Brighter Path Psychology: Trauma Therapy & Chronic Pain Management

01/21/2024

For My Grandma's, who always spoiled me and made me feel soo SAFE. And for my mamma, cause I know she is an AMAZING " grandmere", even if she might not be feeling the love lately!!

Mine included!

08/10/2023

I don’t quite know if anyone’s gonna see this but I’ll post it anyways!!

I am posting to tell you all that I (Melissa Gates) will be starting (and running) a 10-week GROUP THERAPY SESSION for women and men struggling with BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) OR Complex-PTSD (which is often related to having had a lot of trauma or even just a lot of unpleasant memories from childhood).

STARTS: Wednesday Sept 12 @ 3:30-5
RUNS: 10 weeks in a row, every Wednesday.
COST: $90 per individual session (CAN be paid weekly, but you must sign up for all ten).
**YES this group IS MOST OFTEN COVERED BY YOUR INSURANCE PROVIDER through employment “benefits”
*** The same 12 group members will attend all 10 sessions

If you’d like to read more about it, sign up or get on the wait list, please see my online booking page. If you can’t find the Sept 13th session, please DO click the link that says “MELISSA GATES’ wait list and you WILL likely get into the group!

The page is: www.brighterpath.janeapp.com

Should you have any questions at all, please feel free to email me or call me!

Thanks!
Warmly,
Melissa Gates, R Psych
Brighter Path Psychology
(780) 907-7677
traumatherapy@yahoo.com

08/01/2023

See the post below about FEAR!!

08/01/2023

08/01/2023

Fear and anxiety are HELPFUL TOOLS (ie they kept us safe a lot of the time)…but to those of us (myself included) who suffer with an anxiety DISORDER, the fire detector on our brains, our AMYGDALAS, have gone off the rails, and are making us fearful of even the most unrealistic things!!! we KNOW it’s not logical, but we still FEEL IT!

Well…I’m here to tell you, as someone who struggles with a crap ton of anxiety herself, there IS a way thought.
And I asked my friends to take this video as proof that OUR BRAINS CAN overcome even the most “”realistic” fears, just as they can the illogical ones.
I hope after seeing this video you too will decide to try jumping feet first into one of the things that is making you anxious or fearful! (And if you can’t get through it alone, call or message me anytime! (780) 907-7677)

07/30/2023

This is what I have believed since I was 18 years old…when I first realized that what I had been through as a child teen actually WAS trauma. Can wait to read it!

The idea that neuroscience research could be germane, even necessary, to psychotherapy began as a seed planted by Bessel van der Kolk to prove his hypothesis that post-traumatic reactions are perpetuated by the body and brain.

With the publication of works such as Allan Schore’s Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self in 1994, Joseph LeDoux’s The Emotional Brain in 1996, and Daniel Siegel’s The Developing Mind in 1999, the world of science began to inspire new growth in psychotherapy.

Each of these experts challenged the primacy of the mind as the basis of human emotional life to bring attention to how the brain affects our capacity to use our minds. Each argued that the slowly maturing brain and nervous system could be dramatically and perhaps permanently affected by early attachment relationships, neglect, and trauma.

07/23/2023

IM in LOVE with this shirt I found today!! I so often need to remind myself, so this may be my next tattoo!!

07/23/2023

So THIS is “belly breathing”(for your little ones, or the kid in you!) or “deep breathing “(boring name!) or “diaphragmatic breathing” (hence why we call it BELLY BREATHING!!) in a nutshell! It’s as easy as 1)breathing in and 2) breathing out!!!
And it can have DRAMATIC effects on your physical and your Mental Health!!
In fact, the research indicates that increasing the amount of BELLY BREATHING we do throughout the day can and DOES drastically improve things like heart health and mood. Deep breathing more in your day also leads to decreases in depression, decreases in stress and anxiety, and decreases in heart attacks and strokes (the number one KILLERS in Canada)!!
Soooo…try this for me:
1) put one hand on your tummy/“belly” and 2) place the other hand gently on your chest. NOW 3) breathe IN through your nose to a count of 4, **letting your belly fill up with air like a balloon, then HOLD for 2, then 4) breathe OUT of your nose to a count of 4 ***While letting all the air out of your belly, AND HOLD FOR 2.
And in for 4, and hold for 2, and out for 4, and hold for 2. And so on and so forth!! (And please DONT forget to hold after the OUTBREATH…it’s VERY important for relaxation and people always tend to forget it!
AND THATS IT!!…NOW do 10 full breaths, do this 5x per day, and you are well on your way to living LONGER AND enjoying the time you have left more! Ps. Your hand on your chest shouldn’t move much or you’re breathing too shallow! Pps. You don’t have to KEEP your hands on your belly silly!!…just for the first couple, just to get a feel for it!

07/23/2023

My first ever therapy-related instagram post!! (Urggg…I have NO idea what I’m doing but hopefully I get better!!)
Welcome all to BRIGHTER PATH PSYCHOLOGY!!

07/23/2023

Stylin!!

07/23/2023

Harley is LOVIN her new rain poncho!

07/23/2023

Gettin all ready for the puddles!!!

11/22/2022

Post #2 about DISSOCIATION:
This post is coming WAY LATE, but late is sometimes better than never, right?
Ok, so to add to my 1st post about dissociation, let’s go over some tidbits from that post.
Recap:
Dissociation is sometimes kind of like zoning out for most people and for most people it can look like driving and getting to your destination or even just driving through a light but not remembering how you got home or if that light was green. It can be a bit scary or confusing , but it happens to all of us at some point. We all dissociate sometimes, more often when we are bored or our minds are busy/racing/worrying.
And, for most people, dissociating sometimes isn’t such a bad thing…I mean, can you imagine being STUCK on the Henday at 7am in an accident traffic jam…I betcha then you’d really want to be dissociated at that point! 😂
My point being, is that dissociation is, for better or for worse, a coping strategy. It is a coping strategy that our brains use in order to avoid dealing with or coping with or FEELING strong emotions. Or dissociation can also be a great distraction tool to avoid dealing with yucky things in a persons life that they don’t want to face. But I’m NOT saying these are always done consciously, because often, especially with people that struggle with dissociative DISORDERS, the fact that they are using dissociation as a coping as a strategy, in order to not have to deal with their difficult life events or feelings is largely unknown to them…especially until they end up therapy!
So, stay tuned for my part 3 post finishing off my mini dissociation education sessions! Next post I will be talking about what a dissociative disorder IS, what it might feel like if you had one, what it might be like for friends and family of those struggling, and last but certainly NOT LEAST: Whst the heck is DID. REALLY???
Any questions about my post , feel free to ask. And if you liked the first two, PLEASE feel free to share!

Lastly, your weekly homework:
If you’d like, Set your alarm for 5-10 times this week and when your alarm goes off, take three deep breaths through your belly then decide how dissociated you are, 0 to 10, where 0 is completely 100% present and alert and ”in the moment” and 10 is completely dissociated (so you “lose time” at a 10, so you wouldn’t know you were even AT a ten until later on when someone told you that you were completely out of it or acting kinda strange or acting different that your usual self. Then 5 is about 1/2 dissociated or 50% dissociated (there but not!? Present but not?!)
So 5x per day just side note of where you are on your scale when your alarm goes off. And write it down.
THEN: if you have more high scores than you expected, you can always feel free to message or email me to chat about it
Ok good luck!
Melissa