Issues for a Psychotherapist in Mississauga or Oakville
A case studies in Mississauga or Oakville or surrounding areas faces some key issues that recur frequently. Therapists in urban or rural areas face them, too, but they take on very specific forms in suburbia.
Isolation and Connection
It may not be apparent, but many people in suburban communities have to wrestle with loneliness, despite all the messages of family and togetherness. The struggle that many people face is to find some meaningful connection with others. No one wants to find themselves totally isolated, whether through geography, lack of time to make connections, or inability to find people with whom they have anything in common.
What is Persona: False Self, Real Self, Identity
We all need to wear social masks, but in suburban communities, those social masks can be particularly thick. We may even have a lot of trouble distinguishing between our “social mask” — and who we really are. Beyond the mask, what is really my own? What do I really think and feel? What do I really want for myself?
Wealth: Too Much, Too Little
We pretend money is very rational, but wealth is actually a particularly emotional subject. That is certainly true in suburban communities, where peoples’ identity very often hinges on their wealth and possessions. People wrestle with how much is enough and whether they have to sacrifice who they are to make enough wealth for their needs. This can be a real source of pain.
Hidden Pain
In communities like ours, we often subtly and unknowingly put pressure on people to look good. And very often people do look good, and hide away the pain and difficulty in their lives, and then feel even lonelier. People need some place where someone will listen to their story, and really witness and accept what they are going through in their lives.
Don’t Get Old!
How does one age with dignity and grace in communities that are all oriented to youth, family and children? In our current, aging population, people are often made to feel that getting older is failure. Couple that with the present environment where getting a job past age 55 is greatly more difficult, and getting older starts to feel like almost a crime. We’ve lost the sense of wisdom and completion that goes with getting older in many cultures.
These issues call for case studies that will bring healing, connection, meaning, and a resilient sense of personal identity. Depth case studies, such as Jungian analysis can bring this, by grounding us in our own deepest selves.
Brian Collinson, Psychotherapist & Jungian Analyst
Main Website for Brian’s Oakville and Mississauga Practice
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1-905-337-3946
