Stress Management Therapy
Stress: Let’s start with exploring WHAT Stress is.
Stress is a normal and natural response to challenges and demands in life. It is the body's way of preparing to cope with a situation or problem. However, when stress becomes chronic or overwhelming, it can have negative impacts on physical and mental health.
When a person is under stress, their body releases stress hormones, such as cortisol, which can affect various systems in the body.
Some common physical symptoms of stress include:
Headaches
Muscle tension or pain
Chest pain
Fatigue
Changes in appetite or sleep patterns
Changes in sex drive
In addition to physical symptoms, stress can also affect a person's emotional and mental well-being.
Some common emotional and mental symptoms of stress include:
Irritability
Difficulty concentrating
Difficulty making decisions
Negative thinking or feelings of hopelessness
It is important for individuals to learn how to manage stress effectively in order to maintain their physical and mental health.
Some effective strategies for managing stress include:
Getting enough sleep
Exercising regularly
Eating a healthy diet
Managing time effectively
Practicing relaxation techniques such as deep breathing or meditation
Seeking support from trusted friends and family
If stress becomes overwhelming or interferes with a person's ability to function in their daily life, it is important to seek support from a mental health professional. A mental health professional can help individuals identify the root causes of their stress and develop strategies to manage their stress and improve their overall well-being.
If we don’t know how to cope with circumstances, we can often turn to things like substances and avoidance behaviours, which further entrench our stress. We rob ourselves of the skills to actually process our feelings and take control of our lives. It’s always tragic to live too much of our lives on autopilot.
Some of us somatize when we’re overly stressed or burnt out. Somatization is the process of experiencing physical symptoms as a result of emotional or psychological distress. When a person is under chronic stress, they may be more likely to experience physical symptoms as a result of their stress.
Stress affects us profoundly, there’s an entire peer-reviewed journal called the Neurobiology of Stress studying it.
The neurobiology of stress refers to the ways in which stress affects the functioning of the brain and the body. When a person is under stress, their body releases stress hormones, such as cortisol, which can affect various systems in the body.
One important area of the brain that is involved in the stress response is the amygdala, which is responsible for detecting threats and activating the body's stress response. When the amygdala senses a threat, it sends a signal to the hypothalamus, which then activates the body's stress response by releasing stress hormones.
The stress response involves the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which increases heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration. It also involves the release of stress hormones, such as cortisol, which can affect various systems in the body, including the immune system and the digestive system.
Chronic stress can have negative impacts on physical and mental health. It can contribute to the development of conditions such as:
Cardiovascular diseases
Depression
Cognitive impairment
Memory impairment
How does Psychotherapy help with stress?
Psychotherapy is an effective treatment for stress and can help individuals identify and address the underlying causes of their stress. Some common approaches to psychotherapy that may be used to treat stress include:
Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT): CBT helps individuals identify and modify negative thought patterns and behaviours that contribute to their stress. It may involve setting goals, tracking progress, and developing coping strategies to manage stress.
Mindfulness-based therapy: This approach involves helping individuals pay attention to their present-moment experiences in a non-judgmental way. It may involve techniques such as mindfulness meditation, which can help individuals become more aware of their thoughts and feelings and respond to stress in a more balanced way.
Psychodynamic therapy: This approach focuses on helping individuals understand and explore their unconscious thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that may be contributing to their stress. It may involve exploring past experiences and relationships and how they are affecting current behaviour.
Emotion-focused therapy: This approach helps individuals identify and understand their emotions and learn how to manage and express them in a healthy way. It may involve techniques such as emotion regulation skills and mindfulness practices.
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Overall, psychotherapy can be an effective treatment for stress by helping individuals identify and address the underlying causes of their stress and develop coping strategies to manage their stress and improve their overall well-being. It is important for individuals who are struggling with stress to seek support from a mental health professional to address their challenges and improve their quality of life.
Your therapist will work with you to support you by applying a blend of modalities based on the context. Everyone’s experience of stress is unique and that’s why Psychotherapy has to be tailored to the individual.
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Issues We Work With
At YYZ Talks, we offer comprehensive support for a wide range of mental health concerns and life challenges. Our experienced therapists are equipped to address various issues that may be impacting your well-being and quality of life.
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If your life is being impacted by your difficulty paying attention / impulsivity / hyperactivity / disorganization, reach out and we can help you figure out where to go from here. In some cases, formal assessment and medication are warranted. We go beyond coaching to explore how ADHD affects all domains of your functioning. We work with clients to understand and process the complex impacts that ADHD has upon their self-image.
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We provide anger management, PAR program, and various combinations for both Court ordered cases and personal development purposes.
We approach anger as a symptom, and work with you to uncover what's really going on. We provide strategies, and psychotherapy to help you better gain control of yourself. We don’t just explore anger in the here and now, but also the origin story of your emotional world
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There are different types of anxiety disorders, including phobias, panic disorder, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.
Cognitive-behavioural therapy is shown to be an effective approach to anxiety. One goal of therapy would be to learn how your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours work together and to change the thought patterns that feed anxiety.
We also dedicate part of the process to understand how your anxiety came to be by exploring your childhood
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Being in a relationship can be challenging. Whether with a romantic partner, a good friend, or family members, each can be marked with struggle that can be confusing and frustrating. We can offer an unbiased external perspective, without any agenda other than your happiness and well-being, to help manage these relationships in the best way possible.
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Feelings of deep sadness, lack of motivation or interest, and apathy are all characteristics of
depression or a depressive mood and it can be very distressing. We can help manage this gray,
heavy, or empty feeling by implementing small changes in your day to day life, as well as
approach broader issues in a safe, supportive, and comforting environment.
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Gaslighting is a confusing process to be the victim of. Between the loss of self, confusion, and disoriented narrative, we can often feel erratic and out of sorts long after we've moved on from those relationships. Work with an experienced Psychotherapist to find yourself again and make sense of your narrative.
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Our grief and loss services are primarily provided by Laura, who holds an Advanced Grief Certification, and a certificate in emotional regulation strategies.
Loss can occur in many forms, from a sudden and terrible shock to a slow or painful decline. Some losses are literal, such as losing a loved one, relationship, job, or home, while others relate to one’s identity such as loss of identity, independence, and hope. Loss therapy focuses on helping individuals take the time to explore the impact of loss on one’s emotions, thoughts, and perceptions, to process emotional responses, and to empower clients with resiliency to move forward while preserving the memory of what has been lost.
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Interpersonal conflict is inevitable in our lives. How we deal with it, both within ourselves and in communication with others, can make all the difference. This form of therapy explores our reactiveness, helps to understand ourselves more deeply, and seeks to find compassion for ourselves and the other. Through learning how to navigate conflict, we aim to develop stronger, healthier relationships.
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Evolving views on religion and spirituality can unfortunately lead to conflict within social and familial groups. There can be the loss of support systems, loss of meaning making, and the loss of routines, roles, and responsibilities. Our approach for individuals going through this rooted in helping you pursue meaning in your life. This involves making sense of your relationship with multiple domains, and managing changes to your identity.
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We all know that life is full of change, but to really accept that and adapt to changing circumstances and expectations takes a lot of work. A new role whether it’s at work or at home requires us to adjust many variables such as expectations, hopes, and responsibilities. This can be quite stressful and lead to conflict, disappointment, and communication issues.
Our Psychotherapists can help you navigate this by helping you identify blindspots, manage expectations of yourself and others, and develop a greater insight into why you’re experiencing something the way you are.
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Unless you live in a hammock, you're going to face stressful situations. A little bit of stress is normal and the stress response can be helpful. Having a lot of stress all the time is not helpful. It means your mind and body are running in overdrive, and that is taking a huge toll on your resources. It's not sustainable and more and more studies are showing the negative impacts stress can have on you.
We work with you to create a custom stress-management plan. Together we'll identify your stressors and existing patterns, develop a self-care routine, find healthy outlets, and develop resilience.
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¼ of our caseload is students. We love working with you before the world has made you jaded. Being a student is a fascinating and difficult transition. Issues like feeling homesick, academic pressure, time management, test anxiety, social struggles, family and career expectations, and more can arise. Talking to a Psychotherapist can provide support and a safe space to problem solve to ensure you get the most out of your post-secondary experience.
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Traumatic events can have wide-reaching effects on your life. Whether you have been diagnosed with PTSD or not, whether your trauma stems from physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, we can help. Traumatic events overwhelm the brain, and lead to symptoms such as nightmares, flashbacks, being easily startled, avoidant, numbness, emotional volatility, cognitive issues, and feeling distant from life.
Our team is experienced in working with trauma in all its forms to help you get back into your life and your relationships. For Individuals suffering from complex trauma, our Certified Clinical Trauma Professionals are always available to help you on your recovery journey
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Life is full of unknowable factors, and dealing with uncertainty is a part of life we can't avoid. Some people are more sensitive to uncertainty, hating it and trying to control it as much as they can. This can lead to a lot of avoidance, distraction, procrastination, impulsivity, and anxiety. We approach uncertainty through multiple angles to improve your insight, and tolerance and build better-coping strategies.
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If your struggle isn’t captured by this list, reach out to us anyway to discuss if we can help. If we can’t, we’ll try our best to find you help at another practice. We’re bad capitalists and will happily refer you to another practice if we think they can help you better than we can.
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