Counsellor's Advice Blog


Naming and Claiming Family of Origin Wounds

Written by: Luc Dumouchel, a Psychotherapist with Capital Choice Counselling Group We all have childhood wounds stemming from our family of origin, or the family you grew up in. Family of origin therapy or schema therapy can help us name, claim and tame our family of origin wounds. As humans, we are social and relational…

Someone You Love Gambles Too Much…

Written by: Clara Panarella, M.Ed., Psychotherapist, Capital Choice Counselling Group A Gambling Addiction is not just about losing money, it can affect a person’s whole life. It affects the person’s physical and mental health, work,  school, and other activities. But perhaps most importantly it affects the relationship with a spouse and other family members. People…

Addiction Therapy: The Courage to Ask for Help

Written By: Jane Langmaid, Psychotherapist with Capital Choice Counselling Group Addictions – to drugs, alcohol, food, work, sex, gambling – we can use almost any substance or process addictively- to numb shame, to feel better, control mood, cope, and survive. The problem is that it never fills us up – one can never get enough.…

Depression Therapy for Teenagers

Written By: Emily Kiar, Psychotherapist with Capital Choice Counselling Group The teenage years are a time of many changes and where teenagers are expected to make many decisions about their future. At times, this can leave teenagers feeling confused, isolated or even depressed. Teenage depression therapy can help. Depression therapy for Ottawa teenagers can lift…

The Four Stages of Marriage and Marriage Counselling

Written By: Dr. Martin Rovers, Psychologist with Capital Choice Counselling Group In the book, Healing the Wounds in Couple Relationships, Ottawa couple’s therapist Dr. Martin Rovers describes the four stages of marriage: (1) Falling In Love (2) The Honeymoon Is Over (3) The Dance Of Wounds (4) Loving As illustrated by the relatively high divorce…

Fostering Connection within Couples

Written by: Rhonda Fields, MA, CCC, Capital Choice Counselling Group Couples often lose the original emotional connection (to participate in research which is interested in helping couples find emotional connection, click here) which attracted them to one another in the first place. Falling out of the feeling of love is common for most couples.  Couple therapy can…

What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy? (CBT)

Written By: Dr. Martin Rovers, Psychologist with Capital Choice Counselling Group Cognitive Therapy (CT), or Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), is an approach to to identify and solve problems. Our CBT therapists who use this model help clients overcome their life difficulties by changing their thinking and behaviour, which has an impact on emotional responses.  Cognitive…

Psycho–what? An Outline of the Terms

Written By: Dr. Martin Rovers, Psychologist for Capital Choice Counselling Group Psychotherapy is a word with the same basic meaning as counselling (for an outline of the slight differences, click here), and is a term referring to the treatment of relationships, mental health, or life experiences that have become overwhelming or problematic. When enough pain…

Expressing the Depression–Depression Therapy

Written By: Dr. Martin Rovers, Psychologist with Capital Choice Counselling Group Depression hurts!  It hurts you and it hurts your loved ones around you. Counselling for depression can help. We all have our ups and downs, as this is normal in life. However when a low mood becomes more pervasive, and if these feelings of…

Couple Therapy Means Working for Love

Written By: Dr. Martin Rovers Two things can bring partners to couple therapy: enough love or enough pain. Enough love means that I can see something wrong with our relationships and, out of love for self and my partner; I suggest couple therapy to make our relationships stronger. I am willing and able to do…