| Heidi Cowie, RSW - On Horizontal Violence |
No matter whether it’s called inter-group conflict, interpersonal conflict or bullying, horizontal violence is a significant issue. It happens in any arena where there are unequal power relations and is broadly defined as repeated unreasonable and inappropriate actions and practices that are directed to one or more workers, which are unwanted by the victim. |
read more |
|
| Stress Busters - A program from Heidi Cowie |
StressBusters is a corporate program designed to
address and prevent stress-related issues in the
workplace. Not only does it allow managers and
administrators to keep employees happy and fulfilled, it
creates a mentally healthy company culture. |
read more |
|
| Top 7 Tips from Women Experts |
IN THIS ISSUE: Top 7 Ways to Beat Stress
1. Exercise - walk up a flight of stairs or around the block.
2. Realize the person yelling at you is under more pressure than you think.
3. Concentrate on the task at hand.
4. Everything is energy - imagine “unplugging” yourself from the negative/stressful person.
5. Complete freedom from stress is death - embrace the stressful times as part of the rich tapestry of your life.
6. Clear the clutter in your mind through deep breaths.
7. If spiritual, pray for strength, understanding, and compassion.
|
read more |
|
| So You Say Your Business Partner is Driving You Nuts |
Starting a business with a partner is like any other relationship... with a twist. It can be quite expensive both financially and emotionally to walk away from the partnership. In addition, the increased workload and possible loss of funding may cause stress that no one has the energy with which to deal. |
read more |
|
| Happy Customers Mean Happy Businesses |
The importance of client satisfaction in any business can not be underestimated.
Before becoming an independent business owner, I spent twenty five years in the corporate world. As both the recipient and provider of customer service, I experienced professional motivators, corporate presidents, marketing gurus, and small and large business owners talk endlessly of the importance of a satisfied client. The formula is simple: a satisfied client means money in the bank. Furthermore, the power of the gab means that one happy client has the potential to bring in many more clients. |
read more |
|
| A Step Approach to Solving Problems |
When clients come for counselling, they usually have reached a point where their problems feel unmanageable. By following this step approach to problem solving, it encourages the client to identify the problem, focus on the key part, and then employ strategies to solve it. |
read more |
|
| A Conversation on Over-Givers |
How overloaded are women today?
The multiple roles and expectations that women can have are increased by the general nature of our ageing population. We are reaching a stage in our society where the bulk of the population ranges between the ages of 40 and 70. |
read more |
|
| Emotional Overdrive |
Anxiety is the new glass ceiling. According to a new Leger survey, one in five working women in Canada report experiencing depression and anxiety, and it's affecting their day-to-day work lives.Of those, about seven out of 10 felt that their depression and anxiety limited them at work. |
read more |
|
| Tangled Up In You |
NANCY BRADSHAW and Davide Sacchitiello are good together. For the past nine years, they rendezvous regularly and share laughs, loves and life stories.
Davide is a constant in her life. When she calls, he makes time for her. When she shows up, he gives her his undivided attention. And when she leaves, she's flush with excitement and confidence. He makes her feel attractive, special and happy |
read more |
|
| Keep the home fires burning |
YOU'D THINK these last few weeks of holiday family time would be good for a marriage -- but actually for many, holiday bells bring marital hell, report experts. The Christmas and New Year season is a time when couples, by default, spend time together, not immersed in the "business" of running a family, but real time together, says relationship expert Mort Fertel. Many realize they've lost that spark; that something is missing from their relationship. "They may be succeeding as roommates, unaware they are no longer soul mates." |
read more |
|
| Bossy |
BOSSES DON'T get much worse than Reeva Bedard's -- he's hostile, a control freak and slave driver. "No one can stand him -- he e-mails people day and night with criticism and complaints, never anything positive. I've gotten up to 36 e-mails a day!" says Bedard, of her micro-manager boss who is unfairly critical and makes everyone feel like a failure. |
read more |
|
| Unhappy in Your Marriage ?- Suffering Silently Could Kill You |
February 2005- A recent study from the States showed that unhappily married women who "avoided conflict-keeping their feelings hidden" were four times more likely to die than those who expressed their feelings. |
read more |
|
| Helping people laugh at life |
Rocketman lies quietly on the couch as Heidi Cowie speaks to him in soothing tones. Cowie is a counsellor, and Rocketman is her dog with separation anxiety. The humour in such a picture reveals Cowie's sense of the absurd. |
read more |
|
| Dog in the house |
HUMAN CHILDREN out, hairy children in. What better to nuzzle and nurture than a vulnerable puppy -- or two -- when kids leave home and leave an empty nest behind.
"If you're a parent for long enough, it's a tough habit to break," says Dr. Stanley Coren. "We love to nurture things that look helpless and babyish."
For many, pets - be they dogs, cats, birds even gerbils -- become part of the empty-nest evolution. |
read more |
|
| The Five Step Action Plan to Making Changes in Your Life |
I was recently asked to be a guest on a local radio program to discuss mid-life crises and change. Crises can happen at anytime and it can change the direction of your life but mid-life brings its own changes.
Typically, mid-life is the time between 45- 55 years of age when we start to reflect on where our lives have brought us up to this point and where we want to go. We may start to question our relationships, spirituality, occupation, and values. So how do we make changes? Many of my clients come to me because they want to make changes but feel 'stuck'. By following this plan, we work together on making positive changes. |
read more |
|
| My Journey with MCS by Gail Smith |
For over thirty years, I have faced the challenge of a syndrome that has kept me in and out of isolation. For the most part the syndrome is not fully recognized by many, including the medical profession. Therefore much rejection and hurt accompanies it. Those of this profession who choose to accept it are at a loss as to how to help those of us who face this syndrome.
The syndrome is called MCS or Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome. It is a multiple system syndrome that can affect any system in the body, causing for some, severely disabling symptoms that can include severe pain, dizziness, severe fatigue, digestive problems, etc. etc. |
read more |
|
