Marriage as a spiritual path means committing to loving one another as you really are not as you had imagined or wanted each other to be.  It means committing to accepting and loving yourselves even when the pettiest and most immature parts of your beings emerge in protest at life not going as planned.

Parenting is tough. Every parent knows that there are a million opinions on how to do it better. Some of these opinions are helpful, many are not, and others are just opportunities to doubt yourself and feel inadequate. Despite the best intentions, in the heat of the moment and when a crisis arises, parents often fall back on what is in their bones - what they learned growing up about managing crises - sometimes abandoning their own parenting values at the door. 

It is not the lack of fulfillment of our heart's yearnings that leads to hopelessness, but rather the attempts to protect ourselves from our passion and our heartbreak. Far from not caring about our life, the life we yearn for is so precious that we would often rather suffer in hopelessness than risk the possibility of failing.

Anyone who has had any long-term romantic relationship can attest to the many challenges that accompany all the beauty and joy. Why is it so hard to hold on to the good stuff without slipping into squabbles, bickering, and frustration?  Even the happiest couples have disagreements and get on each other’s nerves, however, there are some important differences between the couples that occasionally get frustrated with one another and the couples who...

You have probably heard about mindfulness. Mindfulness practices and teachings have become so popular in recent years that they are being integrated into many forms of therapy, educational curricula, business leadership training, and even finding their way into pop culture references. Generally speaking, the mindfulness practices that are creating all the buzz come out of Buddhist meditation traditions, however, there are practices of mindfulness in almost every religious and cultural tradition. 

The term "sex therapy" can conjure up all kinds of images, many of which may be inaccurate.  Sex therapy is simply the process of bringing issues of sexuality into therapeutic work so that these issues can be talked about, understood, and when necessary transformed into experiences, attitudes and practices that are in more line with your desires, needs and values. 

The term "mental illness" refers to a way of conceptualizing particular types of mental or psychological experiences and related behaviours that are considered problematic for the individual who is experiencing them or potentially problematic for other people. Problematic psychological experiences are generally considered mental illness when:

Psychotherapy, therapy, counselling, and coaching can all refer to very similar and sometimes identical approaches to supporting clients in developing insight, solving problems, and making progress on goals. The differences within each category can be as great as the differences between them. 

Many individuals come to therapy with relationship problems that would be better suited to couple and family therapy, and there are times when couple or family therapy may be more productive if some individual sessions happen first, or at the same time. Some challenges are more clearly suited to relational therapy, as they are created by or affect more than one person in a family or group. Some examples include conflict with a partner or child, children acting out, difficult family transitions, kids moving out, loss of a loved one, trauma that affects the couple or whole family, intimacy and sexual problems, and negotiating expectations in relationships. 

Unlike finding a good mechanic or dentist, finding the right therapist requires more than simply finding someone in your neighbourhood who is competent, honest, and professional. You also need someone with whom you can feel comfortable sharing the important matters in your life, someone who can help you in a more personal way based on your own unique experiences and perspectives.  

Nat Roman is featured in the following article, written by Erin Hesselink in INBETWEEN Magazine about teenagers texting while driving and what parents can do about it. The article is entitled "Message Not Delivered" from the Oct/Nov 2014 edition.