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Articles by Mark Shelvock RP
Why Feeling Lost Might Mean You’re Growing
Source: Photo by Victoria Quirk on Unsplash Co-Authored by Mark Shelvock and Karima Joy, Ph.D. You can’t go back to who you once were, and you don’t yet know who you’re becoming. There are times in life when nothing makes sense anymore. It feels like you’re in a new season of your life, but the writers have clearly gone on strike and left you with no script. You’re not even sure what genre it is: Drama? Comedy? A documentary on existential suffering?
Why Feeling Lost Might Mean You’re Growing
Source: Photo by Victoria Quirk on Unsplash Co-Authored by Mark Shelvock and Karima Joy, Ph.D. You can’t go back to who you once were, and you don’t yet know who you’re becoming. There are times in life when nothing makes sense anymore. It feels like you’re in a new season of your life, but the writers have clearly gone on strike and left you with no script. You’re not even sure what genre it is: Drama? Comedy? A documentary on existential suffering?
The Living Threshold: It's Alive
Life's in-between moments can be more than nightmares: Thresholds are fertile and may offer growth. Transformation comes through presence, not quick fixes. Connection and ritual help us navigate uncertainty. Source: The Living Threshold Fire / Owned by Karima Joy and Mark Shelvock / Used with permission Co-Authored by Mark Shelvock and Karima Joy, Ph.D. As human beings, we loathe losing control. We squirm at uncertainty, and the in-between times can feel like a special kind of hell.
In the Night, Grief Speaks: Understanding Grief Dreams
What if some of our most potent grief experiences don’t happen in daylight, but in our sleep? Grief dreams are vivid, emotionally charged dreams that occur after the loss of a loved one or symbolically relate to a person’s experience of loss. Some dreams are comforting, whereas others are unsettling. Many grief dreams linger long after waking, which speaks to the power of both grief and dreams.
When Wounds Become Worldviews
Co-authored with Dr. Daniel Trottier In our previous article, we explored how Gen Z is experiencing a quiet, collective grief over a vanishing sense of security, possibility, stability, and imagined futures. These intangible losses are shaping a generation in profound ways, and recognizing them is key to both personal healing and meaningful social change. Grief awareness matters deeply, as people search for new meaning in the wake of economic disruption and collective loss.
Gen Z Grief: The Hidden Grief of a Generation
Co-authored with Dr. Daniel Trottier In a Gen Z-themed online Reddit poll, readers were asked: “You can only bring back one thing—what do you pick?” The options included: • “$500/month two-bedroom apartments” • “Pre-COVID gas prices” • “Used cars within the $1000s” Unsurprisingly, the most popular choice was affordable housing. Source: Sehajpal Singh / Unsplash At first glance, this might seem like a lighthearted way to vent about inflation and widespread economic frustration.
Becoming a Therapist: A Guide For Future Clinicians
Source: Photo by Morgan Sessions on Unsplash As a psychotherapist, I have the privilege of offering therapy not only to the public but also to early-career therapists and graduate students pursuing degrees in counselling psychology or social work. For many, becoming a psychotherapist or mental health counsellor is a challenging journey, often marked by self-doubt and the heavy weight of responsibility, even for those with strong support systems.
Understanding Trauma: How It’s Always Connected to Loss
If you have experienced trauma, then you have also experienced grief and loss. Grief literacy normalizes conversations about traumatic loss and support. Traumatic loss responds well to care, not cure. By Mark Shelvock and Jordi Gorham Trauma and loss are inseparable. Every experience of trauma carries with it a profound sense of loss.
Where Is Daddy?: Attending to Father Wound Grief - Mark Shelvock Rp
by Mark Shelvock and Karima Joy, MSW, RSW, Ph.D. “Where are the men?” the little prince asked, politely. The flower had once seen a caravan passing. “Men?” she echoed. “I think there are six or seven of them in existence. I saw them, several years ago. But one never knows where to find them. The wind blows them away.
Attachment Theory and Grief
Loss can trigger the attachment system, the system that activates when a child is separated from caregivers. Adult grief response, like childhood separation response, varies in intensity and persistence. In healthy grief, an individual is able to alternate their attention and energy towards and away from loss. Co-authored with Dr. Phyllis Kosminsky. What do we lose when we lose someone we love? The answer is as varied as love itself.
Attachment Theory and Grief - Mark Shelvock Rp
Co-authored with Dr. Phyllis Kosminsky. What do we lose when we lose someone we love? The answer is as varied as love itself. When someone we love and whose presence we relied upon dies, our world is significantly altered. Grief has been described as the loss of the assumptive world, a violation of the conscious and unconscious assumptions, cognitions, and beliefs that guide our everyday life.
How to Cope With Change and Uncertainty - Mark Shelvock Rp
Aa Aa Aa - A + Change is everywhere. The seasons, weather, this moment in time, our bodies or moods...it all changes. Sometimes, change is predictable, but most often, it is not. Amongst philosophers, it is often said that the only certainty in life is uncertainty, and yet this logical realization offers little emotional comfort when people experience significant change, uncertainty, or transition in their lives.
What We Know About After-Death Communication Experiences - Mark Shelvock Rp
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When We Suffer Political Grief
Sociopolitical policies, decisions, or ideologies can result in various individual and collective losses. Political grief can shatter our assumptions around safety, justice, meaning, and identity. Grief invites us to take a stance of common humanity regardless of our political position. Co-authored with Darcy Harris Have you ever experienced psychological distress because of an election or experienced a loss of relationships in your life due to political disagreements?
When We Suffer Political Grief - Mark Shelvock Rp
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The Beast Within Men - Mark Shelvock Rp
Co-Authored by Dr. Karima Joy Do you sense that if you start liberating your authentic self, a wild beast may emerge? In our last article, we advocated how men need more than ice baths and podcasts, which, while positive, are not an adequate response to the complex psychological life of men and the broader men’s mental health crisis. Instead, we invite men to truly connect to their inner landscape, as this is where true power and freedom lie.
What's the Relationship Between Attachment and Authenticity? - Mark Shelvock Rp
Why do so many people struggle with authenticity, and how does this experience relate to complex family dynamics or a less-than-ideal childhood? Many people feel disconnected from their inner life, and they aren’t always sure why. Some of us never had a coherent sense of self, while others feel like we lost ourselves somewhere along the journey of life.
Why Do Narcissistic Parents Gaslight Their Adult Children? - Mark Shelvock Rp
Co-authored by Jenifer Freedy Are you the adult child of a parent who exhibits narcissism? The term narcissism comes from Greek mythology. The legend describes Narcissus falling deeply in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. Unable to look away, Narcissus eventually falls into the water and dies.
Men Need More Than Ice Baths and Podcasts
Co-authored by Dr. Karima Joy Maybe you can sit in an ice bath, but can you sit in the discomfort of your inner world? How long can you tolerate being present with the feelings you avoid or compartmentalize? We are not here to deny the value of cold plunges and podcasts—we appreciate them, too. In a culture that rewards men displaying stoicism and mental fortitude, we are glad they have become part of mainstream culture, normalizing discomfort and mental health.
Tensions Between Grieving Hearts and Western Minds
There is a lack of grief and death literacy occurring across the modern world. It can be even harder to share about mystical experiences associated with death when grief itself is taboo. Openly discussing the intersections between grief, death, and mystical experiences can benefit many. This post was co-authored with Jodi Gorham. Conversations around grief and loss have often become socially awkward, as many people don’t know how to respond or what to even say.
Are Near-Death Experiences Real?
I recently had the privilege to discuss near death experiences with Monika Mandoki, a philosopher and author who specializes in philosophical issues surrounding near death experiences. What are near-death experiences? Monika: Firstly, there is no consensus on the definition of near-death experiences (NDEs). Having said that, near-death experiences can be described as unusual, realistic and vivid experiences that happen to people who are either physiologically or psychologically close to death.
Are Near-Death Experiences Real? - Mark Shelvock Rp
Columnists Actual . Favourites . Archive Aa Aa Aa - A + ..... © Psychology Today visit website
Understanding Psychosis: A Continuum Of Trauma, Dissociation
Developmental trauma is correlated with a greater risk of developing psychological fragmentation. Psychosis is an instinctive response to overwhelming stress and complex intersectional trauma. Psychosis can be understood as part of the dissociation continuum. Co-authored by Ann Bayly-Bruneel Psychosis means experiencing a break with everyday reality, where we may struggle to determine if our perceptions are real or unreal.
Majority of NA Adults Have Adverse Childhood Experiences
Four in ten adults in Europe and six in ten in North America (NA) have experienced at least one ACE. ACEs are correlated with life-threatening chronic illnesses later in life. WHO estimates a financial toll of $581 billion for Europe and $748 billion in North America due to ACEs. Source: Arwan Sutanto / Unsplash Childhood trauma has long-lasting impacts well into adulthood.
Awareness and Change: How Psychodynamic Therapy Supports Healing
Research confirms that psychodynamic therapy is an effective form of talk therapy. Self-knowledge, insight, and awareness is essential for positive change in a person's life. Psychodynamic therapy can offer long-term lasting benefits, and reduce short-term negative symptoms.
Haunted by Loss: Grieving During Halloween - Mark Shelvock Rp
Fall is a time of change in the northern hemisphere; leaves fall, the air gets colder, the days become shorter, summer ends, and the harvest begins. Symbolically, autumn is also associated with a time of endings, transitions, and decay. This is evocatively captured by Halloween, which is associated with so many symbols of dying, death, change, and transformation.
Ethical Principles in Mental Health Care - Mark Shelvock Rp
Ethical principles are especially pertinent to the conduct of professionals in psychology and psychiatry. The hard work comes when principles are in conflict, and clinicians must consider what values, biases, and obligations matter most.
New APA Book: Death as an Altered State of Consciousness
Source: Josh Marshall / Unsplash You are going to die. Hopefully, you don’t feel personally victimized by this realization, as everybody dies. While the awareness of death can evoke a wide range of responses and experiences within us, it is a natural part of life. Physical death is inevitable, although most of us don’t know how or when death will occur.
4 Ways to Connect With Your Authentic Self
Key points Psychotherapy broadly translates to caring for the soul. Early childhood experiences in life can make us lose connection with our personal authenticity. We suffer when we live a life that doesn’t align with the deepest aspect of ourselves. Source: Photo by julien Tromeur on Unsplash Psyche is derived from the Greek word psykhe, which broadly translates to soul or spirit.
4 Ways to Connect With Your Authentic Self - Mark Shelvock Rp
Psyche is derived from the Greek word psykhe, which broadly translates to soul or spirit. In the simplest sense, psychotherapy means tending to and caring for one’s own soul.1 While the idea of therapy being soul-medicine may feel abstract to some, many psychotherapists, psychologists, mental health counsellors, and psychoanalysts take this notion seriously within evidence-based, insight-oriented, and somatic psychotherapeutic traditions.
Do You "See" Dead People? Sensory Experiences in Bereavement
Recent research shows that bereaved individuals can have spontaneous sensory or quasi-sensory experiences of the deceased; this has been found to be a common event within the grieving process.1 Terms to describe this experience in the literature have been categorized by many names such as after-death communications, extraordinary experiences in bereavement, post-death contact, and spontaneous contact with the deceased, amongst others.
Do You "See" Dead People? Sensory Experiences in Bereavement
Key points Psychological research confirms that sensory or quasi-sensory experiences in bereavement are common, non-pathological experiences. Sensory experiences range significantly, but in all cases bereaved people simply get the feeling that a specific deceased person is around. These extraordinary bereavement experiences are mostly perceived as comforting and reassuring.
Have You Ever Wondered What Your Dreams Mean?
Key points Dreams have been reflected on by millions of people across various cultures, societies, and historical time periods. Dreams interpretation and dream analysis continue to play a role in today’s world of psychotherapy. The value of dream interpretation within therapeutic environments is supported by research. Source: Chip, my dog, is sleeping and dreaming. This image is the personal property of Mark Shelvock, the author of this article.
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