Manon Dulude Counseling Services

03/21/2026

03/16/2026

Needs vs. Wants: Distinguishing the Difference
by Manon Dulude Ph.D.

We’ve often heard how important it is to distinguish between our wants and needs. Many people are unaware of their true needs, and as a result, they find themselves pursuing things that don’t bring them satisfaction.

Assuming that you have air to breathe, food to eat and a secure roof over your head, now it’s time to attend to your emotional and psychological needs. This concept goes back as far as Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs, but we lose track of the importance of meeting our emotional needs and get distracted by our wants.

Needs are intrinsic, and wants are extrinsic. Simply put, when comparing Needs to Wants, it means the difference between ‘fulfilling’ yourself from the inside out versus ‘filling yourself up’ from the outside in. It’s about being rather than having.

Wants are driven by outside forces such as the media or wanting to keep up with others. We may think pursuing those wants will bring us happiness, yet when we acquire or achieve the wants, they temporarily satisfy us and eventually leave us deflated and wanting more. While pursuing the ‘outside in’ approach, we might also notice that we lack the focus and the motivation to attain our wants. I invite you to consider that wants are something that are nice to have, but that we can live without and be perfectly satisfied.

Needs are conditions, things, and feelings that you must have to be minimally satisfied in life. Often, needs are the things that must be met before you can really ‘get on’ with life. Examples of needs are: freedom, accomplishment, security, and acceptance. These are not to be bought; they are to be created.

When engaging in fulfilling your needs, you experience a drive toward action. Needs come from within, and when our actions are anchored in them, we are inspired and motivated to take steps. Identifying your needs will provide you with deep insight and clarity about yourself.

Knowing and fulfilling your needs is essential to finding meaning, satisfaction, and joy in your life.

Determining our true needs may not be an obvious process. The professionals at Forge Coaching and Consulting have worked with many individuals and groups to help them identify their needs. If you’d like to learn more, contact Manon Dulude, PhD, at info@forgecoachingandconsulting.com.

03/15/2026

Wearable trackers can detect depression relapse weeks before it returns, study finds

Could a smart watch act as an early‑warning system for depression relapse? New research from McMaster University and the Research Institute of St. Joe’s Hamilton suggests that disruptions in a person’s sleep and daily activity routine, as detected through a simple wrist-worn device, can signal when there is increased risk of relapsing into major depression.

The new research highlights a simple, yet powerful way to passively monitor relapse risk in people living with major depressive disorder (MDD), often detecting the probability of a relapse weeks or months before the episode occurs. Approximately 60 per cent of people with MDD relapse within five years, even with treatment.

“Advances in digital technology and AI algorithms have a great potential for relapse prevention in mental health. Imagine a future where a smartwatch can warn people with depression: ‘A new episode of depression is very likely coming within the next four weeks. How about seeing your health-care provider?’” says Benicio Frey, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster.

Continued at https://healthsci.mcmaster.ca/wearable-trackers-can-detect-depression-relapse-weeks-before-it-returns-study-finds/

03/11/2026

Have you ever heard the term corporate relational trauma?

We often talk about workplace toxicity or the importance of healthy leadership, but we don’t talk enough about the relational trauma that can happen in professional environments.

Relational trauma occurs when a relationship that feels stable, trusting, and collaborative suddenly shifts. One moment there is partnership and mutual respect, and the next there is criticism, rejection, or blame. When that change is abrupt, it can be deeply disarming and distressing.

Recently, I spoke with a senior leader who experienced exactly this. After a significant issue arose on a client account, the client escalated the situation and began attacking the relationship, ultimately stating they no longer wanted this leader involved. For someone who takes great pride in their work and is deeply committed, the experience was incredibly hurtful.

When a relationship changes this quickly, the impact goes beyond the situation itself. It can erode trust not only in that relationship, but in other professional relationships as well. Sometimes it can even affect the trust we have in ourselves.

Relational trauma does not only happen in our personal lives. It can also happen in the workplace, often rooted in a sense of betrayal or a sudden shift in how we are treated.

If you have experienced something like this and are finding it difficult to recover, know that support is available.

Manon Dulude, Ph.D., RP, PCC
Registered Psychotherapist and Certified Executive Coach
Over 35 years of experience in human development
In-person therapy in Halton Hills
Virtual sessions across Ontario
📞 905-703-0003
🌐 www.manondulude.com

03/07/2026

How to Start Living Your Best Life
by Susan Krauss Whitbourne PhD, ABPP

When your days become filled with humdrum but necessary duties, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. You get up, go to work or school and/or tend to family, and then rinse and repeat the next day. Some of these duties you enjoy, but many leave you frustrated and feeling empty. You wonder how your life evolved to this particular point, and whether you could tweak it so that the pleasure outweighs the pain.

Even the humblest and most boring of tasks can have their little joys. Kitchen chores don’t particularly turn you on, but maybe you can glean some rewards from shining your countertop to glowing perfection. If these little moments are few and far between, what could you do to stretch them further?

The Joys of Inner Motivation

A new paper on motivation and personality by Australian Catholic University’s Richard Ryan (2025) offers some useful suggestions. Ryan is the coauthor of one of the most well-known motivation theories in psychology known as “Self Determination Theory,” or SDT. This theory proposes that people are most motivated when they can feel internally, or autonomously, driven. However, getting through those humdrum days that most people experience is often a matter of answering to the bidding of others. A boss gives you deadlines, a family expects food on the table, and even your friends expect you to show up when they need you. SDT’s answer to this dilemma is to suggest that yes, all of this is true, but the more autonomy you can carve out within these constraints, the better. When you don’t see much room to maneuver, this is when you’ll feel burned out.

Continued at https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-at-any-age/202602/to-live-your-best-life-ask-yourself-whats-truly-important

03/01/2026

Looking Back, Reaching Forward
by Manon Dulude Ph.D.

When one looks back over the events of their life, it is most often with one of three mindsets: as a victim, as a survivor, or as a thriver.

If we view past events as a victim, we give new life to an uncomfortable story every time we think of it. This creates a barrier that prevents us from moving forward. We feel sorry for ourselves and keep the unwanted past event alive.

When we view a past experience as a survivor, we have acknowledged our ability to overcome an adverse situation, but we still give life to that story, even if our present shows promise of moving forward. Again, we are held back from completely moving forward by the need to give life to the past.

If our perspective is one of a thriver, we accept that negative events are included in our story to date, but rather than focus on them specifically, we view each experience as a life lesson. Our focus becomes more about how we can apply what we’ve learned going forward than about giving life to the story that got us here.

Which one are you?

Continued at https://manondulude.com/looking-back-reaching-forward/

02/28/2026

Have Boundaries Made Us Lonely?
by Rachel McLaren Ph.D.

In a time of social loneliness and a lack of social connection, have we become too boundaried? Boundaries have become part of our social understanding in recent years—the importance of setting boundaries has been the focus of many social media posts, books, podcasts, and blog posts right here on this site. And of course, boundaries are important: They delineate the separation between what is us and what is ours to manage and what belongs to someone else and is theirs to manage. As Prentis Hemphill said, "Boundaries are the distance I can love you and me simultaneously." Boundaries keep us safe.

What I'm referring to here is boundaries around what we're willing to spend our time on and who we are willing to spend our time with. Sometimes, we use boundaries as an excuse to avoid social contact and the annoyances and inconveniences that come with interacting with other humans in an effort to live a "frictionless existence.” The digital world is incredibly enticing: We can order everything to be delivered to our door without having to talk to another human. We can avoid many of the annoyances of everyday life by retreating into our digital world. We can even avoid some of the potentially cringeworthy or awkward moments that might happen when we engage with other humans, like the person in the checkout line or that colleague at work. It can feel like a heavy lift to get out of our comfort zone and overcome the powerful draw to scroll endlessly on our phones.

Continued at https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/conflict-and-communication/202601/have-boundaries-made-us-lonely

02/27/2026

Growing Older Without Growing Old: The Secret Hidden in Time
Cynthia Baum-Baicker Ph.D.

One of the keys to well-being for older adults lies in chronoception, the perceived duration of time. Anyone over a certain age can well attest to how time sense has changed. In childhood, the two months of summer felt like an eternity; with advanced age, those same two months seem to fly by in a blink. For aging adults, it seems as though time’s velocity increases with each advancing year. Grasp it as much as we may want, we cannot stop the clock. There are, however, ways to reconnect with that long-ago sense of growth and change.

Is it possible to recapture that sense of slowed-down time? Einstein did it:

“People like you and me never grow old,” he wrote a friend later in life. “We never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.”

Novelty and curiosity are the food of childhood. We seek out, explore, and immerse ourselves in situations with the potential for new information and/or experiences. This is the key to vitality: It is how we, as older adults, can grow via our own activity rather than submit completely to decline.

Continued at https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/clinical-wisdom-for-a-new-world/202601/growing-older-without-growing-old-the-secret-hidden-in

02/23/2026

This is important self-care. ♥️ ~ Nanea