Healing Space Therapy

09/08/2026

We’re more connected than ever.

So why do so many of us feel distracted, overwhelmed, and alone?

I used to be an avid reader. I could lose myself in a book for hours, research a topic deeply, and feel a real sense of accomplishment when I finished something challenging.

Now, like many people, I often reach for my phone and mindlessly scroll.

In my latest article, The Mental Health Crisis Created by the Digital Age of Distraction, I explore how social media, smartphones, and AI are changing more than our daily habits. They’re negatively affecting our attention, critical-thinking skills, relationships, and mental health.

Technology isn’t inherently bad. It has made life easier in countless ways. But convenience comes with a cost when we continually hand over our focus, thinking, and decision-making.

The good news is that we aren’t powerless. We can rebuild our capacity to focus, think deeply, and engage more meaningfully with our lives—but we need to practise using those abilities.

Read the full article here: https://www.healingspacetherapy.ca/blog/digital-distraction-mental-health

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08/18/2026

08/04/2026

There are two questions I hear, in one form or another, almost every week in therapy:

"What's wrong with me?", and "Will I be able to heal?"

They are often asked with shame, frustration, or exhaustion after years of trying to understand why anxiety, people-pleasing, shutting down, anger, or self-criticism seem to keep showing up.

One of the things I find myself saying most often is:

"Your nervous system makes sense."
Or,
"You make sense given what you've lived through."

Because so often, what we experience as a problem today began as protection.
We're not trying to get rid of these responses or push them away. We're trying to become curious about them. To understand what they have been trying to do for us all along.

When we begin to shift from asking "What's wrong with me?" to "What happened to me?" and "How has my system been trying to protect me?" something often begins to soften.

That shift doesn't make the pain disappear.

But it can loosen shame, deepen self-understanding, and create space for compassion.

I wrote about some of the phrases I return to again and again in trauma therapy and why they matter.

Read article here: https://www.healingspacetherapy.ca/blog/trauma-therapy-phrases-nervous-system

A trauma therapist shares the phrases she returns to in sessions to help clients understand nervous system responses, soften shame, and build self-compassion.

08/04/2026

What if the problems a client is seeking support for in therapy aren’t a sign that something is wrong with them - but in fact a very reasonable response to the world around them?

In therapy, case formulation often focuses on the individual in isolation - their symptoms, beliefs, relationships, and behaviours. Of course, these matter; however, we are not separate from the systems and institutions that influence and govern us.

Our social location - race, gender, socio-economic status, ability, age, etc. - obviously shapes how we feel and act.

In my latest article, I explore structural stress as a framework for trauma-informed case formulation. This means asking not only:

“What happened to this person?”
But also:

“What does the world around them look like and how does it impact them?”
“What circumstances from the past remain and what has changed?”
“What systems are helping or failing them?”
“How might their response be helping them survive?”
“What does meaningful healing look like within their actual circumstances?”

This doesn’t mean attributing or minimizing all mental health struggles to external circumstances.

It means recognizing clinical needs without separating a person's distress from their environment.

Less pathologizing is a good thing.

We need more normalizing of very normal adaptations to abnormal circumstances. Let’s face it, the world we live in is far from what any of us were built for!

Read the full article here: https://www.healingspacetherapy.ca/blog/trauma-informed-case-formulation-structural-stress

I’d love to hear how other therapists bring the world outside the therapy room into your practice!



Trauma-Informed Case Formulation and Structural Stress · Healing Space Therapy

Learn how structural stress can shape trauma responses—and how therapists can build case formulations that avoid both over-pathologizing and under-recognizing clinical needs.

12/13/2023

Welcome Chloe Rodricks to the Healing Space Therapy team! Chloe is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) and is currently accepting new clients virtually.

Chloe supports individuals with anxiety, depression, and those navigating relationship issues. Chloe also works with couples. Chloe's approach is gentle and compassionate, fostering a sense of safety to begin addressing your goals.

Chloe applies an integrative approach drawing from ACT, CBT, emotion-focused, trauma-informed, and solution-focused therapies.

Connect with Chloe today here - https://www.healingspacetherapy.ca/chloe-rodricks

09/05/2023

We are thrilled to share that we have a new member of the Healing Space Therapy team - meet Lesley Nightingale! She is a registered psychotherapist (qualifying) and is currently accepting new clients in person in Toronto and virtually.

Lesley supports individuals experiencing anxiety,depression, chronic pain, trauma, relationship issues, and parenting concerns. She applies an integrative approach drawing from ACT, person-centered, emotion focused, trauma informed, and narrative therapies.

Lesley's compassion and dedication invites her clients and colleagues to feel understood, seen, and cared for in a way that exudes warmth and care. Her passion toward learning and remaining curious is inspiring.

Learn more about Lesley at www.healingspacetherapy.ca

08/25/2023

GROUP FORMING NOW 🎉 Overcoming Trauma || FALL 2023 || Meeting virtually w/Zoom

This 8-week therapy group is both a psycho-educational and therapeutic group for adults with a history of trauma.

GROUP FEE: $65 plus hst per session

REGISTER by emailing: [email protected]

FOR MORE INFO:

Overcoming Trauma is both a psycho-educational and therapeutic group for adults with a history of trauma. It focuses on building strategies to manage symptoms as well as provides a safe space for members to reflect on the impact of trauma on their current lives. Topics covered include - understandin...