Web Resources
Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA)
• http://www.cmha.ca
Canadian Psychological Association (CPA)
• http://www.cpa.ca
College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario (CPBAO)
• http://www.cpo.on.ca
Ontario Psychological Association (OPA)
• http://www.psych.on.ca
Recommended Reading
Janice Berger – Emotional Fitness: Discovering Our Natural Healing Power
“In this groundbreaking book, Janice Berger takes us on a fascinating voyage into the very centre of our emotional selves. She reveals how we can engage and cooperate with the natural emotional healing power we all possess in order to lead more fulfilling lives and enjoy more satisfying, vibrant relationships. Honest, illuminating and free from jargon, Emotional Fitness demystifies emotional health and demonstrates clearly how we can live our lives with personal clarity and inner freedom.”
Judith Herman – Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror
“The ordinary response to atrocities is to banish them from consciousness. Equally as powerful is the conviction that denial does not work … remembering and telling the truth about terrible events are prerequisites both for the restoration of the social order and for the healing of individual victims. Trauma and Recovery represents the fruits of two decades of research and clinical work with victims of sexual and domestic violence. This is a book about restoring connection: between the public and private worlds, between the individual and community, between men and women. It is a book about commonalities; between rape survivors and combat veterans, between battered women and political prisoners, between the survivors of vast concentration camps created by tyrants who rule nations and the survivors of small, hidden concentration camps created by tyrants who rule their homes.”
Judith Herman – Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice
“The #MeToo movement brought worldwide attention to sexual violence, but while the media focused on the fates of a few notorious predators who were put on trial, we heard far less about the outcomes of those trials for the survivors of their abuse. The conventional retributive process fails to serve most survivors; it was never designed for them.”
Renowned trauma expert Judith L. Herman argues that the first step toward a better form of justice is simply to ask survivors what would make things as right as possible for them. In Truth and Repair, she commits the radical act of listening to survivors. Recounting their stories, she offers an alternative vision of justice as healing for survivors and their communities. Deeply researched and compassionately told, Truth and Repair envisions a new path to justice for all.”
Sue Johnson – Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love
“Hold Me Tight offers a groundbreaking approach to building stronger, more secure relationships. Grounded in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), the book guides couples through seven pivotal conversations that foster emotional closeness, resolve conflicts, and create lasting bonds. With practical exercises, relatable examples, and insights rooted in the science of love, Hold Me Tight helps readers understand and respond to their partner’s emotional needs. It empowers couples to break free from negative cycles and cultivate trust, intimacy, and resilience. This essential guide offers a roadmap to shaping meaningful connections and creating a relationship where both partners feel safe, valued, and deeply connected. Whether you’re seeking to repair or enhance your relationship, Hold Me Tight provides the tools to make love last a lifetime.”
Sue Johnson – Love Sense: The Revolutionary Science of Romantic Relationships
“In Love Sense, Dr. Sue Johnson reveals the groundbreaking science behind romantic love, showing that it is an attachment bond as vital as the one between parent and child. Drawing on decades of research, this book transforms how we understand relationships and provides practical guidance to build stronger, more secure bonds. With accessible insights and real-life examples, Love Sense teaches readers how to repair broken connections and foster lasting intimacy. Whether you’re seeking to heal a struggling relationship or deepen an already strong one, this book offers a clear, science-backed roadmap to lasting love. Dr. Johnson illuminates how emotional connection is the key to thriving partnerships, making Love Sense an essential read for anyone looking to nurture love that lasts a lifetime.”
Gabor Maté – When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress
“Dr. Gabor Maté summarizes the latest scientific findings about the roles stress and individual emotional makeup play in the causation of cancer and other chronic illnesses. He argues that knowledge of how this causal relationship works is essential to healing. With the help of dozens of moving and enlightening case studies and vignettes drawn from his two decades as a family practitioner and palliative care specialist, he provides poignant insights into how disease is often the body’s way of saying “no” to what the mind cannot or will not acknowledge.”
Gabor Maté – The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture
“In The Myth of Normal, physician and trauma expert Gabor Maté writes that much of what society labels as abnormal behavior, mental illness, or dysfunction actually represents normal responses to adverse life experiences. He argues that the conventional medical model pathologizes normal coping mechanisms like emotional numbing as “diseases” requiring pharmaceutical treatment. He instead advocates a trauma-informed perspective that addresses the root psychological and social causes of what we label as illness.”
Gabor Maté – Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Disorder
“A look at the origins and healing of attention disorder offers an optimistic perspective on this much-misunderstood condition, seeing it not as a disease but as a problem of brain development in the context of a stressed society.” ‘In this 1999 book, physician Gabor Maté argues that if you have ADHD, it’s because early childhood stress prevented you from developing the emotional-cognitive capacities you need to thrive in our world. Further, since ADHD isn’t just a biological disorder but one with social and psychological roots, he argues that medication isn’t the best or only way to treat your ADHD. Based on this perspective, he prescribes non-pharmaceutical treatments for both adults and children with ADHD and explains how society can prevent ADHD in future generations.”
Bessel van der Kolk – The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
“The Body Keeps the Score is the inspiring story of how a group of therapists and scientists— together with their courageous and memorable patients—have struggled to integrate recent advances in brain science, attachment research, and body awareness into treatments that can free trauma survivors from the tyranny of the past. These new paths to recovery activate the brain’s natural neuroplasticity to rewire disturbed functioning and rebuild step by step the ability to “know what you know and feel what you feel.” They also offer experiences that directly counteract the helplessness and invisibility associated with trauma, enabling both adults and children to reclaim ownership of their bodies and their lives.”
