Outside The Therapy Room

Returning back to regular routine after the holiday break can come with some difficulty and adjustment. Going from slower, unplanned days, a lot of festive events, food and socializing to early mornings, packing lunches for work/school, and going back to our usual habits can be hard and tiring! This week, Alex joins Ivonne to talk about why routines are important, how it can be challenging and the...

Spending time alone, while challenging, can be so beneficial to our mental health, and our relationships. In this minisode, Ivonne talks about her experience going from disliking time alone, to now loving time alone. This episode will show you the signs that you may need some time alone, the benfits of solo dates and alone time, and also validates why it can be so hard to spend time alone. We hope...

Happy New Year! We are back with a brand new episode - first one of 2025... exercise! I'm sure you've seen all the ads on social media, TV, radio, just about everywhere, about exercise and fitness as we start the new year. Jordan, Sarah and Ivonne talk about why exercise is such a focus in the new year, the benefits of exercise to our mental health, and how to build ourselves up for succ...

While the holidays can bring joy and gatherings, it can also be a time of loneliness and grief. Alex is back to talk about the different types of grief we can experience during the holidays. We talk about what grief can look like, how we can take care of ourselves when we are feeling sad, as well as how others around you can support you as you grief. We share our experience of grief, changing trad...

Alex is baaack, and we talk about the mental load the often, moms, feel especially around the holidays. With trying to keep the magic of the holidays alive while running errands, feeling overwhelmed with the mall, shopping, gifts, planning, cooking..... it can lead to not feeling the magic for ourselves. Ivonne and Alex talk about their experiences as moms around the holidays, the challenges and c...

On this weeks episode, we are talking about the stress of the holidays and how to set boundaries around holiday events and family members. Bethany and Ivonne share personal stories about difficult moments at holiday events, everything from feeling overwhelmed with socializing, to navigating comments about body and food. You will hear some tools and scripts for boundary setting that you can use at...

When the world feels like its on fire, it can bring up a lot of complex emotions. In this episode Jenni joins us to talk about ways folks can help support the many important causes and show some activism in whatever capacity they have. Jenni and Ivonne talk about how to process our emotions after the election, coping tools like grounding, and boundary setting to help take care of ourselves so we h...

Social media has its pros, such as a great space to connect with family and friends, learn new things like tutorials, catch up on our favourite celebs and feeling seen and validating by some content. But it can also be a space where bullying happens, we disconnect with things in real life, can become addicting, and we can be consuming information that can be heavy and/or harmful to us. Tonya joins...

Second minisode!!! In this short episode, Bethany and Ivonne talk about therapy dress code. Should therapists have a dress code? We share our thoughts on this, and are strongly pro comfort! Not only our comfort, but the comfort of the client's we are seeing. We are so curious of what your thoughts are, tell us in the comments! Follow us on social media: @outisdethetherapyroompod If you'r...

The conversation of male friendships has been a hot topic both inside and outside the therapy room. Those identifying as males, have shared wanting to have a deeper connection to their male friendships, and not just talk about interests or have surface level conversations. Join us as Chris, a registered psychotherapist, talks to us about his experience with his male friendships, how male friendshi...

Is there someone you know that you think would benefit from therapy? Well, there are many ways to go about suggesting it. What we normally see if that the statement "you need therapy" can sometimes be said as an insult or individualizing the person as the problem... which doesn't help anyone. In this episode, Bethany joins us for the first time to talk about ways we can kindly sugge...

Have you ever procrastinated? Not to worry, most (if not all) of us have! On this podcast, Jordan is back to talk about procrastination, understanding why we procrastinate and how to combat it. Goals can be a great tool to have us work towards something, but sometimes it can be overwhelming and disappointing when we set goals that are unrealistic or unmeasurable. Jordan and Ivonne talk about how t...

Do you notice your mood shift as the weather changes? You're not the only one! Sarah is back to talk about her experience with Season Affective Disoder (SAD), and the impact that weather (heat, cold and in between) has on our mood and emotions. We discuss the mixed feelings about Fall and Summer seasons, and share some tips on how to get through this upcoming winter and 5pm darkness. Hope you...

Melissa Pyne joins us to talk about Internal Family Systems Model (IFS)! Melissa is a social worker, practice owner of Inner Trailheads Counselling, and specializes in IFS. This threapy modality has been around for over 30 years, but lately, has been gaining popularity - most recently in the media, as seen in Inside Out 1 and 2. IFS belives that we are all made up of different parts/sub-personalit...

Arsh is back to talk about neurodiversity. We discuss what neurodiversity means, all the things that fall under the neurodivergent umbrella and the stigmas around ADHD and ASD from society and in media. As well as the different views of getting a diagnosis or not, and we share some tips on how to get a diagnosis if this is what you are seeking. We talk about Neurodiversity in a very general way on...

Struggle with falling asleep or staying asleep? Not to worry, we got you! This week Alex is back and we welcome Jordan, a registered psychotherapist at NMC, to the podcast to discuss all things sleep! We share personal stories of sleep patterns, having a partner that sleeps well when you might not sleep well, the different factors that can impact our sleep from chronic pain, anxiety to revenge bed...

Ivonne's first solo episode! She talks about the birthday blues, how birthdays aren't always filled with excitement, celebration and joy... sometimes they're filled with sadness, grief, anxiety and loneliness. Ivonne shares some of her exerience in and out of the therapy room, and what to do when we're feeling a bit blue on our birthday. Follow us on social media: @outisdetheth...

Female friendships can be tough - we've all been there! Feeling left out of friend groups, longing for the types of friendships we see in shows, movies and social media, having high expectations for friends and being let down... its all hard. Alexandria is back again, and this time we are getting vulnerable and real about our own experiences with female friendships from grade school to now. W...

Boundaries are hard to set, and necessary. Destinee is back to talk about boundaries, why they are hard to set, how to set them and what to do when certain people don’t respect those boundaries. Ivonne and Destinee talk about their journey as recovering people-pleasers, share information on the different types of boundaries, and some examples on how to share boundaries, why they are so important a...

The interns are in! Ivonne talks to our previous interns, Sarah and Alexandria to discuss the imposter syndrome they felt during their placement, and when they became official associates at New Moon Counselling. We talk about when imposter syndrome has shown up in our lives, what can cause us to experience strong imposter syndrome and some tools to help combat it! Follow us on social media: @outis...

Ivonne and Arsh, a registered social worker at New Moon Counselling, are talking all about identity. The different stages of our lives that can bring up questions about our identity, the various things that can impact our view of self and our identity and how we can support ourselves and our kiddos in developing a good sense of self. Follow us on social media: @outisdethetherapyroompod If you&apos...

Oh, transitions are hard, and can be filled with a mix of emotions. During this podcast, Ivonne sits with Alexandria, resgistered social worker at New Moon Counselling, to talk about life transitions, how they can be both exciting and challenging at times, and how the control we have in the transition impacts the way we are impacted by it. Sharing from their personal experiences and some things th...

Ivonne is joined by Destinee, a registered psychotherapist at New Moon Counselling! Together they discuss the different ways we feel fear, sometimes its positive and exciting, and other times it makes us feel anxious and we attempt to avoid it. They share personal experiences with fear and some insight in understanding how our fear may show up and tools that can support us. Follow us on social med...

Welcome to Outside The Therapy Room! In this episode Ivonne talks about how scared, nervous and excited she is about this podcast, what inspired her to start this podcast, and shares some tidbits of what to expect from each episode. The hope is that this podcast helps validate and normalize everyday things that impact our mental health, and give awareness that you are not alone. Follow us on socia...