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 me.” Thus, they are caught in […]
The Logic of Burn-Out: Why We Tolerate the Intolerable Read More »
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, you will be sharing the most vulnerable
How to Find The Right Therapist Read More »
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 sublime, the miniscule and the cosmical. Ask a brewer
I Love Coffee, and By That Very Fact, The World Read 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, they are weighed down by expectations that
Simplicity: Sanity in Mad Times Read More »
I am standing by the harbour, peering past the sailboats and skycrapers into the mountains in the distance. A bar of sunlight lifts the hillside, cold and deep. Clouds curl into flakes and break over waters glistening with the starkness of light. The nip of winter air, sharp and bristling. Black mountaintops dotted with snow. The city
Nature and Mental Health: The Call to Come Home Read More »
In my clinical practice, I often meet clients who are at odds with themselves, caught between one commitment and another. They wrestle between aspiration and duty, self-care and care for others. There are teenagers who struggle to assert independence against the authority of their parents, lovers who cleave to each other despite the call of
“I know. . . but. . .”: Notes for Those Who Wrestle with Themselves. Read More »
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 arts movies and ancient Chinese fairytales. Yet,
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
For many living in western societies, modernity brings with it the blight of busyness. Stress weighs us down; the onerous demands of studies, career and family can leave our bodies neglected and minds frazzled. Hives of self-help advice tend to underscore the importance of balance. Here, balance serves as a central metaphor for that harmonious
In Search of Elusive Balance Read More »
Through his analysis of personality and psychic development, honed over many years of practice, Alfred Adler proposed the notion of the fictive final goal as the organizing principle at the core of personhood. The fictive final goal is a vision of completion, the ultimate end that holds the aim of all striving; it is the
Meditation and the Fictive Final Goal Read More »
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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