Blog | Cortney Pasternak, Counsellor

Unlearning People-Pleasing: Reclaiming Your Voice After a Lifetime of De-Selfing and Enmeshment

There’s a specific pain I see in therapy that comes from spending a whole life trying to keep the peace.[…]

Why do the holidays — a time we’re supposed to feel joy — often bring up dread instead? Some of[…]

If you’ve ever stood outside a closed door listening to your teens yell, slam, or shut down, you know how[…]

As the holidays approach, many people feel the familiar pressure of returning to family environments that bring up old wounds,[…]

If you’ve ever tried to tell your partner something important (or even not that important) and they responded with, “Sorry—what?”[…]

This past weekend, after a stretch of early snow, then rain, I headed to the nearby beach on Lake Ontario[…]

In southern Ontario, the snow came early this year. It was heavy, wet, and startlingly white against the still-golden leaves[…]

The first snowfall arrived early in southern Ontario this year—quiet, heavy, wet, and unexpected. It came as poppies began to[…]

If you’re parenting teens (and I have – across 2 generations and a blended family), you’ve likely found yourself asking[…]

If you’re parenting teens (or preteens), you’ve likely seen it: slammed doors, sharp words, or one child withdrawing while another[…]