem was never that you are not resting enough.

My latest blog breaks down why you might feel this way, what is actually happening underneath it, and what genuinely helps.

If you have been tired in a way you cannot explain for longer than you want to admit, this one is for you.

https://www.amandayoungcounselling.com/blog/why-youre-exhausted-for-no-reason-you-can-name

07/30/2026

Nobody talks about how hard summer can be on your body image..

Everyone else seems to already be deep in it.

The beach days.
The pool invites.
The patios, sundresses, and lake weekends.

And for you, every one of those comes with a quiet dread.

The invitation you want to say yes to, but almost hope gets cancelled.

The group photo you already know you will scan for yourself first and cringe.

The warm day everyone else celebrates, while you spend it calculating what you can wear that covers enough.

If that is you, I want you to know something.

You are not vain.
You are not being dramatic.
And you are so far from alone. 🤍

Summer strips away the layers we hide behind all year, and for a lot of people, that feels less like freedom and more like exposure.

Suddenly, the body you have been quietly at war with is on display, and every outing becomes a negotiation with yourself about whether you can bear to be seen.

That is exhausting.

And it steals so much from a season that is supposed to be joyful.

Here is what I want you to hear.

Your body is not a problem to be solved before you are allowed to enjoy your life.

The pool.
The beach.
The sundress.
The memories with people you love.

None of it is something you have to earn by looking a certain way first.

The war you are in is real, but it is not with your body.

It is with the years of messages that taught you your worth was tied to how you look.

And that is something that can actually be unlearned. 🫶

You deserve to be present in your own summer instead of hiding from it.

I am Amanda, a Licensed Counselling Therapist offering virtual sessions across Canada.

I work with people who are tired of their relationship with their body stealing their peace, and who are ready to feel at home in themselves again.

Direct billing is available with most major insurance providers, so there is no paperwork on your end.

Whenever you are ready, send me a message.

We can take that first step together. 🌱

- Amanda

07/21/2026

Summer is supposed to be the easy season. ☀️

Sunshine, vacations, patios, and long warm evenings. Everyone seems to be living their best life.

But if you have been quietly struggling underneath it all, feeling low, disconnected, or exhausted while the world tells you this is the happiest time of year, I want you to know something.

You are not alone in that.

Summer sadness is real. So is the loneliness that comes from feeling like everyone got the invitation to enjoy the season except you.

You do not have to wait until fall to feel better. And you do not have to carry it by yourself. 🤍

I am Amanda, a Licensed Counselling Therapist based in Saint John, NB, now offering virtual sessions across Canada.

Whenever you are ready, send me a message. We can take that first step together.

- Amanda
www.amandayoungcounselling.com

07/16/2026

Ever feel like everyone got the invitation to summer except you? 🌅

The beach trips. The parties. The golden hour photos with captions about making memories.

And there you are, on your couch, wondering why your summer does not look like everyone else's..

If that feeling hits close to home, I wrote something for you.

My latest blog is about the quiet pressure of the perfect summer, why comparison wears on us so much this time of year, and how to find your way back to enjoying your own life instead of measuring it against everyone else's highlight reel.

A quiet summer is not a wasted one. 🤍

Read it here 👇
www.amandayoungcounselling.com/blog/the-pressure-of-the-perfect-summer

07/06/2026

For some people, no is not an answer..

It is the opening of a negotiation.

You say no, and instead of respecting it, they push. They question it. They wear you down.

They keep bringing it up in different ways hoping that eventually you will give in just to make it stop.

And often, you do. Not because you changed your mind, but because holding the line became more exhausting than surrendering it.

This is one of the most draining dynamics a person can be in, and it is far more common than people realize.

Here is what it looks like..

You say you cannot make it, and they keep asking why, poking holes in every reason until you feel like you need a doctor's note to justify your own decision.

You set a limit, and they treat it as a challenge to overcome rather than a boundary to respect.

You say no clearly, and somehow twenty minutes later you are still defending yourself.

You give an answer, and they respond with "come on," "just this once," "you are being difficult," or "why are you making this a big deal."

Notice the pattern.

Your no is treated as a starting point for their persuasion, not as a complete sentence.

Here is what I want you to know.

No is a complete sentence.

You do not owe anyone a detailed justification for your boundaries.

You do not have to argue your way to being allowed to protect your own time, energy, or comfort.

And the fact that someone keeps pushing does not obligate you to eventually cave.

A person who respects you will accept your no even when they are disappointed by it.

A person who treats every boundary as negotiable is showing you that they see your limits as obstacles to their wants rather than expressions of your needs.

That is worth paying attention to.

And here is the harder truth..

If you grew up in an environment where your no was never respected, where you were taught that resisting an adult was disrespectful or that keeping the peace mattered more than your own comfort, you may not even notice how often this happens to you.

It can feel normal. It can feel like just how relationships work.

It is not.

You are allowed to hold a boundary without a debate.
You are allowed to say no and mean it.
And you are allowed to stop explaining yourself to people who were never actually looking for an explanation.

They were looking for a way in.
You deserve relationships where your no is enough.

I am Amanda, a Licensed Counselling Therapist based in Saint John, NB.
I work with people who are tired of defending their boundaries and are ready to learn how to hold them without guilt or exhaustion.

I direct bill most major insurance providers so there is zero paperwork stress on your end. Sessions are available both in person and online.

Send me a message here on Facebook or book your first session directly at www.amandayoungcounselling.com

07/05/2026

Some people do not ask for what they want..

They make you feel guilty until you offer it.

There is a difference, and once you see it you cannot unsee it.

A guilt trip is one of the most common and least talked about forms of emotional manipulation.

It works because it targets one of the most decent parts of you.

Your empathy.
Your desire to be a good person.
Your discomfort with letting someone down.

And people who use guilt as a tool know exactly how to pull that thread.

Here is what it actually sounds like.

"After everything I have done for you, this is how you treat me."

"I guess I will just do it myself like I always do."

"It must be nice to have time for everyone except me."

"Do not worry about me. I will be fine."

Said in a way that makes it very clear you should in fact be worrying about them.

"I never ask you for anything."

Which is almost never true.

Notice what all of these have in common.

None of them are direct requests.

They are designed to make you feel responsible for someone else's emotions so that you will do what they want without them ever having to actually ask.

And when it works, you are left with a strange feeling.

You did the thing they wanted, but you do not feel good about it.

You feel manipulated.
Resentful.
Vaguely used.

But you cannot always explain why, because on the surface you just helped someone you care about.

That confusion is the fingerprint of a guilt trip.

Here is what I want you to understand.

You are allowed to say no to something without being a bad person.

You are allowed to disappoint someone and still be kind.

You are not responsible for managing another adult's feelings, especially when those feelings are being used to control your choices.

A healthy person can hear no and stay in relationship with you.

A person who punishes you with guilt every time you set a limit is telling you something important about the dynamic you are in.

Loving people does not mean surrendering yourself to them.

And guilt is not the same thing as obligation, no matter how convincingly someone tries to blur that line.

If you constantly feel responsible for everyone else's emotions and you are exhausted from managing them, that is something worth exploring.

Not because you care too much, but because you deserve relationships where care goes both ways.

You deserve to trust your own no.

I am Amanda, a Licensed Counselling Therapist based in Saint John, NB.

I work with people who are worn out from carrying everyone else's feelings and are ready to learn how to set boundaries without drowning in guilt.

I direct bill most major insurance providers so there is zero paperwork stress on your end.

Sessions are available both in person and online.

Send me a message here on Facebook or book your first session directly
www.amandayoungcounselling.com

Compassionate individual and couples therapy in Saint John, NB. Book a free 15-minute consultation with Amanda Young, MC, LCT, CCC. CBT, trauma therapy, and more.

07/01/2026

Happy Canada Day. 🍁

However you are spending it today, whether it is a backyard barbecue, fireworks by the water, or a slow quiet day at home, I hope it is a good one.

Take a moment to slow down, soak up the summer, and enjoy the people around you.
Wishing you all a safe and happy long weekend.

- Amanda