Sacred Journey Therapy Blog

Ted Talks

Childhood trauma isn’t something you just get over as you grow up. Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain.

By Mental Health First Aid USA on July 22, 2025

“Doomscroll.” “Brainrot.” These terms, and more like them, refer to the amount of time we spend absorbing negativity from our phone’s news and social media feeds. And they’ve quickly become part of our everyday vocabularies. Read More

In her TED Talk, Kasley Killam argues that social health—the quality of our relationships—is just as vital as physical and mental health. She tells the story of “Maya,” a woman with a healthy lifestyle who still felt unwell due to a lack of connection. Killam reveals that loneliness affects 1 in 4 people globally and increases health risks as much as smoking or obesity.

She introduces the 5-3-1 rule: connect with 5 people weekly, nurture 3 close relationships, and spend 1 hour a day in meaningful connection. Through stories and science, Killam makes a compelling case that investing in our social lives is essential to happiness, resilience, and longevity.

Her vision? A world where social health is taught, prioritized, and practiced—like fitness for the soul.

Toxic shame is not just the feeling that we’ve done something wrong—it’s the belief that we are something wrong. It often takes root early in life, especially in environments where a child’s emotions, needs, or mistakes were met not with guidance or reassurance, but with humiliation, criticism, or neglect. Over time, instead of thinking “I made a mistake,” the person begins to feel, “I am a mistake.”

Unlike healthy shame, which can act like a moral compass—helping us recognize when we’ve hurt someone or stepped outside our values—toxic shame lingers and spreads. It becomes a lens through which a person sees themselves, often without realizing it. It whispers things like “You’re not good enough,” “You don’t belong,” or “If people really knew you, they’d leave.”

People living with toxic shame often try to protect themselves from being seen too closely. They might avoid relationships, strive for perfection, numb themselves with substances or overachievement, or keep their emotional world tightly locked down. At the core, they fear being exposed, not because they’ve done something wrong, but because they believe that they themselves are wrong.

Healing from toxic shame begins with connection—with being seen and accepted by another person in a way that contradicts the old story. In therapy, this often involves gently untangling the shame from the person’s identity, helping them recognize that these painful beliefs are not who they are, but rather, what they learned to believe in order to survive. Through compassion, regulation, and attuned presence, the story of toxic shame can slowly be rewritten—replacing the message of defectiveness with one of dignity, worthiness, and belonging.

EMDR

ORONTO — The Canadian Mental Health Association says living with a mental health or substance use challenge is already hard but masking it can be even harder.

It’s no secret in the construction industry masking is commonplace, with many too afraid to speak up for fear of being ridiculed, judged or called not “tough enough” to deal with one’s “issues.”

This May 5 to 11, during Mental Health Week, people across Canada are being encouraged to look beyond the surface and see the whole person. See More Here