PSYCHOTHERAPY Online
Think, Feel, and Act Better. Wherever.
Will Groenewegen, Registered Psychotherapist
In-person sessions available for those in the Toronto area
CBT
(Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
By understanding the interconnectedness of our thoughts, feelings and behaviour, and by infiltrating the (often negative) automatic 'self-talk' that drives the way we feel and behave, CBT offers a way to understand core beliefs better; why they might exist, how to identify them, how they influence the way we feel, and tools to help investigate and change them if they are discovered to be old, out-dated or unhelpful. These very common unhelpful modes of thinking are referred to as 'cognitive distortions' - and include: catastophizing, personalizing, mind-reading, black and white thinking, overgeneralizing, ignoring the evidence among others... By finding and replacing them with current, rational and helpful modes of thinking, new habits of mind and body are formed, easing psychological, emotional and physical stress.
Existential Psychotherapy
Knowing that we are going to die one day puts an understandable stress on life, but it also gives it it's meaning. Existential Psychotherapy looks at mental health through topics such as death, isolation, freedom, and meaning. Even though societal norms might tell us what we should like and how we should be, for example that we should always be 'happy', existential psychotherapy reframes this assumption by focusing on the inevitability of sadness and stress in our lives, offering a method of thinking and experience that works to harness these emotions and thoughts into creativity, meaning and purpose. All too often we run from even the slightest inconvenience or discomfort in our lives, which too often leads to repression, neuroticism, and forces us to imprint a set of unrealistic expectations onto the world. Existential Psychotherapy helps us get closer to ourselves, and understand life through a different, more realistic and empowering lens.
Mindfulness Psychotherapy
These days it's common to forget just how important the relationship between our body and mind really is, and how the line between them isn't as clear as we often think. On top of this, we spend a lot of time distracted, living in the past or in the future, and have trouble focusing our attention on the present moment. Mindfulness helps us correct these issues with meditation and other cognitive and behavioural strategies. Many people believe that Mindfulness meditation is about 'zenning' out and being 'empty' inside - but nothing could be further form the truth. Mindfulness helps us sit with discomfort in our lives by creating space between ourselves and our thoughts, feelings and body sensations - as we notice the ever-changing and impermanent state of these aspects of our lives, we can apply these insights to our way of being, finding space, freedom and the ability to maneuver and manage what was otherwise assumed to be too overwhelming, permanent and scary to experience.
