When people experience severe life stressors or trauma, it often feels like their life is beginning to unravel. Our passion is to provide an inclusive environment where we will support these individuals to find their strength, improve relationships, and develop an awareness of themselves as complete and whole.
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Our specializations will help guide and inspire you to achieve more of your personal, academic and professional goals. We also offer career counselling.
We can support you with strategies to achieve success at work or school, tackle procrastination, social or general anxiety, or depression that is getting in the way of achieving.
Everyone has the potential to thrive. What stops us can be overcome.
The first step is deciding that you want to make a change.
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When people experience severe life stressors or trauma, it often feels like their life is beginning to unravel. My passion is to provide an inclusive environment where I will support these individuals to find their strength, improve relationships, and develop an awareness of themselves as complete and whole.
​
My specialization will help guide and inspire you to achieve more of your personal, academic and professional goals. I also offer career counselling.
Are you in need of strategies to achieve success at work or school? Would you like to tackle procrastination, social or general anxiety, or depression that is getting in the way of achieving? Are you having trouble in school due to anxiety, rather than lack of ability, experiencing a sudden drop in grades, having trouble sleeping due to worry, struggling with test anxiety in junior/high school or transition to university?
Everyone has the potential to thrive. What stops us can be overcome.
The first step is deciding that you want to make a change.
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EMDR Therapy is a well-researched and empirically validated therapy that can accelerate healing from life’s many traumas. The World Health Organization lists EMDR as a first-line trauma therapy, and EMDR is recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, Veterans Affairs and the International Society for Traumatic Stress (ISTSS) as an effective treatment for post-traumatic stress. The experience of EMDR allows your body-mind to naturally process traumatic memories/experiences, untangling strong emotion from the memory—and freeing your present from the past.
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Shapiro (2001) suggests that EMDR facilitates the accessing and processing of traumatic memories to bring these to a healthy resolution. After successful treatment with EMDR, affective distress is relieved, negative beliefs are reformulated, and physiological arousal is reduced. During EMDR the client attends to emotionally disturbing material in brief sequential doses while simultaneously focusing on an external bilateral stimulation, e.g. lateral eye movements, hand-tapping, or audio stimulation (Shapiro, 1991)
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Trauma-focused CBT and EMDR therapy are recommended for children, adolescents and adults with PTSD. “Like CBT with a trauma focus, EMDR therapy aims to reduce subjective distress and strengthen adaptive cognitions related to the traumatic event. Unlike CBT with a trauma focus, EMDR does not involve (a) detailed descriptions of the event, (b) direct challenging of beliefs, (c) extended exposure, or (d) homework.”
I am an advocate for meditation. However, trauma, anxiety and other emotional problems can interfere with the health benefits of meditation and can even make it hard to meditate at all. Fortunately, Energy Psychology can help.
~ Deepack Chopra, MD
Energy psychology is based on the broad theory that mental health and physical health conditions are related to an altered flow in the body’s energies and energy fields. The idea that the body’s energy can be shifted to produce emotional, mental, sometimes physical healing and spiritual development is a root of many ancient and holistic approaches to medicine and wellness.
Energy psychology research points to energetic interventions regulating energetic signal which when combined with evidence-based exposure retrains the brain and helps individuals overcome many physical and emotional reactions affecting health and well-being. Traumatic events trapped in the mind-body system can have a negative impact on a person's outlook, experiences, emotion regulation, and ability to relate to others. It has been demonstrated through peer review studies that energy psychology techniques can help a person in therapy release these events more rapidly than they might with talk- therapies alone.
A basic principle underlying energy psychology, as well as many other types of therapy, is the idea that traumatic memories and fears are problematic for some individuals because these memories and fears create a state called hyperarousal. Hyperarousal can be described by increased psychological and physiological activity involving muscular tension, decreased tolerance for pain, feelings of dread, jumpiness, difficulty sleeping, and increased emotional response. Many types of therapy, especially those that treat conditions such as anxiety and posttraumatic stress, help people reduce states of hyperarousal.
Energy psychology approaches are one of the best ways to remove negative feelings and emotional blocks to achieving success.
~ Jack Canfield
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Resources: https://r4r.energypsych.org/
Research: https://www.energypsych.org/researchdb8c71b7#ResearchQuickFacts
Family, Couples / Marriage Counselling
Mindfulness-based walk and talk therapy provides a unique opportunity to practice being in the moment while working through concerns. There are many therapeutic advantages to this type of therapy.
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First, the rhythmic nature of walking provides a soothing, predictable, and comforting context from which to move into deeper work.
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Second, the motor cortex becomes activated with the movement of your legs and arms – this stimulation provides a communication between your brain hemispheres, which acts on a neurological level to assist in the processing of trauma.
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Third, anxiety and stress activate the sympathetic nervous system – your fight and flight response. Walking and movement help to decrease the sympathetic nervous system response, essentially decreasing stress on a physical level.
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Parent Support/Family Counselling
Individual or Group sessions
(click for more info on scheduling and online booking)
When there is disruption within the family, whether it be due to illness, loss, transition, divorce, or life stages, the dynamic of the family can change. This sometimes causes stress that interrupts the ebb and flow of normal development to the extent that outside interventions should be called on to return the family unit to harmony again. The outcome can actually be a more positive and healthy path of strength and unity, with everyone ready to face the next challenge that life has to bring.
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** Please note: Due to the complexity that is involved in custody disputes, it is our policy to refer individuals facing challenges associated with a custody case to therapists with expertise in this area. Therefore, in the best interest of those we serve, Shayna Das Counselling will not offer services to clients when possible custody disputes may be involved.
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Relationships require ongoing effort, communication and compromise. Stressors are inevitable, and may threaten the stability of a relationship. Most relationship problems are manageable if challenges are addressed, poor habits are identified, and the source of the conflict is confronted. I can help you to develop an awareness and understanding of each other's needs, better communication skills, enhanced intimacy, and a way to navigate the rough roads in your lives.
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This small group course will help students in grades 9 - 12 learn study strategies, develop an awareness of the triggers that cause them stress related to exams and school, and learn individualized study skills and strategies for coping and preparing successfully.
Métis Nation of Saskatchewan
and
NIHB support
Worry Warriors Group
ages 6-8
January 18 - March 15, 2023
Wednesdays @4-5pm
8 week / 8-hour course $350
All Stars Group
ages 9-12
April 19 - June 7, 2023
Wednesdays @4-5pm
8 week / 8-hour course $350
This small group course will guide children with strategies to explore their thoughts and behaviours related to stressful experiences. These sessions will also guide the children towards emotional intelligence and provide skills to improve resilience and coping with life's challenges. A combination of CBT, DBT, EMDR, and mindfulness strategies will be used to guide your child to a feeling of control and comfort. Included in the fees is one - 25 minute Meet and Greet (new members only), one - 25 minute parent session where I will guide you with your struggles at home so you can learn the strategies to help your child to be more comfortable with challenge, discomfort and uncertainty. Also included is one discounted family session ($30 off), a pack of handouts/supplies, and regular updates by email. You will also have access to Shayna Das Counselling's booking schedule after the group has finished as a returning client for regular individual and/or family sessions.
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Session location will be at City Centre Family Physicians.
