When you meet and fall in love with a new partner after a divorce or breakup, blending your families may be the last thing on your mind. After all, you are enjoying the emotional high of a new romance. You are thrilled to have found someone else to love and spend your...
Divorce or relationship breakups that involve children are so much more complicated and painful than those without. After all, you still must see and communicate with the person you are no longer with. No matter how painful the dissolution of your relationship was,...
Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between what’s anxiety and what’s just normal early childhood behaviour. But if your child consistently exhibits fearful reactions and resists certain situations, there is a good chance they are struggling with anxiety. When a young...
Grief is most often associated with death. As a culture, we struggle with grief. So, it is not surprising given our difficulty with grief, and the narrow definition associated with death, that we fail to recognize the range of human experiences that can trigger a...
Start using this strategy now! Having a baby is hard work. If you have recently given birth, you know this to be true. You are likely exhausted in a way you could have never imagined. We are not talking about being tired – we are talking about a level of exhaustion...
Becoming parents is often an exciting time for a couple. It is a life-changing experience for each parent individually but also for their relationship together. Before baby, it is easy to have time and energy to invest in your relationship. However, your relationship...
We expect new parents to be happy – tired maybe, but happy with their new little bundle of joy. And some are just that. However, 1 in 7 moms and 1 in 10 dads experience postpartum depression. They do not feel happiness or joy. They feel anxious, overwhelmed,...
Recognizing postpartum depression might not be as easy as you think. There are two reasons for this: It doesn’t always look like typical depression Many women will hide their symptoms and suffering for fear of being judged Some mothers will experience more classic...
Parenting is a tough gig. We all want to do it so well – but I believe it is the hardest job in the world. It has certainly been the hardest job I have ever done. I thought I would be a natural parent – I had always loved kids and knew I wanted to be a mother –...
What does it feel like to have postpartum depression or postpartum anxiety? What are the signs or symptoms? How do you know when you have it? And if you do have it, what should you do? I want to explain it in the words I hear women use to describe their experience so...
There is no more profound loss that the loss of a baby. It is a unique and agonizing pain that can leave families adrift in a sea of questions that often can never be answered; a sea of pain that can be all-consuming; a sea of doubt regarding the meaning of life; and...
I have been through grief. There was a time when I felt that I would never see the world in full colour again. Everything felt dulled by the grief that took up so much space in my life. Over time, with support and help, the world brightened again. I felt changed by...