Healing Psych

Dr. Katrina Wood's psychotherapy blog

Spending the holidays with your inner child

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Be generous with your inner child this festive season. While many of us experience excitement and joy at this time of year, there are others who struggle to get through the days. With all the emphasis on good tidings and cheer, things can be even more challenging for those in crisis or without loved ones. The adage have yourself a merry little Christmas (or holiday season) suggests a way … [Read more...]

Good stress, bad stress: a two-way street

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Some stresses actually are good for you and your body. The right kind of stress can activate the flow of endorphins, evoke feelings of happiness and excitement, and provide a feeling of overall wellness. Examples of good stress may be the anticipation of a wedding or a birth. The excitement of going to Disneyland. Taking a vacation cruise. Buying your child's first pet. Riding a thrilling … [Read more...]

You gotta right to sing the blues

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In a society that demands we "have a nice day" and keep up our perky smiles, what do you do if you just don’t feel that way on any given day? We all have down days -- times when nothing is going right, and we wonder if it ever will. It's important to normalize these down days when you only want to sing the blues. A variety of moods are essential to our human condition. Our feelings ebb … [Read more...]

Going it alone is no fun — expand your horizons

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Wish you could see things from another perspective, breaking with your old habits? Those habits die hard -- yet they are uncomfortably familiar. Carl Jung once said, "There is no growth without pain." Perhaps that's why we're often afraid to grow -- it's painful. Makes sense, yet perhaps there is another way of coping with the growing pains that we all have to go through to face life’s … [Read more...]

A pill a day, but don’t keep the doctor away

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Medicine alone is simply not enough to ensure wellness when treating depression, anxiety and many other mental health ailments. Psychotherapy, in the form of talking sessions with a qualified professional, is essential to recovery, researchers have found. We are created as social human beings. We did not come to this earth to be alone. Our connections -- emotionally, intellectually and … [Read more...]