Wolf Creek Counselling

06/24/2024

Happy Father's Day!

New article on substack - https://deborahmacnamaraphd.substack.com/p/the-best-of-fatherhood

03/18/2024

The Inward Journey: a re-parenting retreat for women. Coaching, yoga, wellness, community, nature and more.

01/05/2024

New years reminder: be kind, be strong, believe you belong, love God, work hard just be who you are❤️
Thanks to JJ Heller

11/27/2023

Workshop to help parents and caregivers better understand anxiety

Anxiety is one of the most common emotional challenges in kids today making everyday activities like school, homework, eating, activities, and sleeping a challenge. Sometimes anxiety is part of normal development while at other times it is a symptom of underlying stress. Anxiety is an old problem but fresh solutions and understandings are now available given the latest discoveries in relational and developmental science.

This presentation will discuss:

-the emotional roots of anxiety
-the common and hidden signs of anxiety
-top ten sources of distress for kids today (children to teens)
-six key strategies for supporting anxious kids
-how to cultivate confidence and courage in kids
LIVE PRESENTATION
November 28th, 6:30 pm (PST)
$30 CDN
1-hour presentation with 30-minute Q & A
lifetime reply with unlimited viewing
Q and A only available live
The Keys to Supporting Anxious Kids and Building Confidence is for parents, extended family members, educators, and helping professionals. This presentation is for adults who want to make sense of the roots of anxiety and how to cultivate their kid's confidence and courage.

Register- https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-keys-to-supporting-anxious-kids-and-cultivating-confidence-tickets-752800806477?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=IwAR07aX4rxF0kH8SbYZiWPlJhepsaeV9rve4pNwZOY9tYSfTJhCUIoXttIwE

08/19/2023

I love this statement by Gordon Neufeld - endings before beginnings. I have been thinking about it a lot these days concerning my own life and those around me. How do we stop at the endings and pause long enough to see what we are leaving behind? What do these endings gift us which blesses new beginnings? And what can we do to get through these endings?

The endings are the turning points where we must be released from the old version of ourselves or others or the things that cannot and will not come to pass or have passed. And herein lies the challenge - our longings. We are capable of great imaginings, of envisioning stories, plans, and possibilities, but we live in a world where we can't control time, other people, and the unexpected events that happen to us all. Yes, we can be reconfigured in the face of change and futilities that abound, but who really says - "I need a growth experience today, so bring on some lacks losses, frustrations, and futilities?" Not I.

But these endings land on our doorstep. We get older every year, and so do our kids. Some people walk on or walk away from us. Sometimes we are the one who does the walking. Sadness was Nature's gift to help us pass over, and through these endings. To feel what is missing is the essence of the ending. Sadness before joy, loss before gratitude, absence before fulfillment. When we can put some words around the ending, it helps bring to consciousness who we are and what is important to us. Perhaps we can find some time to honour what has ended, shed some tears for it, and sit in the void that has been created. From watching a child leave home to retiring, changing jobs, moving, divorce - there must be endings before beginnings.

We can help the endings along with ritual and ceremony, thus honouring what has changed and our need to change. We can laugh, cry, sing, dance, yell, pound our fists on the ground - it does not matter how we do endings so much, but we do them. Eventually, out of the void, we will hear the whispers, "There is a new beginning around the corner - hang on." When the endings end, the beginning will start with a flourish of its own.

08/18/2023

Just a reminder, I see clients in person at Lacombe, Alberta and virtually from around Alberta. Email wolfcreekcounselling@gmail.com for more info!

07/21/2023

This will be fantastic to watch!

Webinar on Tears and Tantrums: Making Sense of Frustration and Aggression in Kids,presented by Neufeld Institute faculty member Deborah McNamara, PhD.Februar...

07/18/2023

We know attachment is important to help a child grow and flourish, from brain development to emotional well-being, but how does it unfold?

Ideally, in the first 6 years of life, a child will increasingly become attached in 6 sequential phases. They are not stages, as they are not locked in, meaning our capacity to attach may be there, but we can fall out of attachment too. Even if they don't happen in the first 6 years of life they can happen later on in childhood or adulthood.

Throughout our lives, we can deepen our relationship with our kids and with each other. We can repair and recover through hard times in our relationship too. It starts with an invitation to be close and a sense that our heart is in safe keeping and won't be continually wounded by the connection.