Hal Hughes

09/12/2025

https://youtu.be/q7G9bdgo4Aw?si=M_QOJUQZ0rUF_Zvf

Hal Hughes had the perfect life: a loving wife, four kids, a successful career in law enforcement, and a reputation as a local hero. But everything changed t...

08/03/2025

What if during challenging times in life we do not necessarily need more rest and recovery, but should actually be doing even harder things??

There is a type of stress called hormesis. These are stressors that release chemicals within our body that act as antidepressants and turn on longevity genes. These stressors build psychological resiliency and better equip us to navigate other challenges in our life.

Exercise, fasting, heat exposure (sauna), and cold exposure (ice baths), are 4 of the best stressors we can engage with.

Doing these uncomfortable things are difficult in the moment, but set us up physiologically and psychologically to better rise up to the challenges of life.

07/26/2025

Hughes Counselling is excited to welcome Heather Counsell to our team in September.

She brings a wealth of experience as an educator, with nearly two decades of clinical partnership with CHEO.
Her work has included trauma-informed care, leading day treatment programs, and supporting adolescents in crisis.
Heather offers compassionate insights tailored to the needs of frontline workers in health and education.
Contact us through our link in the bio to arrange for sessions with Heather starting this September!

07/25/2025

This is on the wall at Hughes Counselling.
What does it mean, and how does it apply to therapy?

Being prepared for life requires the spirit of a warrior.
Life can be hard, unfair, and even tragic.
Part of therapy is in helping to learn and engage in the daily practices that can allow us to feel that we are on sure footing, despite what battle we are facing in our lives.
How are your practices preparing you?

07/18/2025

Just finished up as a guest on the podcast Rise Above with Kevin Lanning. Great conversation about resiliency, addiction, and overcoming adversity.

07/05/2025

What do you value?
Like a compass needle guided by an invisible force, so too are our lives by the values we hold.
In psychotherapy we often help our clients clarify what they need to value most in order to move past adversity, or to create a better life for themselves.
The problem is that we often do not align our daily habits and rituals with the values we think we hold. We find time for that which we truly value.
Again….what are your values?
And are your behaviours truly in alignment with them?
Life is hard, and without clarity on our values, we can easily be influenced by things that take us off course.

07/03/2025

The artwork in our new therapy space at Hughes Counselling is meant to capture the spirit of why most of our clients have come.
Many finds themselves lost in the storms of life, and are looking for guidance to find their way back.
They are looking for a map and path back to peace, and often, back to themselves.
And lastly, we all have have to face dragons in life; those things which we fear, but must conquer to live our best lives.

06/22/2023

I was interviewed on a popular US podcast recently about my pathway and perspectives to get through adversity and mental illness.

https://allevin18.podbean.com/e/al-interviews-hal-hughes-former-police-officer-former-mma-fighter-current-psychotherapist/

Men experience depression differently. Al Levin interviews men who have suffered from depression, educating those who may know little about mental illnesses while giving hope to those who may be suffering. After three years of compiling and sharing storie...