how we can help

Navigating Change & Diagnosis

At times, trauma, transitions and medical diagnoses overlap.
This can feel confusing. Let's help you sort it out.

Scroll

TRANSITIONS AND DIAGNOSIS

Treatments are available for trauma, transition, & psychological conditions

Counselling psychotherapy with a skilled clinician experienced in treating these conditions is immensely helpful. Along with medication and behavioural interventions, counselling is the recommended treatment for these conditions listed below.

Learn more

TRAUMA:
DISTRESSING LIFE EVENTS

FIRST RESPONDERS

Burnout
Compassion Fatigue
Vicarious Trauma

These three terms are interrelated and yet different from one another. Burnout describes the physical and emotional exhaustion workers experience when they have low job satisfaction and feel powerless and overwhelmed. Burnout is usually easily resolved through self care and time off. Compassion Fatigue is the "cost of caring" for others in emotional pain when the helper or responder is unable to refuel and regenerate. Vicarious trauma refers to the way repeated exposure to other people's traumas can alter and even damage fundamental beliefs about the world that helping professionals hold dear.

CRITICAL INCIDENTS

Motor vehicle incidents
Death or injury to self or other
All forms of assault, including:
Sexual violence
Domestic violence
Intimate partner violence
Fires
Natural disasters, etc.

Trauma is broadly defined as a deeply distressing or emotionally disturbing experience. Trauma is diagnosed based on symptoms, and the degree it negatively impacts thoughts, emotions, and overall quality of life.

Intergenerational trauma

Intergenerational trauma acknowledges the lingering impact of war, famine, and violence on a family system, over generations. What is merely an unpleasant event for one person might be deeply traumatic to another. Especially heinous are the multiple traumas of colonization upon Indigenous people through institutions such as the residential school system.

ADJUSTMENTS AND
TRANSITIONS

AGING

Transitions are episodic and brief changes to psychological wellbeing, often stress-induced. At the heart of the matter is difficulty in coping, and a shortage of resiliency.

Transitions, when they induce stress, may result in an Adjustment Disorder diagnosis. Transitions can sometimes become traumatizing, but perhaps not become a diagnosable mental health condition. Your healthcare professional can best advise you.

Transitions can include:

Changes to Psychological Wellbeing:
Acute stress
Chronic stress
Depression caused by: environment, job loss, etc.

Aging:
Disability
Chronic disease
Cognitive deficits
Existential fears

Health-Related:
Acute illness
Chronic illness
Chronic pain

RELATIONSHIPS

Romantic
Communication difficulties
Financial stressors
Intimacy and sexuality issues
Sexual dysfunction
Separation
Divorce
End of long-term partnership
Death of partner/spouse/family member
Eldercare and Caregiving in general
Palliative care, and end of life decisions

Parenting
Becoming a new parent
Parenting challenges
Coparenting

LGBTQI2S+
issues Sexuality and Sexual Orientation:
Coming out/exploring/questioning
Sexual orientation
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer, two spirit

Gender Identity / Transitions
Coming out/exploring/questioning/transitioning
Gender Identity
Trans, transgender, genderqueer, intersex, nonbinary
Disability
Palliative care

TRAUMA:
DISTRESSING LIFE EVENTS

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISRORDERS

Psychological disorders can cause major impairment in daily functioning, work, school, and virtually all aspects of living, including the quality of our interpersonal relationships.

With appropriate diagnosis and treatment, however, people can find relief from their symptoms and, through psychotherapy, learn new ways to better cope

DEVELOPMENTAL

Neurodevelopmental Disorders:
Intellectual Disability
Global Developmental Delay
Communication Disorders
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity (ADHD)

Bipolar and Related Disorders:
Mania
Depressive Episodes

DISSOCIATION

Dissociative Disorders:
Dissociative Amnesia
Dissociative Identity
Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder

Somatic Symptom Disorders:
Somatic Symptom Disorder
Illness Anxiety Disorder
Conversion Disorder
Factitious Disorder

DISRUPTION

Disruptive Disorders:
Kleptomania
Pyromania
Intermittent Explosive Disorder
Conduct Disorder
Oppositional Defiant Disorder

ADDICTIONS

Substance-Related Disorders:
Alcohol-Related Disorders
Cannabis-Related Disorders
Inhalant-Use Disorders
Stimulant Use disorder
Tobacco Use Disorder
Gambling Disorder

Neurocognitive Disorders:
Delirium
Major and Mild Neurocognitive Disorders

PERSONALITY

Personality Disorders:
Antisocial
Avoidant
Borderline
Dependent
Histrionic
Narcissistic
Obsessive-Compulsive (OCDPD)
Paranoid
Schizoid
Schizotypal

THE DSM: How MDs Diagnose and Treat Mental Health

The DSM is one of the most widely used systems for classifying mental disorders and provides standardized diagnostic criteria. A diangosis can be the first step in determining a treatment plan.

The following list includes some of the major categories of disorders described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The latest edition of the diagnostic manual was released in 2022.

ANXIETY

Anxiety Disorders:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Agoraphobia
Social Anxiety Disorder
Specific Phobias
Panic Disorder
Separation Anxiety Disorder

Stress-Related Disorders:
Acute Stress Disorder
Adjustment Disorders
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Reactive Attachment Disorder

EATING DISORDERS

Eating Disorders:
Anorexia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa
Pica
Binge-Eating Disorder

Sleep Disorders:
NarcolepsyInsomnia Disorder
Hypersomnolence
Breathing-Related Sleep Disorders
Parasomnias, Restless Legs Syndrome

DEPRESSION

Depressive Disorders:
Disruptive Mood Disregulation Disorder
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia)
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD, PMS)
Substance/Medication-Induced Depressive Disorder
Depressive Disorder due to Other Medical Condition
Other or Unspecified Depressive Disorder

SCHIZO-AFFECTIVE

list heading
Paranoid Schizophrenia
Catatonic Schizophrenia
Residual Schizophrenia
Disorganized Schizophrenia
Undifferentiated Schizophrenia
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Body-Dysmorphic Disorder
Hoarding Disorder
Trichotillomania (Hair Pulling Disorder)
Excoriation Disorder (Skin Picking)
Substance/Medication-Induced OCD
OCD and Related Disorder due to onother Medical Condition

TREATMENTS FOR TRAUMA, TRANSITIONS, PSYCHOLOGICAL

Counselling psychotherapy with a skilled clinician experienced in treating these conditions is immensely helpful, and, along with medication and behavioural interventions, psychotherapy is the recommended treatment for these conditions.We will tap into your strengths, in order to unleash your innate wisdom, and capacity to be well. We believe that you, and only you, truly know the healing path forward.

Book an Appointment