Perfect Days invites us to notice the quiet dignity of an ordinary life. Hirayama’s routines offer a reflection on contentment, care and the wonder within each day. What Perfect Days reveals about everyday life Hirayama is not a hero. He is not an allegorical figure who represents the plight of everyman. He is a plain
Living Our Perfect Days Read More »
I heard someone complain once: “I want my friends to listen and my therapist to give my advice. But it turns out, my therapist listens and my friends give me advice.” This observation raises questions about the role of therapists in relation to friendship. What we seek in friendships – understanding, sympathy, solidarity – is
Is Counselling Therapy a Form of Paid Friendship? Read More »
Understanding the inner logic of burn-out I notice a pattern among clients who suffer from burn-out. In the clutch of demanding responsibilities, people fear that everything will collapse without their involvement. Duties wither their spirits, but they cannot shirk their tasks. “My children need me,” they might say. “The team will cease to function without
The Logic of Burn-Out: Why We Tolerate the Intolerable Read More »
Choosing the right therapist for your needs Finding the right therapist can be a tricky business. It’s hard to know where to start. If you have never been to counselling, there may be a plethora of questions about the format, the length of treatment, cost, and insurance coverage. Therapeutic modalities can be baffling. More importantly,
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Coffee as a ritual of attention and gratitude Thomas Merton once wrote: “I love beer, and, by that very fact, the world.” This statement is at once whimsical and puzzling. How does a fondness for pale ale stray into a confession of love for the world? Perhaps Merton suggests a fundamental relationship between the mundane and the
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Simplicity, sufficiency and the limits of more I meet clients who come to therapy when they are hanging by a thread. Their careers are unforgiving, academic pressures unrelenting. Parents are walloped by the rigours of child-rearing; others are worn thin caring for aging parents. Responsibilities multiply, but the hours remain few. Despite a profusion of duties,
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Nature and mental health meet in the simple experience of noticing the world around us. This harbour-side reflection explores belonging, stillness and the relief of a wider perspective. Nature and mental health in an ordinary city moment I am standing by the harbour, peering past the sailboats and skycrapers into the mountains in the distance.
Nature and Mental Health: The Call to Come Home Read More »
Inner conflict can leave us caught between what we know and what we feel. These reflections explore competing commitments, self-dialogue and the possibility of integration. Working with inner conflict rather than against it In my clinical practice, I often meet clients who are at odds with themselves, caught between one commitment and another. They wrestle
“I know. . . but. . .”: Notes for Those Who Wrestle with Themselves. Read More »
Walking the path of patience and resilience The bamboo forest appeared surreal and fantastical. The vertical, segmented columns rose into feathered tops that swayed in the wind, the path covered by long, papery leaves. I hiked the forest in astonishment. In my imagination, bamboo forests are places of old Eastern legends, the backdrop of martial
On the Pilgrim’s Path: Walking as a Metaphor for Life Read More »
The Talking Cure There is little to do here But speak Tremulous at first Uncertain whether there is enough light under the sun To counter the darkness of your secret, Whether your dreaded thoughts Might rumble the earth beneath. Still you speak. At first in fits and starts, In whispers and breathy utterances, Until
DAVID CHANG COUNSELLING
David Chang Counselling is gratefully located on the territories of the the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. David supports and celebrates diversity in race, gender, sexual orientation, language, culture, and neurological composition.
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