Do you ever wonder what happened when you hear a couple married for many years is heading for divorce court? How much time did they spend on planning their marriage versus their wedding day? Would the outcome of their marriage have been different if they sat down and learned what their strengths are as couple and what areas could’ve contributed to distress in their relationship?

Pre-marital counseling is one of the best things you can do for the longevity of your relationship! Once you have determined you are in a relationship you want for the long term, take a moment and learn how to strengthen your relationship. Find out what your challenging areas are. Discover if you both have enough common values, goals and communication tools to help you through the challenging times. Learn not only to deal with differences and disagreements, but to also take the time to celebrate and recognize the positive qualities in each other and your relationship.

Does it seem like you and your partner argue about the same things over and over and go nowhere? Do you find it stressful and emotionally draining at times to be with your partner and want to be able to work through the challenges? There is hope. Navigating a relationship can be like going on a lovely hike to a beautiful secluded spot; the hike has various places that are harder then others, and each person has their own way of navigating those paths. Throughout the hike you are working towards something very special; the knowledge you have of the path, your expectations, planning, pattern of being and doing all impact the journey. We need to take the time to understand what our realistic needs and wants are in the relationship and if our partner and the relationship are able to meet those needs. Couple counseling invites you to do some self-exploration, to learn why unhealthy patterns start and continue, how to stop them and create healthier patterns of interacting and being with each other.

Do you find yourself constantly arguing with your family member(s)? Do you find there is a general lack of respect, peace and comfort at home and/or when you are around family? No matter if you are fighting with a family member you live with or one that is outside your home, engaging in a unhealthy family relationship can be a struggle and at times it can even impact your daily life. At Ohana Counseling you can learn how to function as a healthy family. Learn what gets in the way of your desired goals and what are your unhealthy patterns of being and relating are. Learn how to create healthy ways of communicating your needs and wishes with each other so that each person feels respected, heard and cared for.

Are you heading for divorce or recently divorced? Divorce often evokes complex emotions and multiple changes. One day you might feel great, enjoying the freedom of being single, another day you may feel depressed and/or angry. Perhaps you may experience multiple feelings all at once or maybe you are completely numb. What ever you are or aren’t feeling, the fact is life as you know it has changed, and now its time to start a new life. What will that look like? What does it mean now that you are divorced? What changes will have to be made for yourself and, if you have children, for them? Like any loss and change; it is important to recognize how you feel and the impact change is having on you. Take time for yourself; learn how to adjust to the ‘new normal’. Together we will identify strategies to help get you through the tough days, to adjust to the new normal and to work towards a brighter and better tomorrow.

Do you constantly feel stressed in certain environments and/or around certain people? Do you constantly feel stressed? A certain degree of stress is normal and necessary; it can be utilized as a motivator to propel you forward. It can be managed and isn’t an issue if it doesn’t impact your ability to function in a healthy manner. If however, you find stress impacting your quality of sleep, relationships, job, or overall health, then it’s important to seek guidance on how to curb and manage your stress and how you react to it. Learn (if you don’t know all ready) what contributes to your stress level, how to manage and minimize it and how to utilize it so it works for you.

Do you find you have low energy and little or no motivation? Are you critical of yourself and your future? Do you find you want to sleep most of the day? Do you feel helpless and/or hopeless? Have you had suicidal thoughts? There are many factors that could contribute to your depression starting and continuing, such as negative thoughts (psychological), unhealthy relationships (social) and chemical imbalances (biological). No matter how often or when you feel depressed, it’s important to know there is hope and life can get better.

At OCH you will learn what contributes to your depression, how to create healthy internal and external environments, coping and problem-solving skills and how to be aware of the red flags so as not to sink back into depression. In counseling you are not judged and allowed to just be; you will have someone invested in your well being who will work with you to create a clear and concrete plan for a brighter and better future.

*If you are suicidal and have plans to end your life, it is important to seek help IMMEDIATELY!
Immediate help can be reached by calling 911 or the Distress Centre’s 24-hour Hotline at 403.266.HELP (4357).
You can also call the Sheldon Chumir at 403.955.6200.

Do you find yourself constantly worrying about what could happen to you, your future, and/or your loved ones? Are you afraid of the unpredictable and/or afraid of what you predict may happen? Does you’re anxiety cause you to feel physically ill? At times anxiety can impact where you decide to go, who you socialize with, how you feel about your ability to handle situations and how you choose to live your life.

Experiencing anxiety is not a problem; it is a normal part of life. It can be a problem however, when it holds you back from accomplishing your goals and functioning fully in a healthy manner. Learn how to realistically assess the risks you face and your resources and/or abilities you have to handle those risks. Learn how to work through your anxiety, what to do about it and in some circumstances, eliminate it all together. Learn to manage and use your anxiety in a way that it works for and not against you.

Have you recently lost a loved one? A job? A pet? A social circle? A relationship? Whatever loss you have experienced it’s important to take time; time to work through your emotions and the changes the come with the loss. Grief is a normal reaction to a loss and can be accompanied by many complex emotions. It can also be accompanied at times by a disturbance in sleep and appetite, and a ability to concentrate, for example. Grief is highly personal and each person has his or her own way of dealing with loss. Discover how to move through the grief, how life can go on and a new normal can begin to emerge.

Are you constantly criticizing yourself and/or lack confidence? Do you feel that no matter what you accomplish it’s not good enough? Do have a hard time standing up for yourself and what you want? Do you struggle with boundaries? Low self-esteem can show itself in many ways and in many areas. Various factors may impact our self-esteem and confidence. Areas of influence may include our family-of-origin, relationships, environments, work, internal dialogue and a disconnect between our goals and values and how we live our life. Ohana Counseling is a safe, non-judgmental caring place for you to be authentically you. Learn what factors get in the way of your self-esteem and self-confidence being where you want it to be. Learn how to improve your self-esteem and self-confidence, how to create firm healthy boundaries and relationships and how be more assertive. You can learn how to be more confident and stand up for yourself, your values and what is truly important to you. At OCH you can create the change you wish to see; take the time to explore and celebrate who you are and what you have to offer.

Do you find yourself feeling everything needs to be just right, perfect? Do you find your need for perfectionism impacting your relationships or job, or perhaps it even gets in the way of accomplishing your goals or finishing a task? Aiming high and doing well is a good thing; however, when you desire perfectionism all the time for everything, you are setting yourself, and others, up for failure. A feeling of failure can create negative emotions about ourselves, our future and others. Redefine your values, goals and definition of success. Learn what fuels the desire to be perfect, and how to have high standards without being overtly critical of yourself or others. Learn how to be happy with being perfectly imperfect and imperfectly perfect.

Have you come to a crossroads in life? Do you find that each day blends into another and you want more? Do you want to grow personally and professionally? Rediscover what excites you, how your values, hopes and aspirations speak to which road to travel. Learn how to grow and become authentically you, authentically living and working towards a better and brighter future that inspires and excites.

Does constant pain make life more challenging or at times seemingly unbearable? Medication can bring relief, as well as some unwelcome side effects. Ever wonder if there is a way to manage pain without medication? There is! Much research has been done on the use of hypnosis to treat pain effectively. Through Ohana Counseling you are able to speak to how pain impacts your life and the change you wish to see. Hypnosis can help you learn how to manage and in some cases eliminate the sensation of pain all together. At OCH learn to live a life full of more comfort and peace.

Before seeking help for the use of hypnosis for pain management it is important to have first consulted with your doctor

Do you find yourself over-eating? Or do you discover by the end of the day you’ve hardly eaten a bite? Do you find yourself lighting up yet another cigarette in the cold Calgary weather and wondering, is this worth it? If you engage in unhealthy behaviour, such as overeating and smoking, there are many ‘diets’ and ‘treatments’ available. If you are interested in finding a natural way of being healthy, without having to engage in a fad diet or a nicotine patch, then look no further.

To be healthy, one has to think healthy, and utilize their inner resources to tackle their goals. Hypnosis can be an effective way to work through your roadblocks; you can learn to think, do and be healthier. Hypnosis is a part of the Ohana Counseling process; here you discover what contributes to your unhealthy patterns, how to change them and create healthier ways of being. Together we can work towards better overall health, physically, emotionally and psychologically.

Ever notice that even professional jugglers don’t necessarily balance everything all the time? Sometimes there are objects in the air, two objects in one hand, and one in another. Do you ever feel like a juggler on a unicycle with too many objects? Want to learn how to choose what’s important to juggle, when and how? Or perhaps you don’t want to juggle at all. Learn how to choose what deserves your time and when. Gain a sense of peace with how your life is going, explore more about yourself, your values, goals, schedules and what your ideal life would look like. Redefine your work/life balancing act and learn when you need to sit down and take a moment for what’s really important. The next time you have a lot to juggle, you will have chosen the amount and the quality. You will learn how to effectively manage your time and know when you need to stop, take a moment and breath.

Ever wonder if there is more to life then what we see? Are you a spiritual or religious person or a person of no faith who is seeking? You are not alone in your struggles, nor do you need to try and handle it all yourself. You are perfectly imperfect and imperfectly perfect and God loves you all the same. When you walk in the sand and see one set of footprints instead of two, know that it is than that God is carrying you. Faith based counseling is available for those seeking and for those who would like help with not only their emotional and psychological health but with their spiritual health as well.

Do you find yourself over-eating? Or do you discover by the end of the day you’ve hardly eaten a bite? Do you find yourself lighting up yet another cigarette in the cold Calgary weather and wondering, is this worth it? If you engage in unhealthy behaviour, such as overeating and smoking, there are many ‘diets’ and ‘treatments’ available. If you are interested in finding a natural way of being healthy, without having to engage in a fad diet or a nicotine patch, then look no further.

To be healthy, one has to think healthy, and utilize their inner resources to tackle their goals. Hypnosis can be an effective way to work through your roadblocks; you can learn to think, do and be healthier. Hypnosis is a part of the Ohana Counseling process; here you discover what contributes to your unhealthy patterns, how to change them and create healthier ways of being. Together we can work towards better overall health, physically, emotionally and psychologically.