Live Happy Counselling, Susan Guttridge BA MC CCC

10/14/2025

Grief speaks in many ways.

For some, it arrives as tears that won't stop. For others, as exhaustion, irritability, anger, forgetfulness, or numbness. However it shows up, it can feel as though grief is love with nowhere to go - the body’s way of learning how to live in a world reshaped by loss.

Every emotion carries its own wisdom.

Grief invites us to turn inward, to tend to what’s been broken, and to honour what mattered most.

There is no timeline for grief, just as there is no single way to grieve. Only your way — moment by moment, breath by breath, as your heart finds a new language for what it has lost.

Please be tender with your heart as it learns this new rhythm.

📖 For more on the message within grief, check out “The Language of Emotions” by Karla McLaren.

10/13/2025

Grief reshapes everything it touches. It skews what once felt clear, blurs the edges of joy, and slows time until even the smallest task feels monumental.

And still - within that altered landscape, there are glimmers.
A memory that makes you smile through tears. A moment of calm in the midst of ache. A breath that lands a little easier than the one before.

This is what it means to live alongside loss: to keep tending to the tiny lights that remain, even when they feel too faint to see.

If you can, pause for a moment now.

Notice your breathing, the rise and fall of your chest. Notice something that holds even a small trace of warmth: perhaps a sound, a beautiful colour, a small kindness you witnessed.

That’s the light. It’s still here - changing shape, but not gone.

Grief may dim the light, yet it also teaches us to see in new ways - to find beauty in the half-glow, to honour love in the shadow it leaves behind.

💛 If you are grieving right now, please know that while grief shifts the light, it doesn’t erase it.

You’re not meant to “move on.” You’re meant to move with - with memory, with love, with time. Please be gentle with yourself as you find your rhythm again.

10/07/2025

There are moments when life feels like it’s tilting - when the currents of uncertainty and fear leave us restless, untethered, or simply worn out.

If that’s where you are right now, please know you are not alone.
These feelings don’t mean you are broken, or weak, or that you are failing to cope. They mean you are human — responding as best you can to an unsteady world.

Sometimes, the most courageous act is to pause.

To take a breath.

To remember that you are not alone - and that grounding is still possible, even when the ground feels shaky beneath you.

If you’d like a little guidance during that pause, I’ve shared two free practices on the Insight Timer app:

➡️ Grounding Practice for Unsteady Times
➡️ Hope in the Darkness | Inspired Mornings

Both are linked in my Insight Timer profile. I’d be honoured to sit with you there.

Even in the hardest of seasons, strength continues to grow within you - even when you can’t quite see it. One breath, one moment at a time 💛

08/29/2025

New schedules. New places. New deadlines. If you feel scattered, restless, or like your thoughts are racing - nothing is wrong with you. You’re adjusting to upcoming changes.

The body reads “new” as “unknown,” and the unknown turns the volume up on worry.

➡️ Try one anchoring ritual for the next few days: the same mug each morning, shoes by the door the night before, lights dimmed as bedtime nears. These small acts whisper to the nervous system: we’re safe enough to proceed.

For more anchors out of anxiety, out the audiobook Calm in The Storm: A Collection of Simple Strategies You Can Use Right Now to Shift Anxiety (Link in bio)

08/20/2025

If love or care in your past was tied to hurt or rejection, your nervous system may have learned to see kindness as a threat. That’s not a flaw—it’s an adaptation that once kept you safe.

If self-compassion feels distant, awkward, or even impossible, please know: you are not broken. You are protecting yourself the best way you know how.

And still—you deserve compassion. Especially when it feels hardest to offer. Especially from you, toward you. 💛

In my new video, I share 6 reasons self-compassion can feel so hard, and small practices to make it safer and more natural over time.

If this resonates, watch the full video (link in bio). 🙂





❤️

08/10/2025

This summer I tried growing zinnias, and every day I’m in awe of how strikingly different each one is. They reminded me of something important…

Zinnias don’t compete to be the same, they simply unfold into their own colours. Each a masterpiece, reminding us that our beauty is not in sameness, but in the courage to bloom as we are 💛

07/29/2025

There’s a kind of loneliness that doesn’t come from being alone—
but from feeling unreachable. Like the version of you that could once connect, speak, or even hope… has gone quiet.

Depression has a way of doing that. It tugs you inward.
Makes it harder to respond, harder to ask, harder to believe you still belong.

And maybe retreating has even felt like protection.
Because the energy it takes to be “on,” to answer, to explain—feels impossible some days.

But here’s something worth holding close:
Even when the silence feels heavy, even when you’re not sure what you have to give— you still deserve connection.
Safe, kind, pressure-free connection. Even a brief moment with someone who doesn’t need you to perform. Even a pet resting near your feet. Even the quiet knowing that someone, somewhere, gets it.

You’re here.
And you’re still worthy of being seen.
If this resonates, thank you for being here.
You’re not as alone as it feels.

If these words resonate, I invite you to join me in building your own unique toolkit for navigating life’s challenges.

Find the link in bio to learn more.

07/20/2025

Often when we experience depression, we want to fight against the suffocating heaviness of it. This post shares with you a book I read recently by Cheri Huber, who invites us to view depression as something to listen to, reminding her readers that the pain they carry is not an inherent flaw of self but rather a message.

It's written like a letter from a kind, wise mentor who only wants the best for you, and throughout the pages, she invites readers to stop battling themselves: to soften, to sit with what aches.
Not to collapse into despair, but to make space for gentle self-inquiry.

“It’s not the feeling we are having that’s the problem. It’s our judgment about that feeling.” In a world that demands we "bounce back" and "stay positive," this book dares to say: Your feelings aren’t wrong. You are not broken. You don’t need fixing — you need space, kindness, and your own quiet attention.

Which, interestingly, isn’t about bypassing pain. It’s about honouring it. It’s about noticing the stories you tell yourself about your sadness — and choosing not to abandon yourself in the telling.

Cheri Huber reminds us that the quality of our life is shaped not by what we feel, but by where we place our attention. And that perhaps, instead of resisting the darkness, we can learn to be present with it.

Here is what stood out the most for me in the book:

Beneath the weight of depression, something within is asking to be heard.
- Depression doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It might be pointing toward something within that needs care, not correction. Depression can be a signal — a quiet invitation to turn inward, to listen beneath the surface, and to meet yourself with patience and care. What feels heavy may also be asking to be seen. When we stop resisting and begin listening, what once felt unbearable can become a path to deeper self-understanding.

"The quality of our lives is determined by the focus of our attention." — Cheri Huber
- What we focus on shapes how we experience the world and ourselves. When we dwell on what’s missing or wrong, suffering deepens. When attention is softened and turned toward the present moment, even the smallest shift can change everything. Suffering often lives in the stories we repeat, not in the feelings themselves.

What if you didn’t judge the sadness you feel, but listened to it instead?
- Sadness doesn’t need to be fixed — it needs to be heard. Judging the feeling builds distance. Listening builds connection. What if the ache isn’t a mistake, but a message — one that, when acknowledged with kindness, begins to shift?

The best way out… is through.
- Trying to avoid the pain often deepens it. But moving through it with presence and compassion — small step by small step — reveals that it isn’t as endless or overwhelming as it seemed. There’s something quiet and steady waiting beneath the struggle.

You are not wrong for what you feel. Your feelings are your most intimate self speaking.
- Your emotions aren’t flaws to correct or to feel shame for — they’re your inner world reaching out for your attention. When you stop turning away, you stop abandoning yourself. Feeling deeply isn’t the problem. It’s the beginning of real connection.

Let go of the battle. Make space instead.
- When we stop trying to control or suppress what we feel, space opens inside. In that space, something softer can emerge - acceptance, clarity, even peace. The healing isn’t in winning the fight. It’s in stepping out of the fight entirely.

If you’re walking through a low season, this book might offer a soft light for your path. Thank you for being here

("Being Present in the Darkness: Depression as an Opportunity for Self-Discovery", by Cheri Huber)

07/16/2025

Sometimes, the sheer weight of life settles in, not just as a passing sadness, but as a persistent dullness that dims the vibrancy of life. It’s a feeling that can be hard to name, yet it touches everything. For many, this profound inner experience eventually gets called ‘depression’—a word that can carry its own hefty weight.

But what if we paused, just for a moment, and listened more deeply to what this persistent feeling might be telling us?

The experience of depression isn’t merely a state of mind; it’s an imprint left by life’s heavy moments on our mind, brain, and body. As Bessel van der Kolk wisely noted, “trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on the mind, brain, and body”.

This perspective invites us to see depression as a signal. A signal that perhaps life has become overwhelming, and our deepest self is calling for a different way of being. It’s a quiet plea for change, for safety, for a return to equilibrium that feels so out of reach.

Imagine for a moment, that this heavy feeling isn’t a weakness, but an urgent message, begging us to create space for healing, to rediscover safety within ourselves, and to shift towards a landscape of inner peace. It’s a call to tend to the roots of distress, rather than just pruning the branches of symptoms.

Thank you for being here, and for listening to this call. If these words resonate, know that there are compassionate ways to respond, and a path towards a more meaningful peace.

07/11/2025

In my counselling practice, I have the honour of walking alongside individuals navigating depression. What I've consistently seen is incredible strength and capacity for healing.
Now, I'm bringing those insights of what helps to you in my new "Depression Care" video series, starting with this introductory video. My hope is to offer practical ways to approach symptom reduction and to reach those who may be isolated and feeling hopeless.

This series is a companion, a resource for your daily life, built on compassion and real-world experience - it is not meant to replace working with a mental health clinician.

Welcome to the Depression Care series, information designed to offer guidance and practical strategies for navigating the landscape of depression and low moo...

07/10/2025

While about 3/4 of sessions are in-person, when we work together virtually, this is usually where I am....

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL6ObWHp8TJ/?igsh=MWhsMWVyZm9xeW1xMA==

07/07/2025

For those on the front lines, the calls you answer can leave an impact that feel too heavy to voice. But what if healing didn’t require you to speak every detail aloud?

EMDR’s Blind to Therapist protocol especially relevant for first responders. It allows your brain to process even the most harrowing incidents and moral injuries without you needing to articulate every graphic detail. This method prioritizes your privacy, respects your boundaries, and empowers you to heal on your own terms, without compromising your integrity or the weight of what you’ve witnessed.

Want to learn more about this confidential and empowering path to processing tough experiences? Read the full article at: www.livehappycounselling.com/clinician-network.html (link in bio)

To learn more about EMDR and how it can help, check out the Okanagan First Responder Clinician Network (link in bio).
We offer timely, accessible mental health support with EMDR-trained, occupationally aware clinicians.

**No therapeutic modality is one-size-fits-all. If you’re curious about whether EMDR might be a good fit for you, it can be helpful to learn more and have a conversation with an EMDR-trained, occupationally aware clinician.