Nat Young, Counselling Therapist

04/22/2026

Great news! Brittany is wrapping up her practicum, and is sticking around ☺️ She will be joining the team as a full-time therapist 🎉 We are so excited to have her! Interested in booking? She has space for new clients.

For bookings and inquiries:
📧 prismfredericton@gmail.com
📞 (506) 454-1371
www.prismfredericton.com

04/08/2026

April is Counselling & Psychotherapy Month! The Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) presented five key messages in honor of this month.

The messages for 2026 are:
1. Human connection remains at the heart of mental health.
2. Technology should enhance care - not replace it.
3. In a digitally connected world, many people feel more isolated than ever.
4. Equitable access to care must remain a priority in the digital age.
5. Strong cybersecurity, clear laws, and ethical practice are essential in digital mental health care.

The CCPA is also inviting you to share a note of appreciation with a therapist, colleague, mentor, or someone whose care made a difference. You can send the card by following this link: https://www.ccpa-accp.ca/canadian-counselling-psychotherapy-month-2026/ -a-therapist

04/07/2026

I’m looking forward to attending this workshop!

Chroma NB is offering a workshop open to healthcare providers on gender-affirming surgery access in New Brunswick! See all info and register at bit.ly/4bWAvLd

The day will include an interactive three hour workshop, followed by a networking lunch with guided case discussions and Q&A with experienced gender-affirming care providers. It is offered in-person at the Saint John Regional Hospital's first floor ampitheatre and also virtually.

This training is a project of the Community Based Resource Centre (CBRC) and is funded by Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) Canada to improve access to safe and consistent sexual and reproductive health services from coast to coast.

04/06/2026

Here is my availability as it stands for the next two weeks! April is the final month of my "winter schedule" and my session availability will shift slightly beginning in May.

Reach out by email to book, or, if you're a current client of mine, you can book your own sessions through the Jane portal!

📩 natyoungcounselling@outlook.com

03/26/2026

Thank you YMCA Fredericton for the opportunity to speak to your POWER UP program.

The YMCA in Fredericton offers a no-cost program for youth in middle school to meet other youth and features weekly speakers that focus on mind, body and spirit. Cool part is that when youth register, they receive a YMCA membership.

If you’re interested, check it out here:
https://fredericton.ymca.ca/global-community/power-up-youth-program/

03/26/2026

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend a training on bringing relational psychoanalytic depth into therapeutic work, facilitated by another local therapist, Nathan Thompson.

This approach builds on the foundation of humanistic therapy, but shifts the focus even further toward the relationship between therapist and client as a space for meaningful change. Rather than only exploring what is happening in a client’s life, relational work also pays attention to what is happening between us in the room.

For example:
• Noticing patterns that show up in the therapeutic relationship
• Exploring moments where things feel stuck, distant, or emotionally charged
• Using those moments as opportunities for insight and growth
• Understanding that both therapist and client shape the therapeutic experience

One of the key takeaways is that therapy is not just about learning skills or talking through problems. It is also about experiencing something different in a safe and supportive relationship. Even moments of tension or disconnection can become important parts of the work when they are approached with curiosity and care.

I am always looking for ways to deepen my practice and better support the people I work with, and this training offered a meaningful step in that direction.

03/23/2026

You might notice that I sometimes reference books during our sessions. These are not novels, but evidence-based resources that help explain how our minds work, how emotions show up, and how we can respond to them in new ways.

I often draw on ideas, metaphors, or short passages from these books to support the work we are doing together. At times, we might even pause and read something briefly in session. This can support learning, insight, and emotional change when combined with guided discussion.

Using these resources can help:
• Make complex ideas easier to understand
• Give language to thoughts and feelings
• Reinforce skills we are practicing in session
• Offer new perspectives in a structured and relatable way

With younger clients, I may also use more concrete tools like parts-based books, such as No Bad Parts, to help them understand their emotions in a safe and accessible way.

Every resource I bring in is chosen intentionally to match the person in front of me. Sometimes hearing an idea explained in a different way can make something click. And those moments can be really powerful in the therapeutic process.

03/19/2026

Thank you for sticking along for the 6 part ACT skills post. I hope you learned something. Here is the final post 😃.

Knowing your values is important. Acting on them is what creates change. Committed action means taking small steps that move your life in the direction that matters to you.
These steps do not have to be big. It could be sending a message to reconnect with a friend, going for a short walk to care for your health, or speaking up about something important to you.

ACT research shows that building patterns of value based action helps increase psychological flexibility and well being. Progress does not require perfection. You may take a step forward. You may take a step back. Both are part of the process. What matters most is continuing to move toward the life you want to build.

03/17/2026

Goals are things we achieve. Values are directions we move toward. Values reflect what truly matters to you and the kind of person you want to be.

For example:
Being a caring parent
Being an honest friend
Showing courage in difficult situations

In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, values help guide decisions even when life is hard. Values are not about perfection. They are about direction. When we act in ways that align with our values, people often report a stronger sense of meaning and purpose in life.

I often tell clients, "Anchor in your values." In the same way we let a sticky note do the remembering for us when we write our to-do list on it, we can let our values guide our decision making.

03/15/2026

Sometimes it feels like our thoughts and emotions completely define us. ACT introduces the idea of the observer self. This is the part of you that notices your thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

Which of these sentences is more harmful?
"I am going to fail." or “I notice that my mind is telling me a worry story.”
"I am broken." or “I notice that I am feeling anxious right now.”

The difference may seem small, but it's huge. One sentence is looking FROM a thought "I am going to fail" and one sentence is looking at a thought "I notice that miming is telling me a worry story."

The observer self reminds us that we are more than any single emotion or thought. Research in psychological flexibility suggests that learning to observe our internal experiences can reduce over identification with distress.

Thoughts and feelings can change from moment to moment. The part of you that notices them remains steady.

03/13/2026

Our minds often pull us into the past or the future. We replay mistakes, we worry about what might happen, which means we miss what is happening right now. Contact with the present moment is the skill of bringing attention back to what is happening here and now.

This is a core skill in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. You do not have to clear your mind, in fact, you can't. You only need to gently guide your attention back to the present when it wanders. The present moment is the only place where we can take action, make choices, and connect with others.

The next time you catch your mind wandering, take a moment to look around you. Where are you? What is happening? What are you doing? Chances are, what you are consumed with is not happening in the present moment.

03/11/2026

Many of us spend a lot of energy trying to avoid uncomfortable emotions. We push away anxiety. We try to suppress sadness. We distract ourselves from anger. Unfortunately, research shows that the more we try to control or suppress emotions, the stronger they often become.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy teaches the skill of willingness. Willingness means making space for emotions instead of fighting them.

This might sound like:
“It is okay that this feeling is here.”
“I can make room for this emotion.”

You can also notice where the emotion shows up in your body. Tight chest. Heavy stomach. Tense shoulders. The goal is not to enjoy difficult feelings. The goal is to stop struggling against them so you can focus your energy on living the life you want. Feelings can come and go. Your life can keep moving forward.