Mind, Body, and Spirit: Gabbie Lamm on the Intersection of Physical and Mental Wellness

Ever wondered how a background in counselling psychology can transform a personal trainer's approach to fitness?

Join us as we chat with Gabbie Lamm, a dynamic personal trainer and Lululemon ambassador who blends mental and physical wellness and resilience, which leads to empowering transformations, both inside and out.

Gabbie shares behind-the-scenes stories from her famous Fun Friday videos. How does she pick the Fun Friday challenges? Who at DEPTH is most willing to try the challenge each week? What have been some of the hardest challenges? Listen, and all your questions will be answered.

Whether you’re a young athlete or just looking to elevate your fitness game, this episode is packed with valuable advice and inspiration to help you succeed.

What You’ll Learn:

• Gabbie's journey from health science to counselling psychology and how it complements her approach to personal training.
• What it means to be a Lululemon ambassador and the rewarding experiences and community bonds that come with it.
• Practical tips for young athletes who are starting in the gym. 
• The importance of a positive internal monologue for athletic success.

Gabbie also shares resources that are available for teenagers if they feel like they need help or need someone to talk to.

Kids Help Phone
KW Counselling Services
Front Door
Psychology Today
Affordable Therapy Network

Connect with Gabbie:
Email: gabriellelammpsychotherapy@gmail.com
Instagram

Thanks for tuning in to Curious Conversations! We hope you enjoyed listening as much as we enjoyed creating it for you. Don't forget to stay connected with us on our website and Instagram for more exciting content. Also, make sure to hit that follow/subscribe button and leave us a rating to help us grow and reach more people like you.

Transcript

Gabbie: 0:00

A really big pillar that I work on, especially as a psychotherapist. What do you tell yourself in difficult moments? Is it negative? Maintaining a positive mindset is a really crucial skill for athletes. Checking in with your internal monologue and what you say to yourself in difficult moments and reframing that to a more positive mindset can also be really helpful in maintaining longevity in your sport.

Xavier: 0:29

Hi, welcome to Curious Conversations, a podcast for kids, by kids. I'm one of your hosts, xavier.

Emma: 0:37

And I'm your other host, emma, and we're so excited to bring you another season of interesting discussions with people from all walks of life, to learn about their passions and what inspires them.

Xavier: 0:46

We are still as curious as ever and we hope you will join us on our journey.

Emma: 0:52

Today we have an amazing chat with Gabby Lamb, a personal trainer at Depth, the gym we go to. She also has a master's degree in counseling and psychotherapy. Gabby gives us her best tips on how young athletes can grow in and outside of the gym. She also talks to us about the importance of taking care of both your physical and your mental health, and we asked Gabby about her fun Friday videos. Listen to find out how it all comes together. Hi, gabby, welcome to the podcast. How are you? I'm good. Thanks for having me. Thanks for coming on. Is this your first podcast?

Gabbie: 1:28

This is my first podcast, so I'm happy to be here.

Xavier: 1:31

You're doing a great job so far and we're so excited to have you on the podcast.

Gabbie: 1:35

Thank you, I'm excited to be here.

Emma: 1:37

We're excited to have you on. So you're both a personal trainer and have a master's degree in counseling and psychotherapy. Let's start with the personal training. Can you tell us what is a personal trainer?

Gabbie: 1:49

Yeah. So a personal trainer is a fitness professional who helps people achieve their health and fitness goals. So I'll create a personalized workout plan based on that person's goals what they're trying to achieve in the gym and outside the gym and then we provide guidance and offer motivation and overall support. Sometimes that's in a one-on-one setting, sometimes it's a smaller group. Some personal trainers are also qualified to work on nutrition and other healthy lifestyle choices. So, in general, I help make sure that clients are safe in the gym, working effectively towards their goals and their desired results, and that can be in areas of like weight loss, building, muscle improving cardio, endurance, overall wellness or maybe some specific sport training.

Xavier: 2:38

That's very, very interesting. So what is your favorite part about being a personal trainer?

Gabbie: 2:44

okay. So I would say my favorite part of being a personal trainer is you get to watch somebody succeed in like real time. So they might be go from being intimidated in the gym setting where they're unsure and unconfident. In that setting they might be following you around and like really trepidatious or skeptical about what's going on, until the day that you notice now they're leading you around the gym, they know what the next exercise is, they're excited to get to it. They feel more confident and sure of themselves inside the gym space. So that's like a really one of my favorite parts of just watching somebody succeed in real time.

Gabbie: 3:27

Secondly, the job of personal training attracts very like-minded individuals. In general, personal trainers are typically outgoing, enthusiastic, really good people who work on a team and who are passionate about helping others. So that creates a really like fun open it open but like also friendly competitive environment. That makes going to work fun. I laugh every single day. I get 10,000 steps every single day. My day is different every single day and in general it's a really rewarding and fun job to have.

Emma: 4:03

Did you expect any of that?

Gabbie: 4:06

going into personal training, when I graduated from my bachelor's degree, I didn't have a job.

Gabbie: 4:14

I didn't know what I was going to do. And then I saw that the gym down the street was hiring personal trainers and I was like, oh, okay, this is a good combination of liking working with people and helping people but also combining my passion for fitness. So I was like, oh, let me try this. So I didn't really, I guess, going into personal training I had the expectations that it was a job and I was going to get paid to do it. But then the more I did it, I realized how much I genuinely enjoyed helping people achieve their health and fitness goals, and it feels really good to be a part of somebody's positive change. I still hear from clients, like old clients, telling me oh, thank you so much. You were a big part of me making this big change in my life. You helped me get ready for my wedding, you helped me achieve this other thing in my life, so that I don't think I expected that going into it, but it's been like a really nice side piece of being a personal trainer.

Emma: 5:14

So, through everything, by being a personal trainer, you've definitely gotten some benefits, like being a Lululemon ambassador, which I can say I love Lululemon but what does it specifically mean to be an ambassador?

Gabbie: 5:28

Okay. So this is a kind of turkey question to answer, because every ambassador kind of makes it their own Lululemon. In general, when they're looking for ambassadors, they're looking for people who are involved in their community, who do things in their community that advocate that people live a healthy, active lifestyle. So there's always three pillars of people that they will train. They'll pick. They'll pick a running ambassador, they'll pick a yoga ambassador and they'll pick a training ambassador ambassador. And that kind of encompasses all the pillars that Lululemon has underneath their active wear and their goals as a company. So I fall under the training pillar as an ambassador.

Gabbie: 6:14

So they're looking for people who are involved in their community, who live an active life, who like Lululemon stuff, which, like you said, I don't know who doesn't like Lululemon stuff. So they kind of approach you and say we would like you to be an ambassador. And then you're like, okay, well, what does that mean? And then you're like they're just like live your regular sweat life, keep being engaged in your community, keep doing what you're doing, but then also wear Lululemon. And I was like I was already doing that for free. I'm more than happy to do that sponsored. So that's kind of how it works. They are trying to platform you as an individual, to inspire other people to live a happy, active lifestyle. So there's not really much expectations Lululemon has for you as an ambassador. It's just keep doing what you're doing and keep motivating and inspiring people around you.

Emma: 7:09

That sounds like everyone's dream. Yeah, I think I'm pretty happy to do that for free, but getting sponsored is a whole nother level.

Xavier: 7:17

I think Emma would make a pretty good ambassador.

Gabbie: 7:20

I don't doubt that. I don't doubt that as well. And then you get to like go to a cool photo shoot where first you get to go to the store and they outfit you in like a brand new, like beautiful outfit, and then you get to go to a photo shoot with like a professional photographer where everyone's cheering for you and making you feel so, like in shape and cool, and then eventually that picture they pick a picture and that gets blown up and that. So that's the big picture that you see of me in the store. So it's pretty cool to like get selfies from my friends, of them taking photos with them and their kids inside the store, or people that I haven't talked to forever from high school or something will take a picture of you like, oh my gosh, gabby, that's you in the store, and I'm like, yeah, man, that is me it's pretty, it's kind of impressive like, oh yeah, that's me.

Emma: 8:10

I'm just casual.

Gabbie: 8:11

I think I've seen yours actually yeah, it's pretty cool and I and I just actually just signed for another two years, so I'll be able to. I'll be on the wall for another two years now.

Emma: 8:20

Wow, they just can't get enough of you.

Gabbie: 8:23

They can't get enough of us. It's a nice compliment to be able to resign for another two years.

Emma: 8:29

Oh, for sure.

Xavier: 8:31

Yeah. So what I'm curious about is you're a personal trainer and you spend a lot of time in the gym. Do you find time to do like your own personal workouts?

Gabbie: 8:40

Yes, so I definitely do make sure to find the time for myself to work out. I probably work out at the gym three to four times a week. When you're already at the gym, sometimes it's like, well, I might as well do a workout before I leave the gym. I have a free gym membership. Work out of the gym three, three to four times a week doing weight training, but then I also like to run as well, so I'll run once or twice a week. So I do that on my own.

Gabbie: 9:10

And then recently I started to go to spin class, which I like love so much. It's like dark in there and they play like really loud music, really loud and like fun music, and then you're like biking and like sweating your butt off, and then also there's like choreography that you have to do to the beat of the music. So that's been like a really something new. That's been challenging, um, but then also fun. So I like to. I really like weightlifting, but it's I find it's really good to like mix it up and do other things as well oh, did you get into fitness and like working out through sport, or is it just something you liked growing up?

Gabbie: 9:47

Yeah, so growing up I played a lot of sports. I played basketball, I was on the soccer team, but then mostly I did track and field. Yeah, I love sports and I love being active as a kid. So then when I came time for me to choose my bachelor's degree, I chose health sciences, because it gave me a little bit of the fitness and physical wellness piece of it, but then also a little bit of the science piece. In general, being active is what led me to being a personal trainer. I ended up taking a course in university that gave me a certification for being a personal trainer, so that was also a stepping stone. Yeah, I've always been active throughout my entire life, so it kind of has made sense for me to continue that as an adult.

Xavier: 10:38

So you're talking about all the different workouts you do. What's your favorite type of workout?

Gabbie: 10:43

that is a tough one, I would say always. Weight training and lifting weights will always probably be my favorite. Dead lifting will probably always be my favorite exercise ever. It makes you just feel strong to like pick something up heavy and then put it back down on the ground. But I also really respect the time alone that you get when you're like running. Most of the time no one's around so you're kind of in your own thoughts. I can think through things that maybe I didn't have the time to think through on my own. I can reflect on experiences, I can enjoy nature and the things around me. So I like the almost meditation and the alone and an empowering piece of like running and and working out um, doing individual things like that, but then also the like strength part of just straight up lifting weights and being able to deadlift more than your friends and your friend's husband is fun.

Xavier: 11:46

I love weightlifting too.

Emma: 11:47

Chapar and squats probably my favorite. But I can't run unless I'm chasing after something like a ball or a puck. So I can't relate to the running part.

Gabbie: 11:56

I understand that when I was younger, like even when I was a track athlete, I did not like running. When the coach was like you have to run one lap to warm up, I'd be like I already did it, coach, Don't worry, I already did it. I did not already do it and I really did not enjoy running. Um, but then as an adult and I'm not playing as much sports as I used to, so I'm not getting the cardio that I used to. So I was like I have to, I have to insert something in my life. So I started to run and I would listen to like an album that I'd never listened to before, or listen to a podcast or a book on tape just to distract myself.

Gabbie: 12:34

Because sometimes I find when I'm running, I'm thinking oh, I'm running, it's been one song, which means it's been like three minutes of running, how much longer do I have to go?

Gabbie: 12:43

And you're like really in your head about the running. But I find, when I distracted myself and listened to something that made me laugh or was like really interested, I was less concentrating on how long I was actually spending running and just ran until I like felt like I wanted to stop. And so I just started small, I just started doing, I just started doing multiple laps around my neighborhood so that if I was done, I would be like, okay, I'm back at my house, I'm done Now, I'm I'm done running. And then eventually I would run farther away from my house so that I would have to run back to my house. But that all that all took time. So, starting small and not expecting yourself to like run 5K or like be this amazingly fast runner, I think that also helps of like just setting your expectations and meeting yourself where you are, not where you feel like you should be.

Emma: 13:35

So you were just talking about sports and how young athletes play a lot of sports, but when young athletes switch over to the gym, what do you think the biggest piece of advice you'd give them to?

Gabbie: 13:46

So I don't know if there's like one specific thing I would say. I'd say there's like multiple things into going into making the change from, like, playing sports predominantly and then doing more weightlifting, or maybe you're trying to add weightlifting into your regular workout routine. So a couple of few things that I would be mindful of is prioritizing safety. As teenagers, your bodies are literally still growing, so proper form and technique is essential. So, like warming up and doing movement prep to help you prepare your muscles and reduce the risk of injury for what you're about to do, having fun will help you keep motivated and committed towards your goals. Try and include a mix of training doing some strength training, some cardio, some mobility work to work on your overall fitness and not just one pillar of fitness. I would say don't't focus too much on on what's happening inside of the gym. There are a lot of things that happen outside of the gym that that come into play. So, are you sleeping enough? Do you wake up feeling rested? Are you getting eight to nine hours of sleep per day? Is your nutrition in check? Are we fueling our body with a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables and protein and whole grains? Are we minimizing the intake of processed foods? Are you drinking enough water? Set goals that are achievable and specific to help you keep, to help you stay motivated and to track your progress so you can celebrate the time that oh my gosh, I just deadlifted for five reps what I could only do for two reps, like three weeks ago. Those are important milestones to celebrate and to recognize Getting in touch with your body, recognizing pain versus discomfort, learning to differentiate discomfort in a challenging workout versus pain that might indicate an injury.

Gabbie: 15:50

Seek guidance, like you guys. Go to depth. Do you know that there are plenty of trainers there who are, like really committed to helping you work out efficiently and safety? So work and find trainers or coaches who can provide personalized guidance and ensure that your training is effective and safe. And then also, a really big pillar that I work on, especially as a psychotherapist check in with your internal monologue.

Gabbie: 16:19

What do you tell yourself in difficult moments? Is it negative? Are you using negative reinforcement to get yourself to do something, to perform a certain way? Maintaining a positive mindset is a really crucial skill for athletes to be able to perform at a high level. At the long term, you can be the most talented athlete in the world. You can be working your butt off in the gym, but if your mental resilience isn't where it should be and you crumble under mental pressures, what? What is that talent going to do for you in that circumstance, right? So checking in with your internal monologue and what you say to yourself in difficult moments and reframing that to a more positive mindset can also be really helpful in maintaining longevity in the in your sport that's really good advice.

Emma: 17:18

I think every athlete should hear that, especially, I think, with like the um, like you were talking about negative and positive reinforcement, like depending on what coaches you have. Like I think you think some things work for you, like I know, with a variety of coaching styles out there, there's a whole spectrum is a, by nature, very competitive and athletes are expected to thrive under pressure and not succumb to hardships, right?

Gabbie: 17:52

You're expected to, like, keep moving forward. If you hurt your knee, you're going to get seen by so many different people. You're going to get seen by a physiotherapist, maybe you're going to go see a surgeon because you have to do surgery. Your coach is going to talk to you about it, your trainer is going to talk to you about it. But what happens if you have, like, an injury internally? Right, your mindset is really negative, or you're dealing with performance anxiety or you're feeling depressed.

Gabbie: 18:20

The nature of sports would make it seem like you have to keep that to yourself and kind of suffer in silence. Why is there stigma for me to address this internal struggle, like there isn't stigma for me to address a, like, external injury. So sometimes athletes feel like they have to bottle up inside and not say anything and just be strong, which may work in the short term. You may, in the short term, get yourself to perform that one thing or get through that game, but if you keep doing that over and, over and over again, in the long term you are going to create a really negative mindset and view of yourself and, in the long term, that negativity is not going to work for you anymore.

Gabbie: 19:07

Yeah that's really well said. One thing that I really interesting, that I think that I read when we talk about positive enforcement versus negative enforcement. Say, you're bowling or something and you're you keep saying in your head don't get a gutter ball, don't get a gutter ball, don't get a gutter ball. And then what happens? You get a gutter ball. Right, the mind body connection is so strong. Your body is responding to what you're telling your brain, but your brain doesn't hear the don't part, it only hears the verb part, it only hears the action part. So now my brain is only hearing get a gutter ball, get a gutter ball, get a gutter ball, get a gutter ball, get a gutter ball.

Xavier: 19:44

So my body is responding to that so if you say something like get a strike it, your body will strike.

Gabbie: 19:52

Yes, exactly so if, instead of saying don't get a gutter ball, I say I'm gonna throw the ball straight down the lane, it's the same message kind of, but I'm going about it in a more positive way so my brain can act on that and doesn't have to try to filter out the don't part. So thinking of and framing the way that you speak to yourself that way can be really helpful. Like same thing in sports I don't get a foul, don't get a foul versus I'm going to hit the ball hard and strong, right. That is different and that can yield, yeah, more positive results than the negative version.

Xavier: 20:33

Is that how you handle the fun Friday challenges?

Gabbie: 20:37

So, yes, fun Friday. I'm always like so famous for those fun Fridays. I will get like random people who I've like never met, but they recognize my face from the videos and they're like, oh, I love those fun Friday videos. So I'm always like I'll always like scroll on TikTok or on Instagram and find these random challenges. People will send me challenges as well. So if you want to like, if you see something you feel like I could do, send that to me on Instagram and I'll see if I can do it. Sometimes people send me things. I'm like I'm flattered that you think that I can do that, but there's absolutely no way I could ever do that. But I'm glad I'm, I'm happy that you think that I can do that. So, yeah, fun Friday videos.

Gabbie: 21:18

I have a pretty good idea of my like capacities, of like can I, can I do that or can I not have a pretty good understanding of that? I also, through like working out and being active, have pretty good like body awareness and understanding how to fail something and fall out of something. So you've probably seen maybe I've posted, you've seen my blooper videos of like doing the fun Fridays and I don't get those things on the first try every time right. There's a lot of like trial and error, and then the fun Friday video that you're seeing is like my most beautiful attempt at me doing that.

Gabbie: 21:58

So a lot of the times, fun Fridays come with failure. But with every failure, failure, I'm something. I'm like okay, I can do that better. If I do this, I can achieve this. Sometimes I'll try a fun Friday and try it a couple times and be like you know what. I cannot do this thing. It's time to move on. I know my limits. I'm going to try something else. So it is a little bit about knowing myself and knowing how to fail something, or knowing how to be safe and trying something, but then also in pushing myself a little bit and being like no, I think I can do that crazy thing.

Xavier: 22:34

So it's a balance of knowing myself, knowing my body, but also trying to be safe so you're you're the only person that does the fun friday or does else help you with it.

Gabbie: 22:44

I am the person that will come up with what the Fun Friday is for that day and then, based on what it is, I will try to peer pressure my co-workers into trying Fun Friday with me. Some of them are happy to try it. Some of them will look at it and be like, no, I know I'm not trying that, gabby. I know for a fact that I cannot do that. I won't get off the ground if you get me to try that. So, yes, it starts with me, and then I peer pressure the people around me to try it with me.

Emma: 23:11

What's been the hardest one to date.

Gabbie: 23:15

Oh, the ones that are like the hardest to date are usually the ones that take like two people. Usually the ones that take like two people, because a lot of the times when it takes two people, if you have somebody that's like way taller or way heavier than you, the thing isn't going to work out. Or you have somebody who you're good at one thing and they're not so great at this thing, so then the exercise doesn't work because you're like a little bit off balance. One person's like deeper in a squat and the other person can't get that deep in a squat or what have you. So the hardest one to date I don't know if I would say there was, that has been the hardest one but I did one where I was like upside down on the wall and then my coworker was like pinning me up against the wall, but I was like upside down, and I remember that one. We had to try that one multiple times.

Gabbie: 24:17

You always have to find a trick of fun. Friday. There's always a trick that makes it okay. If I, if I understand what the trick is, this makes it a lot easier. So we were trying it and we were failing it, but then we realized that if I put my body in a certain way and he put his body in this exact certain way. Then we went then we can get it. So that was a hard one that took multiple times for us to try, but once we found the trick then it worked. But it will take like multiple tries for us to understand what the trick to getting it is.

Xavier: 24:49

So which coworker always wants to try the fun Friday?

Gabbie: 24:52

So my go-to's. If it's about somebody like picking me up or holding me while I'm doing a handstand or something like that, I will always ask my coworker, sean, because he's tall and strong, so like he's he's good at that kind of stuff. If it's something like crazy and challenging and hard strength wise, I'll always ask Neil, because Neil can do like anything, like basically anything, so like I can always convince Neil do it. I'll just show him on my phone and be like, do you think he could do this? And he'll like roll his eyes and be like, yeah, let's just try whatever. Let's just see what happens. So Neil will always begrudgingly participate in a fun Friday with me. So he'll, even though he's like grumpy about it, he's happy to do it because then he'll, he's able. He's able to do it in like one try and then he feels like so happy about it, he makes it look so easy I like the ones that you could like.

Emma: 25:51

We can try like uh, I think this the most recent one was like the chair one. Oh, did you guys try that one? No, I think my brother and my dad did, though did they get it um? Yeah, they both did actually yeah, not.

Gabbie: 26:04

So we decided that only people over like basically anyone that was over five eight could do it. Anyone that was under five eight couldn't do it. And we think that basically, the longer are, the longer forearm that you have and the stronger you were, the more likely that you were able to do it, because everyone that was under like five eight but was also strong couldn't do it Like Neil couldn't do it. And if Neil can't do it, then that's like a real indicator that something's, something's wrong here, something scientifically is wrong that is preventing Neil from not being able to do it.

Xavier: 26:43

Is that your goal? Every time you think of a fun Friday like I need to make sure Neil fails this.

Gabbie: 26:49

You know what? It's not my goal, but it's always a pleasant surprise to be able to do something and Neil can't do something, because it always makes you feel like a little bit better because Neil can do everything. Did you get the chair one? I did not. I'm 5'2" and I have short arms, so so no, I did not get the chair one that's okay.

Emma: 27:10

I was warming up and I was like um maybe not today.

Gabbie: 27:13

It's a hard one, yeah. And then also Kristen O'Neill, who is an Olympic level hockey player and she plays in the PWHL.

Emma: 27:21

She couldn't do that one and I was like, okay, I feel fine no, it's really fun to see, like, like, which people can like do the tasks.

Gabbie: 27:29

Yes, yes, and I always find so a lot of now the athletes are back in the gym and you can tell some of them are like really excited. They're like oh yeah, I want to try Fun Friday, and some of them are like, no, I don't want to try that.

Emma: 27:50

I don't want to be embarrassed on the Instagram. Gabby, do not film me doing this. Yeah, they're really funny. Yeah, so switching gears. You recently became a counselor and had to go to school for a while. You have university degrees from Western and Yorkville University.

Gabbie: 28:05

What is the difference between your first degree and your master's degree. So my first degree is a bachelor's degree in health science and the difference between a bachelor's degree and a master's degree is generally in focus and the level of education and career outcomes. So for my bachelor's degree in health science, it was a broad study of like health related, of health related topics like biology, chemistry, public health, health policy, health promotion, and you'll take courses like anatomy, physiology, changing health behaviors and some social sciences. People who graduate with this degree might pursue careers in like public health, health administration or health education, and it's also a degree that's also geared towards higher learning. So people might go on from that degree to a master's degree in a more specialized field like physiotherapy, nursing or medicine.

Gabbie: 29:02

For me, I switched gears a little bit and went to the mental wellness side. So my master's degree is in counseling, psychology, and a focus is specifically on psychology and counseling techniques and prepare students to be able to deliver mental health services, including therapy, counseling, to individuals, families and groups. So you'll take advanced courses on psychological theory, counseling techniques, assessments. You'll take courses in ethics as well, and then you'll also have to complete a practicum placement, which means as a student I worked at a specific clinic for a certain amount of hours to get practical experience and practical skills. So I was counseling people as a student and getting my experience that way. So when you graduate with that degree you can become a licensed counselor or a registered psychotherapist which is what I am now and you will work in settings like private clinics. You can work in schools, hospitals. I also now specialize in working with athletes in their own mental wellness and mental preparedness for sport and getting better at framing their negative monologue into a more positive internal monologue. Negative monologue into a more positive internal monologue.

Gabbie: 30:27

So on the topic of your master's degree, what made you decide to go into counseling and psychotherapy. So after years of being a personal trainer and helping people work towards their goals, I began to realize the importance of mental wellness in the pursuit of your physical goals and overall wellness. Like I said before, you can be doing. You can be a naturally talented, gifted athlete or working your butt off as a regular person in the gym, trying to work towards some specific goals. But without mental and emotion resilience, your success can fall away pretty easily and you can find yourself burnt out or with little to no motivation and participating in the things that are important to you. And I've always also had an interest in psychology and the psychology of what gets people to change their behaviors. So in pursuing a master's degree, this allowed me to combine my knowledge of physical wellness with mental wellness and it kind of comes full circle on that mind-body connection that I was talking to you earlier.

Gabbie: 31:35

Talking about earlier, the more mindful and self-aware you are, you can become better able to focus on the things that you have control over rather than worrying about the possible future catastrophes that may or may not happen that you do not have control over.

Gabbie: 31:54

So we as people have very we have a limited attention span. So as an athlete or even as a regular person, if part of my limited attention span is being distracted by things outside of what I'm doing in the current moment, or my limited attention span is being filled up with negative internal monologue or negative self-talk, it leaves a very limited now threshold for attention for what I'm doing in the actual current moment and as an athlete, then that can lead to like poor performance in real time on the field and then poor. Poor performance leads to more negative self talk, which leads to more poor performance, and it's kind of like a never ending cycle there. So the more mindful you can be about the way you talk to yourself and being more present in the present moment and not thinking about the future, you're more likely to see success that way, performance wise and also in pursuing of your goals did you expect for um both your degrees, like especially your path of personal training, and your psychotherapy degree, to really go hand in hand?

Gabbie: 33:11

or no I think I had a little bit. I was thinking of that when I started my master's degree and now that I ended I'm realizing how well those two things go together. It almost seems like it makes too much sense for somebody to be a personal trainer but then also be able to work on mental health. It may. It seems like those two things go really really hand in hand, but in general the mental side of physical wellness is often goes neglected or untrained. So I think in the current day that's becoming more of a thing. People are thinking more about their mental health, but there's not that many people who work so much in both those spaces and bring those two things together. But I think that's going to change in the future.

Emma: 34:04

So into more of the specifics of your degree. Can you tell us what your degree is and what type of counseling specifically you do?

Gabbie: 34:12

Yeah, so my degree is in counseling psychology, which qualifies me to work as a registered psychotherapist. Being a registered psychotherapist is regulated by the province of Ontario, which means not everyone can call themselves a registered psychotherapist. Is regulated by the province of Ontario, which means not everyone can call themselves a registered psychotherapist. You have to apply and meet certain criteria in order to call yourself a psychotherapist. There are ethical rules that we have to follow. There are practice rules that we have to follow. There's also a big, giant test that we have to take as psychotherapists. So, having said that, as a psychotherapist, I offer individual counseling, couples counseling and then, like I said, my background also allows me to specialize in helping athletes in mental performance for sport and helping them hone their skills in mindfulness and visualization.

Xavier: 35:08

So if a teenager thought that they might need help or want to talk to someone, do you know where they could go?

Gabbie: 35:14

Yeah. So Kids Help Phone is a really good crisis and emergency resource if you feel like you need that. It's a 24-hour service where you can talk to a counselor about any problem, big or small. That's 1-800-668-6868. Or you can even text that number at 686-868. And you can live chat with somebody if you feel like you need to talk to somebody.

Gabbie: 35:43

Kw Counseling Services is a clinic that offers variety of services. It does individual and counseling, youth and family counseling, and it has lots of peer support groups. It also allows people who maybe couldn't afford regular therapy. It brings that down and gives them a reduced rate, so it makes therapy more accessible for individuals.

Gabbie: 36:06

And then there's also, if you're looking for a therapist for yourself, you can also check, always check out psychology todaycom, which which isa giant directory of all the psychotherapy, all the therapists in, like Canada and the US, so you can filter by if you're looking for a specific kind of therapy, if you're looking for online, if you're looking for in person, if you want a female online, if you're looking for in person, if you want a female therapist, if you want a male therapist, you'll be able to search based on what you're looking for. And then there's also the affordable therapy networkcom, which is an another directory, but it's for counselors that offer reduced fee counseling. So for people that maybe can't afford regular price counseling, this is an entire directory of people who offer reduced fee counseling, so that's affordabletherapynetworkcom.

Emma: 36:55

We'll put all the resources in the show notes.

Gabbie: 36:58

Yeah, I will send those over so that everyone can have access to them.

Emma: 37:03

Thank you so much for coming on today. It was a great chat. Thank you so much for having me.

Gabbie: 37:07

This was like such a fun first podcast experience. I hope I sounded wise and like I knew what I was talking about.

Xavier: 37:13

Oh, you did you totally did.

Emma: 37:16

You sounded like you've done this before.

Gabbie: 37:18

Great great.

Xavier: 37:20

Thank you so much, Gabby, and we'll see you at the gym.

Emma: 37:25

Thank you for listening and I know all the shows. You probably listened to say this, but if you enjoyed this episode, please follow and rate the podcast.

Xavier: 37:32

Also, we would love to connect with you and hear your thoughts about our episodes. You can find us on Instagram or visit our website. The links are in the show notes. Thanks for tuning in. Bye.