Katie Mead, Registered Psychotherapist

05/22/2026

“I remember thinking… does anyone else know about this?!”

In this clip, Kevin Calaguiro reflects on his first real experience of Toronto’s q***r community; living nearby, wandering into The Village, and feeling both amazed and unsure all at once.

He describes sitting in a coffee shop for hours, quietly hoping someone might talk to him…taking it all in as a teen encountering something that felt entirely new, and somehow already meaningful.

It’s a simple, honest story about discovery...and that moment when you realize there are spaces where you might belong, even before you fully know how to step into them❤️

🌈 From quiet coffee runs to the vibrant q***r community! hear more about the first tastes of true belonging ***rlife #...

05/21/2026

“When you really make someone laugh, it’s impossible to hide.”

In this moment, Kevin Calaguiro reflects on why humour has always mattered to him: not just as a skill, but as something deeply honest.

Because real laughter doesn’t feel curated. It doesn’t perform. It just…lands.

And in a world that can often feel performative (whether in professional spaces or social ones) humour becomes something sharper. Something that cuts through the noise and reveals what’s actually real.

A thoughtful (and very human) take on authenticity, connection, and why making people laugh can feel like the most honest thing we do.

Laughter: The ultimate truth serum in a world full of fakeness. Why humour is the key to authenticity. ...

05/21/2026

“I’m definitely the main character in my own, slightly delusional film…”

In this clip, Kevin Calaguiro reflects on discovering something early on:
that making people laugh isn’t just fun: it’s powerful.

The attention. The connection. The energy.

But like a lot of things we learn young, it’s not always simple.

Sometimes it works exactly how you want it to...and sometimes it does something else entirely.

A sharp, funny moment about identity, attention, and the origins of how we show up.

Ever feel like the star of your own cinematic drama? 🎬✨ ...

05/21/2026

Rebel Therapy Podcast Episode 49 is LIVE: The Art of Being Provocative, ft. Kevin Calaguiro

In this episode, we’re joined by Kevin Calaguiro, Art Director at Deloitte Canada, longtime friend of the podcast, and the creative behind our logo.

Kevin shares his unconventional path...from retail management at TMU (then Ryerson), to getting pulled into Toronto’s nightlife and q***r community, to eventually finding his footing in fashion communications and creative work.

Along the way, the conversation opens up into something deeper:
how humour can become a kind of armor, how it helps us quickly read a room, and how that same instinct can feel complicated in more traditional professional spaces.

It’s a real, thoughtful (and often funny) discussion about identity, creativity, and learning how to evolve without losing what makes you…you.

🎧 Episode 49 is now streaming

🗣️ Rebel Therapy Podcast: Episode 49🎙️ Kevin Calaguiro on Weaponized Humor, Creative Life at Deloitte, and Turning “Crazy” into a Superpower | In this epis...

05/18/2026

Rebel Therapy Podcast: Episode 49

Ever notice how certain habits or instincts from way back when…still show up at work?

This week, we’re joined by Kevin Calaguiro, Art Director at Deloitte Canada, for a conversation about the “creative adaptations” we carry with us into adulthood - the ones that helped us connect, cope, or stand out early on.

The twist? They don’t always land the same way anymore.

Sometimes they work in your favour...and sometimes they really don’t.

We keep it real (and a little funny) exploring how these patterns follow us into professional spaces - and why awareness matters more than perfection.

If you’ve ever walked out of a meeting replaying something you said…this episode might hit home.

🎧 Listen to Episode 49 of Rebel Therapy Podcast - drops Tuesday, May 19

05/14/2026

Therapy rarely looks like a big, dramatic transformation.

More often, it shows up in small, steady shifts you might not even notice right away:

• You pause before reacting
• You catch your emotions earlier
• You recover faster after being triggered
• Your inner voice softens (even a little)
• You can name what you’re feeling more clearly
• You stay with discomfort instead of avoiding it
• You notice patterns in your relationships
• You’re more present in hard conversations
• You feel a bit more choice in how you respond
• You relate to yourself with more neutrality...or kindness

None of these feel huge on their own, but together, they add up to something real: change is happening.

You don’t have to feel “fixed” for therapy to be working.

Read more: https://www.countercurrenttherapy.com/post/10-signs-therapy-is-working

05/13/2026

What happens when the music industry can’t afford to take risks anymore?

In this clip, Asa Berezny (Kingdom of Birds) reflects on how financial pressures are shaping what we hear: pushing creativity toward “safe” choices and leaving less room for the experimental, unexpected work that once defined culture.

Is this just evolution…or are we in a cultural bottleneck of monotony and monopoly?

Is modern music just noise in a 'cultural desert'? Let's talk about the monotony.

05/13/2026

Watching your teen struggle emotionally (and not being able to “logic” them out of it) can feel incredibly frustrating and helpless.

But distress doesn’t usually resolve through advice alone.

Teens experience emotion through the nervous system first, before reflection, reasoning, or perspective-taking fully come online. So when they’re overwhelmed, shut down, reactive, or anxious, what helps most often isn’t more explaining, fixing, or pushing for calm.

It’s relationship.

Feeling emotionally met.
Feeling safe enough to settle.
Feeling understood before being redirected.

This doesn’t mean removing boundaries. It means connection becomes the foundation for those boundaries...so they can actually be received.

The nervous system settles in relationship far more effectively than in criticism or urgency.

Want to read more? Link in comments

05/12/2026

JOY as the ultimate rebellion ❤️

05/12/2026

Most people come to therapy expecting a clear turning point: something noticeable where everything suddenly clicks into place and stays “fixed.”

But real change rarely looks like that.

More often, therapy is quiet. Subtle. Sometimes even hard to notice while it’s happening.

You might not feel dramatically different, but you start to see it in small ways: you pause before reacting, you notice what you’re feeling a little sooner, or you catch yourself relating to an old pattern differently than you used to.

These moments don’t always feel like progress in the traditional sense, but they are.

If you’ve ever wondered whether therapy is actually working, it can help to shift the question away from “Do I feel completely better?” and toward something more accurate:

“What is slowly changing in how I relate to myself, others, and my inner world?”

Because often, the answer is already unfolding quietly in the background.

Read more: https://www.countercurrenttherapy.com/post/10-signs-therapy-is-working

TherapyJourney

05/11/2026

You can understand exactly why you react the way you do… and still feel completely stuck.

This is something I see often in my work: people with deep insight into themselves who still struggle to create real, lasting change.

Because psychological distress isn’t only a thinking problem, insight and awareness are important, but they don’t always translate into transformation on their own.

Distress also lives in the nervous system, in the body, and in relational patterns that were formed over time, often in response to what we needed to survive.

So even when someone “gets it” intellectually, they may still find themselves caught in the same emotional cycles, triggers, or patterns of shutdown and overwhelm.

Real change tends to happen in a different way. Through lived experience, through relationship, through moments of safety, co-regulation, and being met differently than before. This is where the system begins to shift: not just the mind.

Insight matters. But it’s often only the beginning of the process, not the whole path.

Read more here: https://www.countercurrenttherapy.com/post/navigating-psychological-distress