A Few of My Favourite Apps and Websites

Apps and Websites

Moodfit App - free version | A great app to help track your mood and sleep, develop mindfulness and a simple gratitude practice, and support your journalling efforts. (60-day free trial of full version)

Insight Timer | Free meditation app, loaded with free guided meditations; yoga nidra, body scan, progressive relaxation and sleep story recordings; stress and anxiety, recovery and healing, and more. A huge library of mental health topics (Member Plus subscription option includes a comprehensive catalogue of courses by experts in many fields related to mental and spiritual health. (This app can feel overwhelming at first due to the volume of content. I'd advise checking out the website first to find what you like.) Mobile app

Calm App | Subscription-based meditation app for stress, anxiety and sleep support for beginners to advanced meditators. There are subscription options for employers (EAPs). The free version is limited. | iPhone / Android

Focus Keeper Pomodoro Timer App | Excellent for helping you get started when feeling overwhelmed, maintain focus to complete tasks, and help you develop a sense of time if you struggle with 'time blindness.'

ADDitude Mag | All you need to know about ADHD, whether you're struggling with symptom syourself, or with a loved one's ADHD-related traits and behaviours (diagnosis or not). Understanding how our brains work is important for everyone–for parent and teachers of ADHDers especially! ADDitude app

Anxiety Canada | Lots of tools to help with managing stress and anxiety. Support for managing anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

The Visit Technique | Developed by psychiatrist and ADHDer Kourosh Dini—a great tool to try if you are struggling with procrastination or feelings of overwhelm; or not knowing where to start. You'll find a good quick description here, and the longer podcast version if your attention will allow 😊. (And a bit on his Anchor Technique if you're interested.) 

REACH OUT

A Few Folks to Follow

Dr. Ned Hallowell on Instagram - ADHD expert and author 

Jessica McCabe - How To ADHD YouTube

Esther Perel Newletter - "The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives." Subscribe to her monthly newsletter to develop greater confidence and relational intelligence in all of your relationships.

 

More coming soon!

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A Few Favourite Reads

Depression and Anxiety

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, Dr. David Burns | Originally published in 1981, an introduction to CBT tools and still an excellent resource for recovering from depression, anxiety and overwhelm. Marketed as "Drug-free treatment," it is also a great accompaniment to therapy and/or prescription medication. You may find that a good chunk of it doesn't relate to your specific experience, but chances are, there will be some good learning in there for anyone struggling with depression and anxiety.

Afraid: Understanding the Purpose of Fear and Harnessing the Power of Anxiety, Arash Javanbakht, MD | Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Javanbakht offers a comprehensive look at anxiety, how it works in our brains and how it affects our minds and our actions. An understanding of anxiety can be a powerful tool for learning how to manage it and make it work for you.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD 2.0: New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction—From Childhood Through Adulthood, and Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood, Edward M. Hallowell, John J. Ratey | Two great books for understanding ADHD in children and adults. Understanding the ADHD brain can be essential for being happy, productive, and successful for many folks living with ADHD (or traits associated with ADHD). Also very important for people who are living with ADHDers. Learn how to manage symptoms and engage ADHD traits in ways that work for you.

Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder, Gabor Maté, MD | Published in 2000, one of the earlier works from someone living with ADD (the types of ADHD were differentiated as ADD and ADHD at the time). An important book for understanding what it's like to be someone living with ADHD and strategies for managing symptoms. 

ADHD is Awesome: A Guide To (Mostly) Thriving With ADHD, Penn and Kim Holderness | While the title of this book might sound like it's encouraging 'toxic positivity,' it actually presents a normalizing and affirming look at ADHD with a first-hand account of what it's like to be someone living with ADHD and to be someone living with someone living with ADHD. Keeping in mind that everyone's experiences are different, and that living with ADHD can be very difficult (especially for someone who doesn't have support) the Holdernesses look at the positive sides of ADHD traits. 

Addiction

Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence, Anna Lembke, MD | Explores addiction through the link between pleasure and pain—showing how dopamine drives compulsive behavior. Lembke makes complex neuroscience easy to understand, unpacking overconsumption from social media to substances and how resetting our brain’s reward system can restore balance. (Also offers insight into how dopamine functions in other conditions, including ADHD, which can influence mental health.)

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, Gabor Maté MD | Maté chronicles his experience helping people fighting addiction to substances in Vancouver and shares his personal challenges with behavioural addiction. With true understanding comes compassion and empathy, and self-compassion for those who are suffering addiction, an important part of recovery.

Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions, Russell Brand | Brand offers a brutally honest confession of his own addictions and his journey to recovery (including several relapse episodes). He shares what worked for him and what did not, and offers his own recovery plan that is based on his experiences with 12-Step programs. (Content Note: This book is raw, unfiltered, and full of profanity, offering insight with humor, but not shying away from the messy parts.)

Relationships

Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself, Nedra Glover Tawwab | Understanding and finding comfort in setting boundaries is important to find happiness as we navigate the many relationships. Yet we often find it difficult for fear of coming across as rude or disrespectful. Nedra explains the importance of having boundaries and how to set them without guilt. 

Where Should We Begin?, Esther Perel Podcast | Lots of great listening and advice from relationship expert, Esther Perel. Learn how to navigate difficult relationship conversations

Trauma 

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk M.D. | This book will change how many people understand trauma, showing it affects both mind and body. It makes clear that trauma isn’t just from big events but can come from everyday struggles too. Some parts are technical, but it’s a groundbreaking read on healing.

What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing, Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry | In conversation, the authors look at behaviours that have resulted from adverse experiences from our early childhood that have shaped how we behave, how we think, our beliefs and emotions. With this in mind, reframing our response to others (and to ourselves) can be valuable in building understanding and the resilience to move forward. Instead of asking "What's wrong with you?", a compassionate and curious shift to "What happened to you?" offers a very different, and valuable perspective for understanding ourselves and others.

The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture, Gabor Maté (with Daniel Maté) | This book challenges much of what we think we know about health and shows how stress, trauma, and social norms make us sick—illuminating.

Death and End-of-Life 

These titles explore death—philosophically, spiritually, and practically. They may be triggering for those grieving but could also help with anticipatory grief and planning for end-of-life, whether preparing for one’s own death or the loss of a loved one. Approach with care.

That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour, Sunita Puri | A palliative care physician, Puri examines the purpose of end-of-life care—where medicine fights to keep us alive, but quality of life matters more. Through personal and patient stories, she shows how facing death can help us live better.

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, Atul Gawande | A thought-provoking look at how modern medicine keeps us alive longer but doesn’t always help us live well or die well. Gawande reminds us that facing the reality of death can guide us toward a life that feels more meaningful and an ending that may offer us choice.

WATCH - Griefwalker, Tim Wilson | Griefwalker follows Stephen Jenkinson as he challenges the way we think about death, showing how grief and mortality can actually help us live more fully. It’s a film about facing the end of life with honesty, not fear, and learning what it means to die well. (Content Note: the topics address in this film could be challenging for some viewers. If you’re grieving or feeling vulnerable, watch with care and support.) 

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