Being a working parent can seem like an uphill battle at times, with very little scope of truly attaining a work-life balance essential for your mental health. Here are some simple yet effective ways to minimize your mental load and optimize your role both as a parent and a professional

Being a caregiver is busy…to say the least! Time to yourself is precious and can be hard to come by. It probably feels like you live in your kitchen. Whether you enjoy cooking or not, odds are you could use a break. For this reason, we have put together 15 simple strategies to help you save time in the kitchen so you can spend more time focusing on yourself instead of waiting on others. Utilizing these time saving tips can also help you and your family to eat healthy, which is an important but overlooked aspect of self-care.

What’s the connection of our thoughts to our mood/mental health? It’s a bit of a chicken -and -egg debate most people with anxiety/depression symptoms report having negative thoughts. These thoughts can grow from being criticized, bullied, neglected, abused, or any number of kinds of traumas. Jennifer talks about how to understand your negative thoughts.

There is always something more important that you need to prioritize before allowing time to take care of yourself. But what if, by not prioritizing yourself and taking care of your needs, is actually causing you to feel drained, burnt-out, exhausted, and depleted? You end up becoming less productive because you feel so overwhelmed and you realize that you have been staring that the computer for the past two-hour and have accomplished nothing! What if the secret ingredient that you need to survive is simply doing a little self-care?

You’ve decided that you want to get help from a professional counsellor, but now what? Here are some steps to take to find the right therapist for you.

Sometimes we are so hard on ourselves because we don’t look like every other parent – their kids are in three different sports, they volunteer, they are a part of the parent advisory committee, and their house is spotless. Trust me, if they have all their crap together on the outside, they don’t look the same on the inside. Give yourself some compassion. Nobody is perfect.