Eastwind Psychotherapy

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Parry Sound, ON
Eastwind Psychotherapy

After 27 years as a pediatric physiotherapist, I have fully transitioned into my new role as a Registered Psychotherapist.

I have a passion for helping caregivers and parents live more balanced, happier lives, allowing us to bring the best to our kids.

05/26/2026

All my clients, friends, and favourite people know I’m a fan of journaling.

I truly believe the gratitude journaling practice I started 10 years ago helped change my brain, from one that focused on what was missing to one that now notices gifts, beauty, and blessings everywhere.

I’ve always kept a stash of blank journals in my therapy space for clients who might want to explore journaling in whatever way feels right for them.

But today, I found an absolute treasure trove of guided journals at my favourite used bookstore, and I couldn’t leave them behind. They’re now sitting in my office, ready to be loved, written in, reflected through, and taken home. And as they get chosen, I’ll keep adding more.

So next time you’re in for a session, feel free to look through the collection and take one that speaks to you. And if we meet virtually, I’m happy to help you choose one online and ship it your way.

And friends, if you’re spring cleaning and have unused or barely used journals tucked away somewhere, send them my way. My clients and I would be incredibly grateful. ☺️

05/24/2026

I think a lot of people have quietly learned to tie their worth to their usefulness.

To productivity.

To caregiving.

To being dependable.

To being the one who keeps everything moving, no matter how tired they are.

And because those qualities are often praised and rewarded, it can be hard to recognize when self-esteem has slowly become performance-based.

I see this often in therapy. People who are incredibly capable and high functioning on the outside, but who feel guilty when they rest. Anxious when they slow down. Unsure of who they are when they are not actively achieving, helping, fixing, or managing something.

Over time, exhaustion can start to feel normal. Even meaningful.

But healthy self-esteem is different.

It doesn’t disappear when your productivity changes.

It isn’t dependent on how useful you are to other people.

And it remains intact even in seasons where you have less capacity, less energy, or less to give.

Maybe self-care this Sunday is not about doing more.

Maybe it’s about noticing how often you’ve felt the need to earn your worth.

05/18/2026

Ten years ago this week, the father of my children moved out of our home.

Ten years.

Ten years of being the one who stayed up when a teen still wasn’t home.

The one figuring out how to pay for the school trip and a failed hot water tank in the same month.

The one making the decisions, carrying the fear, signing the forms, shovelling the driveway, managing the holidays, sitting alone after everyone went to bed, wondering if I was doing any of it right.

Some years nearly broke me.

There were stretches where I was so deep in grief and exhaustion that I barely recognized myself. I lost people I thought would stay. I made decisions I regret. I questioned myself constantly.

That’s the thing people don’t always say about divorce or separation:

The grief doesn’t end when the relationship does.

You grieve the life you thought you were building.

You grieve having someone beside you.

You grieve family traditions that never happen.

You grieve the version of yourself who thought things would turn out differently.

And the hard part is that life keeps moving while you’re grieving it.

Kids still need lunches packed.

Bills still show up.

The dog still needs out.

People still expect you to function.

If you’re in the middle of it right now, stop trying to be “good” at it.

You’re not supposed to glide through this gracefully.

Find a couple safe people.

Drink some water.

Eat something.

Go outside for ten minutes.

Get off the internet when the noise gets too loud.

Protect your peace where you can.

You do not need to turn your suffering into a lesson or a transformation story while you’re still in it.

But I will say this:

Somewhere in these last ten years, underneath all the grief and survival and rebuilding, I found parts of myself I had lost trying to keep everything together.

And that has mattered too.

05/10/2026

This might be uncomfortable to hear, but I don’t believe motherhood should require a woman to disappear.

And yet, that’s often the expectation.

We’ve created a culture where being a “good mom” is tied to selflessness; where her needs come last, her identity narrows, and her worth becomes measured by how much she gives.

I sit with mothers who feel guilty for looking forward to going back to work.
Who hide the fact that they rested or read a book during the day.
Who question whether wanting time alone means they’re doing something wrong.

That guilt is not accidental. It’s learned.

And it’s everywhere.

But here’s what I see in the work:
Children don’t benefit from mothers who lose themselves.
Relationships don’t thrive when one person carries it all.
And women are not meant to exist solely in service of others.

You are allowed to have needs.
You are allowed to take up space.
You are allowed to be a whole person and a mother.

This isn’t about doing less for your children.
It’s about not abandoning yourself in the process of loving them.

So today, maybe the question is:
Where have you learned that your needs matter less, and is that something you still want to carry?

05/07/2026

Spring has a way of inviting us back into ourselves.

With the trails drying up and the woods coming back to life, this is your gentle reminder that walk-and-talk therapy is always an option. If you’d rather move beside me than sit across from me, all you have to do is ask.

Sometimes being outside can make it easier to breathe, reflect, process, or simply begin hard conversations. Walking in nature can help regulate the nervous system, reduce stress, support emotional processing, and create a different kind of ease in therapy; one that can feel a little less intense and a little more natural for some people.

Molly and I are always happy to accommodate.

Whether we’re walking quietly beneath the trees, talking through life’s transitions, or simply noticing the signs of spring returning, therapy doesn’t always have to happen within four walls.

05/03/2026

It’s easy to see what someone else is doing wrong in a relationship…
and much harder to notice our own part.

Not because we’re avoiding it, but because when something hurts, our attention naturally turns outward.

If they could just…
listen differently, respond differently, be different…

But relationships don’t shift from the outside in.
They shift from the inside out.

When we move into reactivity, defensiveness, or shutdown, even with good intentions, we often end up pushing the other person further away.

The shift begins with awareness.
Not blame.
Not over-responsibility.

Just noticing:
How am I showing up right now?
What energy am I bringing into this moment?
Because while we can’t control the other person, we can influence the dynamic by how we show up.

So this week, what are you bringing into your relationships?

04/26/2026

April 24th is a date that holds a lot for me.

Five years ago, my daughter survived a su***de attempt.

Today, she is here. She is growing, thriving, becoming more of herself every day. And still, this anniversary carries a mix of emotions that don’t neatly resolve: grief, gratitude, regret, relief. They coexist.

If you’ve ever had more than one feeling at the same time, you may recognize this. Two (or more) truths can live side by side:
Something painful happened.
Something meaningful continued.
Something was lost.
Something was saved.

Through my own healing, and in my work as a therapist, I’ve come to understand that different parts of us can feel very different things at once. There isn’t one “right” way to feel on days like this.

So this Self-Care Sunday is a gentle invitation:

To notice what’s coming up, without needing to change it.
To pay attention to the parts of you that feel heavy, and the parts that feel grateful or relieved.
To ease off the pressure to make your experience neat or easy to explain.

You don’t have to choose just one feeling.

If today (or any day) feels layered or tender, see if you can meet yourself with a bit more curiosity than judgment.

There is room for all of it.

04/19/2026

“Should” is a funny little word.

And if I’m honest, it’s one I’ve grown a bit allergic to over time.

“I should do this.”

“I shouldn’t feel that.”

“I should be better at this by now.”

It sounds small … but it carries a lot.

When we “should” on ourselves, it often brings pressure, judgment, and a quiet sense that we’re somehow getting it wrong. It pulls us out of curiosity and into criticism.

And when others “should” on us, it can carry the message, subtle or not, that they know what’s best for us, sometimes without really knowing us at all.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about “shoulds” a little differently.

What if a “should” is actually a decision point?

Instead of:

“I should do this…”

What if we asked:

Do I want to do this?

Does this align with who I am or what I need right now?

And sometimes:

Is this even my “should”… or does it belong to someone else?

Not every “should” is wrong. Some reflect values we care about.

But when they go unquestioned, they can quietly shape a life that feels more obligated than chosen.

This week, maybe just notice your “shoulds.”

Not to fix them. Not to fight them.

Just to get curious.

There might be more choice there than it first appears.

04/12/2026

A dear friend, someone who has seen me through some of my lowest lows, recently asked me a question that stayed with me.

She said, “Do you feel like you’re just having your moment?”

She was reflecting on a season where things feel… good. My health, my work, my life, it all feels full in a way that’s hard to put into words.

And the truth is, her question made me pause.

Because yes … this moment feels incredibly sweet.

And it also reminds me of something I learned years ago while attending a Vipassana meditation retreat: the law of impermanence:

Nothing lasts. Not the good, and not the bad. Everything is impermanent.

That teaching has quietly shaped how I try to live.

When life feels like this, steady, meaningful, even joyful, I notice myself slowing down just a little more. Taking it in. Letting it land. Not rushing past it or assuming it will always be this way. Because it won’t. None of it does.

And in the harder seasons, the ones that ask more of me, that feel heavy or uncertain, I return to that same truth.

This too will not last.

And it’s often the memory of these “sweet” moments that helps carry me through. They remind me of what’s possible. They help me stay rooted when things feel shaky.

This is something I often share with clients, too, not as a cliché, but as a lived truth:

Savour the good. Let it really reach you.

Because those moments become part of what sustains you when life feels hard.

The sweet wouldn’t feel as sweet without the bitter or the bland.

And the hard seasons, as much as we might resist them, deepen our capacity to recognize and receive the good when it comes.

Today, whatever your moment looks like, whether it’s light, heavy, or somewhere in between, there is something here that won’t last.

And that makes it worth noticing.

04/05/2026

May you find a little joy today and in all your days.

Wishing a Happy Easter to all my friends, clients and colleagues! 🐣

Address

145 Gibson Street
Parry Sound, ON
P2A1Y1

Telephone

+17057739940

Website

https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/1192949, https://eastwindtherapy.ca/contact-us/

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