JG Gillis Counselling

  Perhaps it is a function of the busyness of life that I've not written on this blog for over 4 months! Oh well, I find myself up early this morning (not a morning person, but I'm 65, so ... whatever.) And I've been doing a lot of thinking the last couple of days. Last fall, I spoke at the annual conference of the local Alzheimer Society on honouring emotions in dementia with grace. That presentation went over very well, even if I had to rush through it a bit to stay on schedule. (Lesson learned.) Anyway, when the (national) Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association reached out for ideas on session topics/content last December, I followed the urging of my therapist and sent in a summary of my presentation. I didn't hear from them for days, weeks, and months. I assumed that they were not interested. I was even considering not going, and even moreso when they sent out a general email saying that it was "sold out"! Then, 2 days ago, I got an email from...

Grief is a topic not many people want to talk about, but it is a fact of life that we need to address. Grief comes about by means of a loss - whether a loss of a person in our lives, a cherished dream, a job, a relationship, or a part of ourselves. It can even be a loss of something we never had.  Many of us have heard of the stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance) and we mistakenly think that these are stages that proceed in an orderly fashion, like items on a "to-do" list. However, it doesn't work that way. These are common components that can occur in our grief, but can be experienced more like a whack-a-mole game, popping up seemingly at random, and sometimes we can experience two or more of those states at the same time.  The common belief is that we "get over" grief. We don't. But it changes. Free image from Pixabay.com I like to compare it to being out in the ocean during a storm. The waves are so high, so frequent, tha...

  During my Masters degree studies, professors stressed over and over again how important it was for every counsellor to HAVE a counsellor.  I took that seriously. Halfway through my program, I ran into an emotional snag and had to go on medication to weather it, and I sought the help of a counsellor who was well-versed in processing traumatic experiences. With her help, I was able to heal from many of my childhood traumas and integrate those experiences and my reactions to them into my everyday life and practice. It took several months, but I saw progress in my personal life and emotions. I kept seeing this counsellor as a touchstone of sorts, a way to keep myself accountable for the gains I had made in therapy. When my counsellor made a decision to explore other challenges, I knew I had to find someone else to talk to, because the experience of being heard was not something I wanted to let lapse. I found such a person through an online counselling service, and I'm still seei...