Author: smswaby

I sometimes introduce myself as YodaNinja. "Yoda on the outside, Ninja on the inside." Outside, I seem calm and composed. When I speak (or write), what I say can be profound, perplexing... or both. But my inner world is another story. Deep inside of me is a Ninja battleground where thoughts, emotions, ideas, and utter randomness all fight for my attention. Every once in a while, they actually cooperate and I have to say, I'm deadly. But then they go at it again... and "Everybody is Kung Fu fighting." I'm a dad, a husband and a guy whose mind has a mind of it's own. My recovery from my addiction to numbing myself (with pretty much anything I can get my hands on) is a lifelong journey. I live with depression, anxiety and adhd... and sometimes they don't get along very well with my family, or with the rest of my life. Professionaly, I make my living as a Counselling Therapist in Edmonton, Canada. I teach on addiction and psychopathology at City University, and I have a small counselling practice where I use superheroes and other geeky stuff to help people make peace with their own personal YodaNinja. This blog is part of my healing and writing keeps me grounded. I hope that something I have written may add a little bit to your journey. Keep it Real

Positive Psychology of Parenting – Part 1: Accept your Inner Darth Vader

November 12, 2014

This is the third in a series of articles on Positive Psychology. I have more content on the subject of Positive Psychology which you can find here. To get the content hot off the press, sign up at the email link on the right column of this page or at my Facebook page. You can also search my archived content … More Positive Psychology of Parenting – Part 1: Accept your Inner Darth Vader

A fitter bathtub?

November 7, 2014

Do you need a fitter bathtub? Does your tub need a tummy tuck, bowtox, an Ab Wheel, laser surgery, a six pack or improved well being? No, I am not high right now. I recently saw an advertisement about how to get a fitter bathtub. Yes, that is right children. And how do we get a … More A fitter bathtub?

Positive Psychology: Listening for the Rest of the Story

November 6, 2014

This is the second in a series of articles on Positive Psychology. I have written a longer, more referenced article on the subject which you can find here. To get the content hot off the press, sign up at the email link on the right column of this page or at my Facebook page. You can also search … More Positive Psychology: Listening for the Rest of the Story

Positive Psychology: 5 Ways to Understand Your Strengths

November 6, 2014

Do you know what it takes to make someone go vacant (The Hard drive is busy processing kind of vacant…)?  All you have to do is ask them “Can you tell me what your strengths are?” Then watch. I give you permission to try it as an experiment. “Uh…” is usually the response. Interestingly, “Uh” is a … More Positive Psychology: 5 Ways to Understand Your Strengths