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Whether you are in a "good", "bad" or "neutral" phase in life, anyone could benefit from seeing a psychotherapist. When most things in your life seem to be going well, there is still room for enhanced self-understanding. There are always blind spots that go undetected because friends and family are not trained to notice them or draw them to your awareness. Loved ones and friends can offer good advice at times but their feedback will be biased based on the lens that they see you through and the expectations they have for you. Besides giving you more objective analysis, counselling done with a psychotherapist is about digging to your roots, to assess fundamental thought and feeling patterns to identify the self-limiting beliefs you have unconsciously accepted as true. When there has been a traumatic event, most people shut down or numb their emotions as a self-protective strategy. These repressed emotions have the potential to influence future behaviour for years after the event has passed. You may not think you need therapy at the time of the incident because its possible to pretend everything is fine and continue living life as before. However, there comes a point when you realize that you are having irrational expectations and reactions without knowing why. The longer you keep silent about the trauma, the deeper it affects your mind and body. Continuing to ignore it can cause a complete breakdown which may have serious implications for your future. Prince Harry discusses the relief he felt when he finally began to talk about the grief surrounding his mother's death, 20 years after it occurred. His life began to turn around when he saw a professional counsellor. Harry and his wife Meghan are passionate about reducing the stigma around mental health, and co-founded Heads Together to raise awareness about the power in being able to talk about what is affecting you. I am inspired by this organization which is devoted to encouraging people of all ages to seek mental health support in times of need. Prince Harry has also teamed up with Oprah Winfrey to produce a television documentary series on mental health. Winfrey commented, "Our hope is that it will have an impact on reducing the stigma and allowing people to know that they are not alone, allowing people to speak up about it and being able to identify it for themselves and in their friends." With the help of initiatives such as Heads Together and Bell's Let's Talk, along with influential celebrity advocates, the conversation around seeking professional counselling is becoming increasingly mainstream. The stigma may never completely disappear on a global scale yet I am hopeful that people who may have never considered counselling are becoming more open to hearing about the considerable long-term costs of silence.
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I am excited to be launching my professional psychotherapy website in September 2019! My first post is intended to let you get to know me a bit better.
I was born and raised in Ontario, spending almost all of my life in the charming city of Mississauga. My parents immigrated to Toronto from South India in the early 80s and ensured that our household was an equal blend of South Asian and Canadian culture and tradition. My culture is very important to me, as is learning about the different cultures of the world. I love the following poem by Rupi Kaur: remember the body of your community breathe in the people who sewed you whole it is you who became yourself but those before you are a part of your fabric So far, I have travelled to 18 countries and continue to find interesting places to visit! I've been to Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Malta, Turkey, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, England, Germany, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, India, Dominican Republic, many of the states in America, and six other provinces in Canada. I visited Maui, Hawaii at age 16 and it is still my favourite place in the world. From an early age, I found myself interested in human behaviour, motivation, personality, spirituality and the ability of people to transform themselves; to rise like the phoenix from the ashes. I found inspiration from figures such as Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, David R. Hawkins, David Keirsey, Mark Nepo, Mooji, Yogananda, Kahlil Gibran, and Immaculee Ilibagiza. I've always had faith that there is a divine time for everything and that regardless of how many obstacles that appear in your path, your destiny will find its way to you. The journey to becoming a psychotherapist was filled with twists and turns along the way. The day I found out I had been accepted to the Masters of Counselling Psychology program at the University of Toronto was one of the happiest days of my life. During the orientation I was amazed to learn that I was one of the 42 students selected from nearly 600 applications. I knew in my heart that it was my destiny to become a psychotherapist and I had found my true calling. In my spare time I enjoy reading about self-development and spirituality, journaling, watching movies at the theatre, attending cultural events, trying out new restaurants, spending time in nature and by large bodies of water, listening to music, meditating, doing yoga, reading poetry and spending quality time with my family and friends. I love animals and have had my cat, Tristan, for over 11 years. I view psychotherapy as a sacred calling... to bring out my client's inner strength and resiliency, to assist them in reclaiming their voice and personal power in their darkest times is an honour. I learn something new from each and every client I see and I am grateful for them all. I am glad you decided to visit my site and hope you enjoy the new content I will post from time to time. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions for me or want to connect! |
Samantha SamuelsMississauga based Psychotherapist Archives
January 2020
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