Episode 18: Eva Stordy | Mental Health and Covid
54 mins
The past year has been difficult for everyone; Eva encourages us to accept how we are feeling noting that emotional wellness is “being able to sit and experience our full range of human emotions, allowing space for that. Let that be exercised with an attitude of non-judgment, self-acceptance, know that there's a place for depression, know that there's a place for grief, for unbearable sadness, for frustration for this difficulty, and tolerating our uncomfortable emotions. When we can accept our humaneness and our emotional ability, I think that that really helps destigmatize feelings, and mental illness in general. And I think that it gives us a sense of empowerment, to be able to say, yeah, you know, I'm gonna sit this one out today, because it's just too much for me to handle, and that's okay. I'm still okay, as a person. And tomorrow's a new day.”
Eva Stordy is a Registered Psychologist and Senior Clinician with Arete. She holds a master’s degree in Counselling Psychology from the University of Lethbridge and years of experience counselling children, adolescents, and adults as well as couples and family systems—Eva understands people and thoroughly loves what she does telling us “I'm witnessing people change. I'm witnessing their resilience piece and their growth, and their capacities. And it's amazing what challenges people can overcome. And so that part I always find really inspiring.” Eva has an opening and engaging manner that invites dialogue and helps clients gain insight, learn about themselves, surface their inner strengths, and develop creative skill-building and coping strategies to overcome hardship and achieve their ultimate potential.
Our chat with Eva covered a wide range of mental health-related topics including the compound impact of Covid and why she has a “hate on” for the virus, the range of treatment options available, the types of fatigue we combat daily, the importance of normalizing our experiences with anxiety, simple ways we can support ourselves and the power and importance of connection. Our discussion highlighted Eva’s diverse professional experiences with a wide range of presenting problems, including depression, anxiety, communication and relationship challenges, self-esteem, grief and loss, trauma and attachment, and life transitions.
Eva admits that it can be tough and even uncomfortable to be a client in a psychologist’s office – it is tough for her when she is the client too. She reminds us that it takes a huge amount of bravery to put yourself in that seat, but once that step is taken, we can harness the opportunity to develop self-awareness and that can lead to understanding, self-compassion, and the development of effective coping mechanisms.
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