Living in a world where injustice, violence, and systemic oppression are daily realities—especially for marginalized communities—can take a real toll on our bodies, minds, and spirits.

When we are confronted with news of human rights violations, political attacks on our identities, rising global crises, and social unrest, it’s natural to feel flooded.

Feeling overwhelmed, unsafe, or anxious in response to this isn’t a personal failing—it’s an appropriate, human response to an unjust world.

And yet, for many of us, tuning out entirely doesn’t feel like an option. We care deeply. We want to stay informed. We want to do our part. But the constant exposure to harm—especially when it directly impacts our community—can lead to emotional burnout, nervous system dysregulation, and a sense of powerlessness.

So how do we stay present, informed, and engaged without drowning?

Here are some thoughts and tips that center an anti-oppressive lens, honoring both your need to stay informed and your right to care for yourself.

🌍 1. It’s Not “Too Much”—It Is Too Much

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s not because you’re too sensitive or can’t handle the truth—it’s because what’s happening is unjust, harmful, and in many cases, terrifying. You are not overreacting.

We often think of stress as something obvious—panic attacks, racing thoughts, or total emotional breakdowns. But the truth is, stress can be much more subtle. It can sneak into our routines, shift our moods, and show up in our bodies long before we’re even aware something’s off.

Whether you’re navigating a busy season, juggling emotional demands, or just living in today’s fast-paced world, stress can easily build up under the surface. Here are 8 common, everyday signs that your stress levels might be running higher than you think:

1. Irritability or Mood Swings

You might find yourself snapping at people you care about, feeling on edge for no clear reason, or struggling to manage minor frustrations. Irritability is often one of the first signs your nervous system is overstimulated.

2. Mental Fog or Difficulty Focusing

When stress is high, your brain goes into survival mode—leaving little room for memory, planning, or attention. If you’ve been zoning out, rereading the same sentence, or forgetting basic tasks, it might be stress talking.

3. Disrupted Sleep

Stress can interfere with both falling and staying asleep. Maybe your mind races at night, or you’re waking up frequently and can’t get back to sleep. Even with 8 hours in bed, you might feel exhausted in the morning.

In this blog post we will be reviewing some of the different types of organizations that exist in the mental health field. We hope this will help folks understand what is available to them and how to better navigate mental health services. There are many different kinds of mental health services available, the ones we will touch base on will be non-for-profit organizations, private practices, employee assistance programs (EAP’s) and crisis/help lines.

Private Practice: A private practice offers ongoing therapy with registered therapists which is paid for privately by the person accessing the service. In private practice you can access all sorts of therapy such as family therapy, couples therapy, and individual therapy. You can also receive different kinds of therapy such as DBT, CBT, ACT, mindfulness-based intervention etc... Because it is paid for privately there are often no waitlists and no limitation to the length or frequency of services. You will also be able to choose the therapist you feel is right for you and often these practices offer free consultations so you can talk to different clinicians to get a feel for what works best for you. While this is a fee-for-service organization, often people who have benefits through their employer or through a family member and will be able to claim private practice services to be reimbursed. Some places also offer a limited number of sliding scale spots for folks needing financial assistance, but this is limited in most cases.

Sometimes it is hard to know the difference between acceptance and toxic positivity. Often when we attempt to turn our minds towards acceptance, we can accidentally land in toxic positivity instead. One reason for this is because our society promotes toxic positivity, we hear it everywhere, on social media, on the shows we watch, from friends and family, and often in the stigma surrounding mental health and wellbeing.

In this post we will be looking at the difference between radical acceptance and toxic positivity, how to spot the difference and how to be mindful of toxic positivity in our lives and in our thoughts.

What is radical acceptance?

Radical Acceptance is a conscious decision to let go of fighting reality. Acceptance takes commitment and effort and often requires us to move out of our comfort zone. It means acknowledging that experiencing pain (physical and emotional) is sometimes unavoidable and is part of the human experience. We practice acceptance because: rejecting reality does not change reality, we cannot change our reality unless we accept it first, not all pain can be avoided, rejecting reality leads us to suffering and refusing to accept reality can keep us stuck.

What is a Psychologist? What is a Psychotherapist? What is the difference between a Psychologist and Psychotherapist? Can I see a Clinical Social worker? What is RP vs. RP (Qualifying)? Do I have insurance coverage for counselling services?

These are all great questions and are things that can make looking for a therapist/counsellor a bit confusing. In this blog we will touch base on the different types of therapists/counsellors in Ontario and what that means for you. We will also touch base on how to know if you have coverage through an employer or benefit company for counselling services.

Types of therapists/counsellors in Ontario:

There are several different types of therapists/counsellors that you can see in Ontario that are licensed to provide psychotherapy to their clients. The difference between each therapist/counsellor is the kind of education they have completed, the regulatory body they are registered with, and the standards they must achieve/abide by to maintain their licensing. Each regulatory body or college has their own standards and regulations that a therapist/counsellor must follow to be licensed with them. The three types of therapists/counsellors we will talk about in this blog will be Psychologists, Psychotherapists and Social Workers.

What is somatic healing, how do we practice it, and how can it help us in our lives? Learn all about somatic healing, also known as somatic therapy, below and contact us today — we offer a easy to use, secure and confidential online therapy and counselling services!