Counselling Connection

A child’s earliest experiences with emotion most often occurs in the family setting. Consequently, the family plays an important role in the development of emotional understanding, particularly interactions between parents and children. For example, children who possess secure attachments with their parents show greater emotional understanding than those children who do not possess secure attachments (Laible & Thompson, 1998). Denham, Zoller, and Couchoud (1994) examined family relationships and the discourse they hold around emotions. It was found that maternal emotional discourse is especially salient in a child’s development of emotional understanding. Specifically, mothers who explain their emotions to their children help ... Read More

Preceding posts: The Psychology of Unresolved/Complicated Grief Types of Unresolved/Complicated Grief Psychological factors Anger and guilt can often be a key source of adjustment difficulties in the process of grief. Guilt can inhibit the grief process if mourners are unable to confront the guilt that arises when reflecting on their life with the person that died. Guilt may encourage the mourner to be anxious or afraid of their grief because it may surface negative feelings or acts they have directed to the bereaved. It is also common for individuals going through grief to experience feelings of anger. Anger may be due ... Read More

Charlotte is 11. She has been brought along to counselling by her mother, Fran. According to Fran, Charlotte has always been a “quiet and shy” girl. Fran remarks that she is not surprised by this as she too was a reserved and anxious child. In recent weeks however, Fran has noticed that Charlotte has become increasingly withdrawn. Charlotte becomes particularly upset before school and cries that she does not want to go. This is a new behaviour for Charlotte, who previously enjoyed school and excelled in class. Fran is aware that Charlotte has recently become a part of program at school ... Read More

Infidelity is increasingly becoming one of the most common relationship challenges in romantic relationships.  The acts of infidelity or cheating can have devastating consequences on those involved. Having been cheated on can result in anguish, depression, fury and humiliation (Brand, Markey, Mills & Hodges, 2007). It has been suggested that infidelity is one of the leading causes of divorce and romantic relationship breakdown (Brand, Markey, Mills & Hodges, 2007). Click here to read more about infidelity... With infidelity come consequences. Many people are impacted. If we were to step outside and look in for a moment, we may be able ... Read More

Anxiety is most often considered a problem if it occurs when there is no real threat or when the anxiety response is disproportionate to the threat being faced. However, when there is a real situation or stressor to deal with, the anxiety level might actually be appropriate. Appropriate levels of anxiety activate the organism to prepare and act. Therefore, in some situations, extreme levels of activation may be appropriate. Appropriate levels of anxiety can facilitate a person to prepare well for an exam through motivating them to etch out time to study while having them alert enough to study productively, stay ... Read More