The holiday season is traditionally a busy time filled with happiness and good cheer. With celebrations, family gatherings and office parties, it represents the most social time of the year. The holiday-party season and the gathering of family during the holidays can produce a tremendous amount of stress and tension - two key triggers in the onset...

We're finally seeing the signs of summer: long days, warm breezes, red sunsets and of course, fresh food. British Columbia, Canada, is bountiful with locally-grown, in season produce choices. Now is the time to experiment with colourful, creative menu ideas. The more colour, the more nutrients. So whether life is a picnic, a backyard barbecue, or...

I am 41 and spent Mother’s day morning getting up at 5:30 (yes a.m.) by choice to do a 10km run. (Run is a strong word).  Now before you shut me off and say this doesn’t apply to you, just stick with me for a moment.  I am NOT one of those super fit types that loves to exercise.  (I really don’t understand that thinking myself)  My story...

When I was in high school I knew kids who drank heavily. I knew about kids who took drugs and in my Grade 9 year someone committed suicide.  But I did not know any students who cut themselves.  Fast forward to 2010 and ask my niece about cutting  in her high school and she’ll tell you in a quiet voice, “I know a lot of kids who do that.” Teens...

My daughter cut herself for the first time when she was 12 years old. Today, 11 years later, she is still struggling to overcome this problem. At the time I knew absolutely nothing about "self-harm" and it scared me to death. I was shocked and bewildered that she would do such a thing. It’s important to understand cutting - what it is, who does...

CNN ran an interview this morning that caught my attention. Anderson Cooper was interviewing Christopher Hitchens the author of God Is Not Great.  Hitchens is quite famous for his views against the existence of God.  He is also currently battling a very lethal form of cancer.  Cooper wondered if the disease had changed his beliefs at all.  Hitchens...

From a distance, “disabled” always seemed like an innocuous word.  It was simply an adjective that described a set of physical circumstances.  It’s a word I’ve often used, never aware of its power.  But when a friend used that word to describe someone that I love I had a startling realization.  Up close, “disabled” sounds an awful...