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NOTE: My blog has moved to Substack. You are welcome to sign up here. Just note that future emails will come from the Substack server.
I love offering encouragement, motivation, and tips for living life well. I started the Encouragement Along the Journey Blog with a mission to give others a taste of my thoughts and experiences, offering a little sampling of what it is like to be in my counselling office with me.
The topics I write about here are close to my heart—the kinds of things I find myself coming back to often in conversation, in my counselling office, in reflection, and in my own journey of growth.
Take some time to explore the blog and find what sparks your interest. Feel free to reach out if you would like to collaborate on a project together. Read on and enjoy!
My Approach to Counselling
Background: As Master's students in a counselling psychology program, we were encouraged to do the work ourselves that we would be asking...
Grief Has No Expiry Date
Grief doesn’t arrive only with death. It shows up in lost dreams, unmet hopes, and the quiet ways life changes shape over time. And once it arrives, it doesn’t follow a neat timeline or disappear when we think it should. In this reflection, I write about the ongoing nature of grief. About how it changes us, how it revisits us, and how we learn to keep living even when loss becomes part of our story. I also share personally about missing my brother and sister-in-law decades af
On Being and Becoming: Hope, Humility, and Staying Teachable
This reflection brings my On Being and Becoming series to a close, although it feels more like an invitation to continue than an ending. What began as a simple list of questions I often return to, slowly unfolded into a series that asked for time, attentiveness, and space to breathe. Along the way, I explored themes of time, love, grief, presence, writing, and authenticity. Each theme is shaped by lived experience rather than tidy conclusions. In this final piece, I turn tow
If We're Willing: What My Clients Continue to Teach Me
Raising a neurodiverse family has shaped me in countless ways, but so has the work I do in the therapy room. Over the years, I’ve realized how deeply my clients continue to teach me—about perspective, healing, resilience, and what it means to show up with presence. Their stories offer a kind of wisdom no textbook can capture, and I carry those lessons with me far beyond the walls of my office. I’ve learned how past experiences shape present reactions, how authenticity builds
Haide Giesbrecht
Dec 6, 20251 min read
Is This Therapy-Appropriate? Asking for a Friend..
Wondering what you can talk about in counselling? From crying and laughter to spirituality and everyday stress, discover what’s welcome in therapy and how a session can become a safe, healing space to explore your story.
Haide Giesbrecht
Oct 8, 20254 min read
Reframing: Helpful or Harmful?
Psychology terms often make their way into the mainstream. I believe this reflects our deep human desire to understand how our inner...
Haide Giesbrecht
Sep 20, 20253 min read
The Grief We Don’t Talk About: Parenting When Life Looks Different Than You Imagined
Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash By Haide Giesbrecht When we think of grief, we often associate it with the loss of a person, a pet, or...
Haide Giesbrecht
Jul 22, 20254 min read
The Truth of Who You Are: A Therapist’s Loving Reminder
Sometimes we all just need a little encouragement.
A moment to pause.
To be reminded of the truth of who we are.
Haide Giesbrecht
May 27, 20253 min read
Living in the Shadow of Grief
People sometimes ask me if my blog has a specific focus or intent. My main intent is to walk alongside my readers, sharing my...
Haide Giesbrecht
Oct 14, 20249 min read
Brave
As children, we learn strategies to adapt to difficult situations and to keep ourselves safe. These strategies work.. until they don't..
Haide Giesbrecht
Sep 11, 20245 min read
Assumptions: When A Hypothesis Runs Amok Without Proof
Sometimes things are not what they seem. My then good friend and I were heading to see a movie. We had been enjoying spending a lot of...
Haide Giesbrecht
Aug 1, 20245 min read
From Nothing to Something
The end of the year seems to lend itself well to a time of reflecting on what has been and what is to come. Yet research consistently...
Haide Giesbrecht
Dec 31, 20234 min read
Mental Health Day
October 10th has been proclaimed Mental Health Day in British Columbia, Canada. Mental health awareness is growing in our society, and...
Haide Giesbrecht
Oct 12, 20232 min read
My Journey With Obesity
This post is adapted from a post I wrote on my personal social media blog during the summer of 2023. As a counsellor, my sessions are for...
Haide Giesbrecht
Oct 10, 20236 min read
My Approach to Counselling
Background: As Master's students in a counselling psychology program, we were encouraged to do the work ourselves that we would be asking...
Haide Giesbrecht
Oct 2, 20236 min read
Having Difficult Conversations Well
I would venture to guess that most people do not enjoy having difficult conversations. I don't love them myself! But sometimes, because...
Haide Giesbrecht
Sep 13, 20233 min read
Living Life With Balance
It has been longer than anticipated between my first and second podcast episodes. Sometimes life is unexpected! Here are some of the...
Haide Giesbrecht
Aug 28, 20233 min read
Living life as your unique and wonderful self!
A question regularly raised in counselling is "who am I?" In our society, we are often valued for – and thus we place value on – what we...
Haide Giesbrecht
Jul 2, 20234 min read
Learning and Growing
Sharing some takeaways from the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium. Which do you find most inspiring?
Haide Giesbrecht
Mar 17, 20231 min read
What do we do with problematic holidays? Nurturing thoughts on Valentine's Day
Days of celebration, whether they are Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter, Christmas, or any one of the many other days can be such a...
Haide Giesbrecht
Feb 13, 20232 min read
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