Charlene Marshall is a fiercely independent 30-something-year-old who can’t sit still. She loves coffee, wine tasting, playing with her dog, and spending time on the beach with her family. She’s a lover of all things travel, and never passes up an opportunity for a dip in the ocean! A proud Canadian, Charlene was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in 2016 after 13 months of investigation into sudden shortness of breath, a chronic cough, and unusual fatigue. IPF has forced her to slow down, but she’s slowly learning the value of quality versus quantity in everything she does.
Grief is one of the more complex emotions we experience. In my practice as a therapist, I regularly support people who are grieving, and I have a variety of therapeutic ways to respond to someone who is processing loss.
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As a young adult, I feel competent in many aspects of my life. In my career, I’m a new clinical manager in the field of psychotherapy, and I feel grateful that things are going well. Personally, I can carry…
Living with a chronic illness takes commitment, patience, and endurance. A lot of energy is required to manage your disease, medication schedules, procedures, and medical equipment. For me, equipment management means keeping my oxygen tanks in working order, as…
Living with a chronic illness can be a lonely experience. It feels isolating because it’s difficult for my peers, who are in their mid-30s, to understand what life with an invisible, yet debilitating, illness is like. While I’m…
What a busy but blessed year 2022 was for me! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are enjoying the first few days of the new year. When I was in college, someone told me that…
I have a love-hate relationship with pulmonary rehabilitation. With rapidly declining lungs due to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), it’s hard to exercise. Despite this, exercise is one of the most important things a patient with IPF…
Life is full of important reflections. As a child and teenager, I moved at lightning speed, never wanting to miss out on an opportunity. Since I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in 2016, I’ve been…
Being diagnosed with a chronic illness changes everything. In addition to the physical changes, patients endure emotional, mental, and social ones as well. This is especially true for those of us thrown into the chronic illness world as a…
Being short of breath is the worst feeling I’ve ever experienced. Sadly, it’s been getting progressively worse since I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in 2016. Shortness of breath, or dyspnea, is one of the…
Navigating the healthcare system on a regular basis can be draining. This is especially true considering that many hospitals, acute care clinics, and family physicians are struggling to deal with a backlog of patients in the wake of the…
I have always been passionate about professional development and am often the first to express interest in training sessions, conferences, or webinars to enhance my learning in the field of psychotherapy. Professional development stretches my thinking and introduces concepts…
The benefits of mindfulness are becoming more prevalent in literature. A quick search on social media or Google will reveal not only the importance of practicing mindfulness regularly, but also an abundance of self-led practice videos and articles about…
Learning to live with a chronic illness is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my young adult life. It’s stressful mentally, financially, socially, and emotionally. That’s in addition to the difficult physical challenges. Sometimes that stress manifests in…
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