App Review: PTSD Coach Canada

Read This With Your Kids!: The Invisible String

The Invisible String by Patrice Karst is an important reminder of how we are connected to those we love and care about. The Invisible String is about two children who get scared from a storm during the night and seek out connection with their mom. Their mom then shares an important lesson she learned as a child about an invisible string that connects us to those that we care about, no matter how far away they are, or if they have passed on. We can feel and send tugs on the invisible string when we need a douse of connection. While reading a book to our child is awesome as is, stopping to ask some questions can help with comprehension and the ability to personalize the story. So here are some talking points: You can ask your child if they have ever felt tugs on the invisible string? When grief is brought up, you can discuss family members and friends that you still feel connected to even after a loss. At the conclusion of the book, ask who are some people you are connect

How to save a life

There is nothing in this world more important that the people around us and the relationships we have with them. However, life often has a way of distracting us from the things that matter most. My job is an interesting one as I am paid to be a relationship in young peoples lives; some who heartbreakingly don’t have many, if any, other safe relationships. I remember one morning getting a phone call for one such young woman whom I had worked with years before. “Hi Sean, I’m not sure if you remember me...”- of course I remembered her. I remembered a 15-year-old girl who reluctantly slinked into a chair in the corner of my office with a fixed and unflinching gaze at the ground in front of her. The rhythm of my breath shuddered slightly as she described disappointment in still being alive. A few nights prior to being ushered into my office she had attempted to end her life in moment of intense internal pain and loneliness. “Sean- I know your busy but I was wondering if you have

Five tips for helping our children and all of us feel better about our bodies

First off- I know I’m a man. I know the way I interact with the world and the experiences I’ve had are unique to having been embodied as a male. I know my brain, chemistry and development is a little different and I in no way presume to be able to fully understand the experience of being a girl or a woman in the world. Further, I think any discussion of bodies can be intimate and vulnerable and as such I’m cautious in even writing something, especially as a man writing about female teenage bodies. But here’s the thing- I’m not really writing about bodies- I’m writing about brains. There are some small changes that we can all make in our parenting or interactions with young people that can go a long way towards promoting healthy body image. Sadly, concerns about our bodies are common and can dramatically impact how well we do in the world around us. It turns out we are not great at guessing how we look to others. Authors of a German study a couple of years ago found that about

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