New Aniibiish, 209 Yale Avenue West, Winnipeg, MB (2026)

11/07/2026

As daylight hours shorten and temperatures drop, many Canadians begin noticing changes in their mood, energy, motivation, and overall emotional well-being. And it’s not simply a matter of disliking winter. Approximately 15% of Canadians experience the “winter blues,” while 2–3% experience Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a more significant form of seasonal depression. What’s happening in the brain? Reduced exposure to natural daylight can disrupt our circadian rhythm (internal body clock) and influence serotonin and melatonin, which play important roles in regulating mood, sleep, and energy.

What can help?

Prioritize morning daylight. Even a short walk outdoors can support your body’s natural sleep-wake rhythm.

Keep moving. Gentle, consistent physical activity can support mood and emotional regulation.

💡 Consider light therapy. A clinically appropriate 10,000-lux light box may help some people experiencing seasonal depression.
Wu, C.-J., Phiri, D., Jen, H.-J., Setyowati, A., & Chung, M.-H. (2026). Light therapy in seasonal affective disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled and crossover trials. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2025.101021

11/07/2026

Great article from McGill University’s Office for Science and Society reminds us that children are naturally curious, questioning, and capable of evaluating evidence long before adulthood.
Yet, too often, we unintentionally discourage the very curiosity that supports critical thinking. Research suggests that young children are remarkably capable of exploring cause and effect, testing ideas, and adjusting their understanding when presented with new information. In my work I see important connections between critical thinking, emotional development, autonomy, and psychological resilience. Teaching children to think critically isn’t about teaching them what to think. It’s about helping them develop the confidence and skills to think for themselves. In a world increasingly shaped by social media, misinformation, and artificial intelligence, these abilities are more important than ever.
We can nurture them by: Encouraging questions rather than demanding unquestioning compliance. Creating environments where curiosity and respectful disagreement are welcomed.
Helping children distinguish between feelings, assumptions, and evidence. Modelling intellectual humility by acknowledging when we don’t know something. Teaching children that changing their minds in response to new information is a strength, not a weakness. Importantly, critical thinking and emotional intelligence are not competing developmental priorities. Both can help children navigate uncertainty, evaluate information, develop healthy boundaries, and make informed decisions. Perhaps our responsibility as parents, educators, and helping professionals isn’t simply to provide children with answers, but to create the psychological safety and opportunities they need to ask better questions. Nurture curiosity, don’t correct it.
Read Sophie Tseng Pellar, published November 6, 2026, through McGill University’s Office for Science and Society.
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-student-contributors/raising-thinkers-why-we-need-stop-waiting-adulthood-teach-critical-thinking

10/21/2026

Compassion Does Not Require Self-Abandonment.

Understanding someone’s behaviour doesn’t mean excusing it.
Our experiences, emotional wounds, and unmet needs often shape how we relate to others. Recognizing this can help us respond with empathy, but it doesn’t mean tolerating harmful behaviour.

You can understand someone’s trauma and still hold them accountable.

You can care about someone and still set boundaries.

You can wish someone healing without being part of their journey.

Two things can be true: someone’s behaviour can be understandable and still be hurtful.

Healthy relationships, including the one we have with ourselves, require both compassion and accountability. You can recognize someone else’s humanity without losing sight of your own. ❤️

10/13/2026

For many women, ADHD doesn’t suddenly appear during perimenopause or menopause. It has often been there all along, hidden beneath decades of masking, perfectionism, overfunctioning, and working twice as hard to meet expectations.

Many women have spent their lives appearing organized, capable, and successful, while privately struggling with executive functioning, emotional regulation, and mental exhaustion.

Then comes perimenopause, and the strategies that worked for decades may no longer be enough.

Emerging research suggests that hormonal fluctuations may influence ADHD symptoms, particularly attention, working memory, and emotional regulation (Chapman et al., 2025; Wynchank & Kooij, 2026).

Suddenly, the brain fog, forgetfulness, overwhelm, and difficulty managing everyday demands become harder to compensate for.

As a psychotherapist, I think it’s important to recognize that masking is not the same as functioning without difficulty.

For women diagnosed with ADHD in midlife, there can be both relief in finally understanding themselves and grief for the years spent believing they simply weren’t trying hard enough.

Perhaps the question isn’t why these women are suddenly struggling, but how much effort it took to appear as though they weren’t struggling before.

We need greater awareness of the invisible labour of masking ADHD and the impact hormonal transitions may have on women’s cognitive and emotional well-being.

Research:

Chapman et al. (2025). Journal of Attention Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1177/10870547251355006
Wynchank & Kooij (2026). Drugs & Aging. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40266-026-01291-z

09/23/2026

What is family? They were the people who claimed you. In good, in bad, in parts or in whole, they were the ones who showed up, who stayed in there, regardless. It wasn’t just about blood relations or shared chromosomes, but something wider, bigger. We have many families over time. Our family of origin, the family we created, and the groups you moved through while all of this was happening: friends, lovers, sometimes even strangers. None of them perfect and we cannot expect them to be. You can’t make any one person your world. The trick was to take what each could give you and build your world from it.

09/01/2026

Some books inform our clinical work. Others shift the way we understand healing. Sebern Fisher’s The Hidden Book of First Things has done that for me.

I came to this book as a psychotherapist who integrates trauma-focused psychotherapy, neurofeedback (NFB) and Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR), and also as someone with my own history of developmental trauma.

Fisher does not focus extensively on the details of what happened to her. Instead, she gives us something perhaps more powerful: the aftermath and the absence. She explores what happens when the relational experiences that ordinarily help a child develop an interior sense of self and other are missing. Developmental trauma is not only about what happened to us. It can also be about what did not happen for us the attunement, safety, co-regulation and reliable relational connection through which the developing brain learns over time. These are not always memories waiting to be processed. Sometimes they are experiences that never occurred sufficiently in the first place.

This is where Fisher’s journey with neurofeedback is particularly compelling. NFB offers another doorway into healing by working with the brain’s capacity for regulation rather than relying solely on insight or narrative.

Her later and current experience with Dr. Frank Corrigan’s DBR adds another layer, offering a way of working with deeply held orienting and shock responses associated with trauma.

As a therapist integrating NFB, DBR and trauma-focused psychotherapy, I increasingly appreciate that these approaches can reach different layers of developmental injury: the brain, the body, the relational experience and the emerging sense of self.

Fisher’s book left me thinking about what becomes possible when the brain, body and self are finally given new experiences from which to learn?

For me, both personally and professionally, this is a powerful and hopeful exploration of what it means not simply to survive developmental trauma, but to discover what can emerge beyond it.

08/21/2026

Whatcha reading now?

EMDR AS YOU ARE 12 Experts on Moving from Protocol to Presence

What I appreciate about the premise of this book is the recognition that learning a therapeutic model and actually sitting with another human being are two very different things.

Training gives us protocols, phases, frameworks, and a map to follow. But trauma and the nervous system rarely move through healing in a neat or predictable way.

There is a lot that happens in the space between knowing the protocol and learning how to be present with the person in front of us.

This book brings together 12 EMDR clinicians who speak candidly about that space the uncertainty, second-guessing, messy moments, adaptations, and the gradual process of learning to trust yourself as a clinician. I can’t say how much I appreciate the generosity of sharing vulnerable therapeutic experiences!

Our clients don’t arrive as a diagnosis or a protocol. They arrive with nervous systems shaped by relationships, experiences, adaptations, and ways of surviving that made sense somewhere along the way.

I think there is tremendous value in clinicians being willing to learn out loud…to remain curious, flexible, and open to evolving how we understand and support healing.

Perhaps becoming more experienced isn’t about following the map more perfectly…but instead about knowing the map well enough that we can look up from it and truly see the person sitting across from us 🤓❤️🐶

06/15/2026

One of the greatest privileges of professional development is the opportunity to learn from individuals who have dedicated decades to advancing their fields. This week I had the opportunity to participate in an advanced training with the amazing iMediSync America team Rebekah Walker Carlos Chinchilla Kody Newman
with the esteemed Dr. Dave Kim and Shari Johansson MA, LPC, NCC, BCN, QEEG-D deepening my understanding of how neurotechnology can complement psychotherapy and mental health care. Technologies such as QEEG EEG tPBM & NFB offer exciting opportunities to better understand individual differences in brain functioning and move toward a more personalized approach to care. While new technologies are exciting, what I value most is the knowledge shared by highly qualified and experienced teachers. Their ability to bridge research, clinical practice, and real-world application transforms information into meaningful learning. The insights gained from those who have spent years refining their craft cannot be found in manuals alone; they come from experience, critical thinking, and a deep commitment to improving client outcomes.

As a psychotherapist, I remain committed to exploring evidence-informed approaches that enhance, rather than replace, the therapeutic relationship. Technology is most valuable when it helps us better understand our clients, track progress, and tailor interventions in ways that support meaningful and lasting change.

I leave this training with a renewed appreciation for mentorship, collaboration, and lifelong learning. Every opportunity to learn from experienced teachers ultimately strengthens our ability to provide informed, compassionate, and personalized care. Thank you to the iMediSync team and fellow participants for creating an environment where curiosity, innovation, and clinical excellence are encouraged. 🤓

06/14/2026

One of the greatest privileges of professional development is the opportunity to learn from individuals who have dedicated decades to advancing their fields. This week I had the opportunity to participate in an advanced training with the amazing iMediSync America team Rebekah Walker Carlos Chinchilla Kody Newman
with the esteemed Dr. Dave Kim and Shari Johansson MA, LPC, NCC, BCN, QEEG-D deepening my understanding of how neurotechnology can complement psychotherapy and mental health care. Technologies such as QEEG EEG tPBM & NFB offer exciting opportunities to better understand individual differences in brain functioning and move toward a more personalized approach to care. While new technologies are exciting, what I value most is the knowledge shared by highly qualified and experienced teachers. Their ability to bridge research, clinical practice, and real-world application transforms information into meaningful learning. The insights gained from those who have spent years refining their craft cannot be found in manuals alone; they come from experience, critical thinking, and a deep commitment to improving client outcomes.

As a psychotherapist, I remain committed to exploring evidence-informed approaches that enhance, rather than replace, the therapeutic relationship. Technology is most valuable when it helps us better understand our clients, track progress, and tailor interventions in ways that support meaningful and lasting change.

I leave this training with a renewed appreciation for mentorship, collaboration, and lifelong learning. Every opportunity to learn from experienced teachers ultimately strengthens our ability to provide informed, compassionate, and personalized care. Thank you to the iMediSync team and fellow participants for creating an environment where curiosity, innovation, and clinical excellence are encouraged. 🤓

06/12/2026

Excited to be learning more about measuring and recording the electrical activity of the brain 🧠 and precision planning and ex*****on of mental health treatment ❤️