A holiday message from Patricia Vickers, Director of Mental Wellness

"The circuits in the brain are shaped by early childhood experiences." 

--Dr. Gabor Mate

Re-parenting self is one pathway for those who find the courage to seek healing for wounds from childhood experiences. 

During this holiday season, may you find in the decorations and lights an eternal light, an eternal warmth of a warm embrace, a feeling that you belong, that you are meant to be here. Allowing these feelings of affirmation into your being is an act of re-parenting self, and an act of self-love.

An important part of personal safety when addressing trauma is to create an image of a boundary around your physical self. Your personal boundary can be a song, colour, trees, a mountain—it is something you intentionally bring into existence.

As a clinician I have been a witness to clients seeing that the boundary already existed. A boundary is not a wall, it is a flexible protection that ensures a sense of safety and well-being. Envisioning a boundary around yourself is an act of affirmation. It keeps your energy in and the negative energy of others out.

I've had the privilege of meeting many Elders. One story I was told by a hereditary Chief was, when she was a child and a number of accidents happened to her and her sisters, their grandmother called them to sit on a chair and one by one their grandmother blew on the crown of their heads. It was an act of cleansing should there be any bad medicine placed on them. The grandmother's breath was the boundary and the cleansing.

We are approaching the time of year where light decreases, a time when families get together to remember good times, a time for some to remember the meaning of love. May we each connect with the sacred innocence of childhood in our souls as a loving parent. May we act to protect that energy within our souls and to receive grandmother's cleansing breath.

"Re-parenting":

Re-parenting acknowledges the loss associated with your parents being unable to teach you what you needed to know and simultaneously affirms that you are now your own loving parent who can access the care and support you need on your healing journey. It is a term used in psychotherapy.