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Mission Statement
Dr.
Pilowsky and her team take pride in providing services in a respectful,
collaborative and sensitive manner, with respect to ethno-cultural, gender
and sexual issues. We strictly adhere to confidentiality and ethical
values.
Assessment Services
We have extensive
experience in conducting psychological assessments for
motor-vehicle accident
claims, WISB, personal injury and disability claims (including LTD,
ODSP, CPP), and medical malpractice claims. We also handle psychovocational
options, psycho-legal reports
and immigration cases
for refugees.
Psychological Services
We
offer counseling services for individuals, couples and
families in many areas, including:
Anger Management
Though you may feel
that anger is automatic and your temper is simply part of your character,
anger is actually an emotional reaction that can be changed, like any other.
The key is to become conscious of your tendency to react, and to choose to
act differently. Through anger management therapy, you will
discover that you have the power to eliminate unwanted, aggressive reactions
and to replace them with more productive responses. You will learn to
gain control of your emotions, and ultimately, your life.
Anxiety
The essential feature
of anxiety is acute apprehension and worry, and can include such physical
symptoms as fatigue, muscle tension, difficulty concentrating, restlessness,
irritability, and problems with sleep. Anxiety may be triggered by a
particular source, or by a variety of issues or events that we may not even
be aware were upsetting us. In therapy, we can help you manage the
tendency to worry “too much”, and show you how to manage unproductive
anxiety. We use techniques such as muscle relaxation, biofeedback,
breathing exercises, time-management tools, and other proven methods to
reduce anxiety.
Biofeedback
Biofeedback in a
therapeutic technique in which we teach our patients to use the signals from
their own bodies to improve their psychological well-being. By learning more
about how our bodies react to psychological distress, individuals are better
able to control their emotional reactions and cope more effectively.
Biofeedback has been proven to be particularly effective in helping people
with stress and anxiety-related problems.
Body
Image
Body image has become a
prominent source of concern in our society. Perhaps you are
considering drastic measures to improve physical aspects of your body you
are not happy with. Often, people view cosmetic surgery as a solution
to all their problems. From a psychological perspective, the reasons
for considering appearance-altering procedures should be examined. We
can assist you in exploring such issues as why you wish to change and what
you can expect emotionally, during and after surgery.
Couples Counseling
If
day-to-day stressors are having a negative impact on
your relationship with your partner, you can learn
techniques to minimize its impact and make the most of
your relationship. Some factors that often plague
relationships include infidelity, jealousy,
communication problems, and intimacy issues. These
problems could lead to you and your partner growing
apart and possibly to separation or divorce. With
our help, you can learn to deal with stressors, and
improve the quality of your relationship in which both
you and your partner feel valued and respected.
Depression
Depression is a
psychological disorder that profoundly affects a person’s functioning.
Symptoms include: low mood, suicidal thoughts, feelings of guilt or
worthlessness, loss of interest in things you previously enjoyed,
concentration difficultly, and feelings of loneliness. If you believe
you are suffering from depression, we can help you cope and improve, through
established therapeutic techniques.
Disability
Persons who suffer
major changes in their physical health are often upset or even devastated by
this change. We can help you learn techniques to alleviate these
feelings; fears about future recovery, and how to cope with pain and stress.
Domestic violence
Violence in a
relationship often stems from issues of control and power. If you are
experiencing physical, emotional or sexual abuse, it is time to seek
assistance. Conversely, if you realize that you are behaving towards
your loved ones in an abusive and controlling manner, we can teach you
essential skills to gain control of this damaging situation.
Grief and loss
The loss of a loved one
is a very difficult situation. There is no right way of coping with
death – each person responds to his/her loss in their own individual way.
Grief can include an attempt to maintain the emotional bond with the
deceased while experiencing the reality of the loss. Grief and
depression are different, but in many cases a depressive illness follows the
loss of a loved one. Symptoms of acute grief include feelings of
worthlessness and guilt; thoughts of suicide, and a prolonged inability to
return to important aspects of functioning such as working or enjoying
leisure activities. Grief counseling can help you navigate the stages
of grief in a supportive way, and teach you how to accept the loss, as well
as identify and express feelings related to the loss. The goal is to
learn to live without the deceased, make decisions alone and form new
relationships.
Jealousy
Romantic jealousy can
be emotionally very painful and quite destructive to a relationship.
Jealousy can be a normal reaction, especially when the person perceives a
real threat to the relationship and reacts in a reasonable fashion. When
there is no evidence of a real or even a probable threat to the
relationship, and a person engages in extreme and damaging thoughts and
behaviours, it is important that he or she receive professional help. Please
get in touch with us if you believe that you may have a problem with
jealousy, as it is likely causing you a great deal of anguish, and we can
help.
Pain Management
Psychological factors
play a very important role in a person's adjustment to pain. These factors
include mood, coping style, and beliefs about the experience of pain.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has been found to be highly effective in
helping people manage their pain. The treatment is tailored to the
individual needs of the person, and it generally aims to modify negative
thoughts related to pain and increase a person's level of activity and
functioning. Our team of therapists has extensive experience in helping
people with pain management.
Relaxation
With the increasing
tensions associated with modern life, it is often difficult to manage our
anxiety and stress-related problems. At Pilowsky Psychology, we have a great
deal of experience helping people with anxiety problems through relaxation.
We teach our patients to use several relaxation techniques, such as deep
breathing, meditation and breathing exercises. We can also teach you how to
become desensitized to specific causes of anxiety.
Stress in the Workplace
During therapy, you can
learn to deal with typical problems that lead to stress at work, including
toxic work environments, overwhelming workload demands, performance
pressures and deadlines.
Stress
Management
Stress is difficult to
define, but it broadly refers to a person's physical and emotional reaction
to change in their environment. Stress can be positive, as it can motivate
us to do things or to react quickly to things. When stress happens often or
lasts too long, however, it can have negative effects, such as insomnia,
stomach problems, anxiety, low mood, irritability, and others. At Pilowsky
Psychology, we can help you manage your stress with a variety of techniques
that have been proven effective. | |
