Mental Health Articles and Blog

Self-advocacy in healthcare and therapy can be the difference between life-changing and ineffective care. Here's what anyone seeking healthcare support or therapy can learn from one woman's story.

Is BetterHelp worth it? While thousands BetterHelp reviews (and ads) may reveal a bright picture, the reality is much different. From BetterHelp reddit posts to survey results, here's what we learned.

Wondering if your Desjardins insurance covers therapy, counselling, and other mental health services? There’s no simple rule for what Desjardins insurance covers, so here's what to know.

Wondering if your Blue Cross Insurance covers therapy, counselling, and other mental health services? There’s no hard and fast rule for what Blue Cross covers, but here is everything you need to know.

Does Manulife insurance cover therapy? While Manulife frequently provides coverage for therapy, there are a few things to check before booking that first session. Here's what to know

Learnings and what's next after 5 years of First Session

Wondering if your Canada Life Insurance covers therapy, counselling, and other mental health services? There’s no simple rule for what Cana Life Insurance covers, so here's what to know.

Wondering if your Sun Life Insurance covers therapy, counselling, and other mental health services? There’s no hard and fast rule for what Sun Life covers, but here is everything you need to know.

There are plenty of reasons people start therapy, and many ways therapy can help us overcome challenges, and to feel good. Some good things do come to an end—yes, there can be an end to therapy.

Feel like talking to somebody? If you've never been to a counsellor or a therapist in British Columbia, here's what you need to know to get started.

“When we fail to set boundaries and hold people accountable,” writes best-selling self-help author Brené Brown, “we feel used and mistreated.” Setting healthy boundaries is essential to maintaining healthy relationships. Registered Social Worker Paula Fernández often treats clients who have issues setting boundaries.

You know you or a loved one needs the help of a mental health professional. But who do you turn to? The exact type of professional you see will depend on your needs.

“Anger has got a bad rep,” says Registered Psychotherapist Juliann Rasanagayam. “It’s actually a very functional emotion. … [But] the way we end up reacting to anger becomes inappropriate.”

If you’re queer, you have your own, individual experience when it comes to mental health issues. That being said, information collected by Statistics Canada suggests that LGBTQ+ individuals are at a higher risk of experiencing mental illness than the rest of the population.

Don’t let the prefix “psycho” throw you off. “Psycho” means “of the mind.” A physiotherapist improves their patients’ physical wellbeing. A psychotherapist improves their mental wellbeing.You don’t need to suffer from debilitating mental health issues in order to see a psychotherapist. Many people you might consider “normal” have benefited from one.

The aim of couples counselling is to strengthen and improve the relationship between two people. Some couples seek out a therapist because there’s conflict in their relationship, and they’ve reached an impasse they believe therapy may resolve. Others do so because ongoing counselling makes their relationship deeper, closer, or more stable. There are as many reasons to attend couples counselling as there are to attend individual counselling.

“I'm a mom, I have a young daughter, and in my work as a therapist, I'm always showing up for others. Sometimes that means that I have very little time for myself, and I can quickly see how my mood can change how I can feel.

Stefania Rossi, the creator of @dearmyanxiety, was live with us on Instagram to share her story as part of our #mentalhealthweek series.

With over 250K followers across Instagram and YouTube, influencer and entrepreneur Nina Huynh inspires her followers to dress boldly, love deeply, and live freely. 

Pooja Handa is an award-winning broadcaster and the co-host of Toronto’s number one morning show, CP 24 Breakfast. She also makes regular appearances on CTV’s The Social, and the Marilyn Dennis show.

Carolina Rzeznikiewiz is the co-founder of Momjo, a blog about education, entertaining, and supporting moms at all stages of their journeys.

In this IG Live, we explore Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), and a demonstration of tapping. The idea behind tapping is to simultaneously address a specific issue verbally while physically tapping endpoints of meridians in our body.

In our most recent Instagram Live, Hamza Khan, award-winning marketer, professor, and entrepreneur, shared how he overcame burnout and depressive episodes using techniques he learned from his therapist. As a result, he was able to rewire how he speaks to himself and find success, but it was a long road to get there.

As described by sociologist Cory Keyes, languishing is the opposite of flourishing. In the context of mental health and individual wellbeing, to flourish is to feel good, function well, and pursue an authentic existence. 

Mental health belongs to everyone; no one exists without it. Mental health can be strained when there is increased stress, when underlying mental health issues are not being addressed, and many other reasons

In recent years, the stigma around therapy has been reversing and as a result the appetite for mental health support has increased. 

Feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt are totally normal in life, especially when we’re striving for something new or are levelling up in some way (e.g. working toward higher education, preparing for a promotion, or training for a competition). Sometimes, though, those thoughts are so constant that we have trouble getting through regular tasks, and it can be really discouraging.

It’s important to know that mental health and mental illness are not the same thing. Think of it in terms of your body health: everyone has physical health but not everyone has a physical illness. Still, you can take action to build strength and practice good health habits to keep yourself functioning day-to-day and to prevent more serious illness later in life.

One of the reasons therapy is so effective is that it’s a space where you are talking to someone who is trained to listen. 

People start and continue with therapy for a variety of reasons. Often, the factors leading us to seek help often intersect. In other words, more than one aspect of our lives will be relevant to finding the right therapy and therapist that works for us.

A letter to my 2-month-old, Anderson. This is my personal story about struggle, asking for help, and the power of support.‍

Beat overthinking: Understanding rumination and actionable coping strategies. Find the right therapist for you.

It’s been just over a month since Russia invaded Ukraine. Millions of people have fled the country, thousands of people have died, and those in Canada (home to some of the largest populations of both Ukrainian and Russian diasporas) have watched the conflict progress.

It’s hard for everyone to ask for help. But, the idea of asking for help creates intense vulnerability for the man who has been attempting to do his best impression of “classic masculinity.”

Are you someone who kept a diary as a teen? Maybe as an adult, you live by your to-do lists. There are reasons we turn to writing down ideas and tasks — it gets thought clutter out of our heads and allows us to see it in a more organized way. The same applies to keeping a journal for therapy or for overall better mental health.

You may have noticed some colleagues around you or, yourself, ‘quiet-quitting’ - just doing your duties, the bare minimum to coast through, a lack of engagement in work or reduced engagement in work.

In light of the women’s protests in Iran after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, we reached out to one of our therapists who grew up in Iran.

Sara Jones, First Session staff member, shares about anxiety, depression, fear, and loneliness during the Christmas holiday season.

Do you ring in every new year with a laundry list of life-changing resolutions? Then, by mid-January you’re already feeling behind, you’re disappointed, or you’ve simply forgotten about them?

The season of love is upon us! More accurately, that one day of the year laser focused on romantic love—Valentine’s Day.

First Session’s founder reflects on a decade of working on his mental health

Making the decision to reach out to a therapist can be nerve wracking. When you start to the process of finding a therapist, it’s likely you’ll come across several different kinds of professionals, each one with their own therapy speciality, such as anxiety therapy, and method (known as a therapy modality), such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). You might start to worry you’ll choose the wrong “kind” of therapist or counsellor. 

If you’re working with a therapist regularly now, you’ve likely already spent some time finding a therapist or counsellor who is a good fit for you and you’ve invested time, energy, and money into your work together.

It’s normal to experience sadness, or to retreat into some solitude when going through something particularly upsetting or difficult. It’s actually healthy to allow ourselves to feel negative emotions, instead of burying or ignoring them.

Like physical health, mental health can vary person-to-person and ebb and flow depending on our own unique circumstances – family mental health history, body and brain chemistry, life experiences, traumatic events, and more. Also like physical health, sometimes we can manage our wellbeing on our own, and sometimes we can’t; that’s when it can be beneficial to seek the help of a professional.

If you are going through a separation or divorce, it can be a very challenging time. It’s important to remember that it’s normal to go through a process of mourning after a relationship has ended. You don’t have to “bounce back” immediately. 

Everyone experiences moments when they’re low on energy because of stress or sadness. It can be difficult during those times to keep up with the day-to-day. Many people in Canada struggle consistently with their mental health, and it can deeply impact daily life, including when it comes to employment.

Discover 9 essential tips for coping with the stress of moving. Prioritize your mental health during this transition. Find the right therapist at firstsession.com.

Gain insights into the distinctions between prevalent talk therapies - CBT and DBT - for managing anxiety, depression, and mental health concerns. Find your perfect therapist at firstsession.com.

Curious about sliding scale therapy? Explore this detailed guide on how sliding scale therapy works at firstsession.com

Explore the types of physical symptoms that may arise from anxiety. Learn to deal with anxiety effectively with our step by step guide.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a widely recognized and effective therapeutic approach for addressing mental health concerns.

Many companies are implementing a 4-day work week. Explore the benefits and potential pitfalls.

This guide aims to demystify the process of finding a therapist in Toronto, offering practical steps and supporting you in starting this exciting new chapter. 

This guide offers practical steps to finding a therapist in Alberta and tips on how to choose the right therapist for you.

This guide offers practical steps to finding a therapist in Calgary and tips on how to choose the right therapist for you.

We’ve created this guide filled with practical steps to help you not only find an Ontario therapist, but to find the right therapist for you, so you can get the most out of therapy and improve your mental health. So let’s get started.