Sweetgrass & Sage Counselling and Assessment Services

12/22/2025

What are a social worker’s ethical obligations when clients do not show up for services? Consider a client who misses a scheduled meeting with you. You follow up, but the client does not respond. What now?

12/22/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KZy2F1o95/?mibextid=wwXIfr

We know the holiday season can be filled with many different emotions. Please see the attached list of resources. Reach out for care:
Eskasoni Crisis Centre: 1-855-379-2099, 24/7 telephone support for Indigenous community members
• National Indian Residential School Survivor Crisis Line: 1-866-925-
4419, available 24/7
• Su***de Crisis Helpline: call or text 988, 24/7 telephone and texting support
• Nova Scotia Mental Health Crisis Line: 1-888-429-8167, available
24/7
• 211: If you have concerns for your well-being or the well-being of others, you can call the Men’s Helpline, Women’s Helpline, or the All Genders Helpline. The helplines are free, confidential and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Mobile Crisis Team: 902-429-8167, 24/7 telephone support, mobile response capabilities within HRM at specific times
• Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668- 6868 or text support at 686868
• The Trevor Project (2SLGBTQ|+ ages 13-24): 1-866-488-7386 or
thetrevorproject.org/contact-us/
• POSSE Outreach and Crisis Response: 902-799-0752 or contact the POSSE Facebook or Instagram page, 8am-8pm, phone and text support, mobile response within West Hants

12/18/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1aicwrCiGm/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Feelings of grief will not stop for a holiday, a wedding, or other “cheerful” event. Coping with grief during the holidays is challenging and requires support and understanding.

12/18/2025

Feelings of grief will not stop for a holiday, a wedding, or other “cheerful” event. Coping with grief during the holidays is challenging and requires support and understanding.

12/06/2025

Today, on December 6, we remember the 14 young women murdered at Polytechnique Montréal.

The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women calls us to honour their lives, acknowledge all who have experienced gender-based violence, and commit to taking meaningful action.

We remember. We mourn. We act.

12/06/2025

12/06/2025

Today, on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, CASW remembers the 14 women murdered at École Polytechnique in 1989 and all those whose lives have been lost or forever impacted by gender-based violence.

CASW remembers Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, and Annie Turcotte. Their names remind us of the urgent need to continue confronting gender-based violence in all its forms.

Gender-based violence is a human rights issue that affects women, girls, and gender-diverse people across every community. Indigenous, Black, and racialized women continue to face disproportionate risks due to intersecting forms of oppression, including racism, colonialism, and economic inequity.

Join CASW in honouring those we have lost by committing to eliminate all forms of violence against women. Attend a vigil, share resources, and support initiatives that promote safety, justice, and equality in your community.

12/06/2025

December 6 — National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Today we pause to remember the 14 young women whose lives were brutally taken simply because they were women — their names forever etched in our collective memory.

We remember:
Geneviève Bergeron
Hélène Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Maryse Laganière
Maryse Leclair
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Michèle Richard
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz

On this solemn day, we honour their memory — daughters, sisters, students — taken from us far too soon.Their lives remind us why work to end gender-based violence is so urgent. Their names call us to action: to support survivors, challenge misogyny, and foster communities of safety, respect, and equality.

Today, let us recommit — for them, and for every person harmed by violence because of their gender.

11/25/2025

Today, November 25th, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the start of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (November 25th to December 10th).

For the next 16 days, we will be sharing daily posts to honour and support this movement.

Here are ten ways you can take action today:

1. Listen to and believe survivors when they share their story with you.
2. Educate yourself and others.
3. Learn the signs of abuse and how you can help.
4. Start having conversations with peers; teach and/or listen to them as well.
5. Teach and listen to the next generation regarding accountability, consent, and boundaries.
6. Advocate for others and their rights and safety.
7. Challenge any biases you may have and stand against gender stereotypes.
8. Hold others accountable (when safe to do so). Catcalling, sexist, and sexual comments and/or “jokes” feed into violence against women.
9. Sign petitions or donate to causes you believe in.
10. Be involved in your community and attend events that support women.

UN Women. (2024). 10 ways you can help end violence against women. https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/take-action-10-ways-you-can-help-end-violence-against-women

11/21/2025

11/04/2025

11/02/2025

Although PTSD (and soon CPTSD) appear in the DSM, it alters the brain and must be viewed as a brain injury. This is why psychotherapy is complex and often requires thinking outside the box. It is not ever a “one size fits all” approach in treatment and remission. EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) is one modality which has been proven to be evidence-based, as well as best practice. EMDR focuses on desensitization and reprocessing of the trauma through the utilization of eye movements. It can be used as a stand alone treatment, as well as being paired with other techniques and treatment modalities.