Slow Down

One thing that comes up for me over and over as a celiac is the feeling that I shouldn’t have to spend so much time and energy finding something safe to eat. Everyone else just reaches out, grabs something to eat, and carries on with their fast-paced lifestyle. Why can’t I do the same? It’s Read More …

Mourning and Celiac Disease

Six months ago, my mom died after a lengthy illness. In mourning her since then, I have noticed familiar feelings I associate with celiac disease. Mourning isn’t just for the loss of a loved one. It also goes along with the loss of a beloved way of life, like when celiac disease shatters our old Read More …

I’m in a Podcast!

I am honoured to be interviewed on A Canadian Celiac Podcast, hosted by Sue Jennett. Please check it out! If you are suffering with the social and emotional difficulties that go along with celiac disease, I can help. I am a registered clinical counsellor, and I, too, have celiac disease. Contact me! Sherry Scheideman, MA, Read More …

Anxiety, Depression, and the Gut

Simple, fixable physical problems in the gut can contribute to anxiety and depression. One reason is that a lot of our feel-good chemicals, such as hormones and neurotransmitters, are produced in the gut. When gut systems are compromised, the body’s happiness system is damaged, too. Gut systems can get compromised by the hazards of normal Read More …

Opening Up to Shame

It seems to me that in our society, shame is rampant. Shame is practically running the show! We feel ashamed when we do something wrong, we tell ourselves that we’re stupid or useless or that we’ll never learn, we try to shame our children away from being bad and scare them into being good. We Read More …

When Your Child Has a Disease

Note: This article talks about celiac disease, but the ideas apply to any kind of disease that your child might have. Having a child with celiac disease can be difficult for parents. As parents, we don’t want our children to have a disease… we feel our children’s pain, we want everything to be perfect for Read More …

Let Your Flaws Show

Years ago, when I was first diagnosed with celiac disease and was making a lot of mistakes with the gluten-free diet, I used to hide my digestive distress from everyone at work. The work scene, I thought, required me to be perfect. Being sick wasn’t perfect! I was a teacher of adult international students, and Read More …

Trauma and Autoimmune Disorders

Trauma comes in many forms: it can be ongoing abuse that we experienced as a child, it can be a single horrible incident like an accident or a disaster, it can be a surgery, and so on. There’s even a thing called trans-generational trauma, in which we kind of ‘inherit’ the unresolved issues of our Read More …

Yoga as Therapy

I recently attended an intensive program with leading trauma therapist and researcher Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of the best-selling book “The Body Keeps the Score”. According to van der Kolk, we get traumatized when something happens that is too overwhelming for us to process. We end up storing tension and resistance in our Read More …

My Silent Meditation Retreat Experience

In early June, thanks to a generous fellowship from the Hemera Foundation, I went on a week-long silent meditation retreat held by Dharma Ocean at Stowel Lake Farm, on Salt Spring Island. As the Hemera Foundation notes on their website: “Meditation retreats provide a supportive training environment in which healthcare providers can cultivate mindfulness, compassion, Read More …

Soothing Intense Emotions Using Your Own Body

(I have celiac disease, so I address this issue through a celiac lens, but the emotion-soothing techniques can work for anyone.) Common emotions that celiacs experience as we adhere to a strictly gluten-free diet include anger, resentment, sadness, desperation, frustration, fear, and exasperation, just to name a few. These are difficult emotions to live with. Read More …

Adapting to a Chronic Condition

When a chronic condition makes your old ways of life impossible, how can you develop a satisfying new life? (I have celiac disease, so I’m going to explore this question through the celiac lens, but you can apply my approach to whatever chronic condition you are dealing with.) When You Can’t Do Something You Used To Do Read More …

Let Your Pain Help You

by Sherry Scheideman, MA, Registered Clinical Counsellor. Pain can help us become less prejudiced against people and situations in the world around us. When physical or emotional pain is strong or persistent, it’s hard to not tense up and wish it weren’t happening. But the more we practice re-framing pain as sensations, and relaxing into Read More …

Getting Off the Cycle of Pain

by Sherry Scheideman, MA, Registered Clinical Counsellor. Want to get off the cycle of pain? When we’re in physical pain, we often feel angry, desperate, frustrated, and afraid. This emotional pain makes the physical pain worse. We’re already dealing with cramps or aches or whatever it is, and then we add the extra suffering of Read More …

Anxiety and the Gut

by Sherry Scheideman, MA, Registered Clinical Counsellor. There is a big link between anxiety and the gut. I know this from personal experience – I have celiac disease (in which the gut is damaged by eating many of the most common foods in the Western diet) and as a result, I’ve experienced a great deal Read More …

Chronic Illness: Celiac Disease

I am thrilled to announce that I am joining TheCeliacScene as the counsellor in their Counsellor’s Corner! Following is my first article for the site: I was diagnosed with celiac disease about fifteen years ago. Being diagnosed with a chronic illness and going gluten-free has challenged me to develop inner resources that I never knew Read More …

A Famous Therapist Who Uses The Work of Byron Katie

by Sherry Scheideman, MA, Registered Clinical Counsellor. My favourite counselling tool is a process called The Work, by Byron Katie. My respect for this tool is shared by the Huffington Post’s weekly parenting advice columnist, renowned psychotherapist and marriage/family therapist Susan Stiffelman. Susan is the author of the best-selling book “Parenting Without Power Struggles”, which Read More …