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Grieving with Tumbler Ridge

By Fran Westwood

grief

tumbler ridge tragedy trauma

Posted: February 17, 2026

This is a dark week for Canada, as tragic images and videos flood through our phones. Canadians were left stunned and grieving after one of the biggest mass shootings in Canadian history occurred in Tumbler Ridge on February 10, 2026. No words can adequately speak to a tragedy like this that has changed the lives of so many families, the community of Tumbler Ridge, and Canada, forever. What does it mean to hold grief for the unthinkable?

Money and Mental Health

By Fran Westwood

money

affordable therapy Managing Stress mental health

Posted: February 5, 2026

Reflecting on how finances intersect with mental health naturally surfaces questions about the affordability of therapy itself. Money issues can be a significant factor that contributes to anxiety, depression and low self esteem. But how many people who could benefit from therapy to gain support for these issues don’t pursue it because the cost of private therapy is prohibitive to pay out of pocket, or because their household lacks sufficient benefits? Challenges to accessing therapeutic support is also not separate from wider societal factors, including the rise of cost of living –with groceries, housing, material goods and pretty much everything else soaring in price, all of which cut into disposable income that could be used for self care, life-giving recreation, or mental health supports such as therapy sessions.

Eating Disorders Awareness Week

By Fran Westwood

Eating Disorders

mental health disorders eating disorders awareness body image

Posted: February 3, 2026

Canada’s Eating Disorders Awareness Week is February 1-7, 2026, a week dedicated to bringing important information to light about the reality of eating disorders and the impact they have on people of all ages, genders, ethnicities and body types. The theme of this week is “Health Doesn’t Have a Look” which aims at challenging harmful ways that thinness has been equated with health in modern culture. This messaging that a thin body is the ideal has contributed to significant mental, physical and emotional health issues for those who have been taught to strive after that standard. Diet culture and even what seems like a benign focus on healthy eating can lead to an unhealthy preoccupation with making the right food choices, limiting certain foods or exercising to compensate for consuming something. Eating disorders are estimated to affect over 2.9 million Canadians, and many more who don’t fall into the clinical threshold of an eating disorder diagnosis struggle with thoughts and behaviours related to food, their body and exercise that impact their functioning on some level.

New Year, New What?

By Fran Westwood

mental health

goals human flourishing Resolutions self compassion shame

Posted: January 15, 2026

It’s mid January, and perhaps there is genuine momentum around change from the new year being rung in so recently, as there can be for some. But often the desire for change heralded by the new year comes from outside influences that fuel a keenly felt pressure to suddenly bring sudden improvement to longstanding issues in yourself and your life. This societal pattern of expecting resolutions themselves to be instigators of change falls into line with modernity’s idea of humans as primarily rational creatures, and the subsequent idea that we can think our way to a transformed life. If I can want it enough, and have enough will power, I will no longer do/say/think/feel x, so the thinking goes. This is certainly true some of the time; noticing what isn’t working in our lives and paying attention to inner desires and dissatisfactions, and taking actionable steps are part of growth. Setting goals in life and in therapy is how we establish focus and direction. However, when we think only in terms of mental activity and changing surface behaviours by sheer will power alone, we miss out on a treasure trove of healing that comes from allowing space for deeper work.

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