Positive Space Consulting

🌎 Everyone at PSC would like to celebrate the amazing achievements of our Founder and Clinical Director, Charlotte Shipley MSW RSW [she/they]. 🌈 As a queer person who was born with a physical disability (sometimes visibly noticeable and other times not), she has and continues to overcome an ableist world in a way that inspires/unites us, her clients and other folks living with disabilities. 💖 Charlotte, thank you for giving us a space to shine, to be ourselves, to grow without shame, and with community. 💜 At PSC we have a community of therapists who also have other beautiful and special disabilities that we recognize is what makes us unique and different. For the determination and truly dedicated work/support they all provide daily we thank you, for PSC would not exist without you/us. #Queerdos 🩵 We would also like to take the time to recognize and celebrate all of our clients. You folks are so unique and special and many of you also live with a disability. It is all those things including those disabilities the reason PSC exists today. #Community 💗 PSC is proudly of, by and for queer DISABLED people. 💟Nothing About Us Without Us. #positivespaceconsulting #disabilitypride #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs

💗 This Day, a poem by Sawyer Johnson [they/them] MSW, RSW ‘This Day’ I hoped with my heart that we wouldn’t wake up to this news, again. I hoped with my brain that we wouldn’t have to process these feelings, again. I hoped with my bones we wouldn’t have another day like this. We are here, again. Let’s be honest we have been here the whole time. This is an amalgamation of the world’s hate. Racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, classism. Say it. It’s here, it’s been here the whole time. This day came, and it will go. We can’t stop, even when it feels like everyone is against us. We won’t. Just like all the other times our lives, and our children’s lives, and our sibling’s lives, and the people you have not yet met, their lives, have been at risk. We will keep going. We’re tired. So take a moment, to feel in your heart, your brain, your bones. That we are here, again. --- 📷 Graphic 1: Sawyer at the Stop the UCP Rally in Calgary, AB November 2, 2024, holding a sign ‘Let Us Grow Up’ There were also rallies in Edmonton, AB (and maybe Lethbridge, AB) https://lnkd.in/gepFiEHD https://lnkd.in/g8MyRBz4 https://lnkd.in/gBe8vuQ https://egale.ca/ https://lnkd.in/eYm7DJTs 📷 Graphic 2: This Day poem #PositiveSpaceConsulting #CelebrateQueerness #ProtectTransKids

💗Welcome Therapist Gavin Bejaimal [they/he] MSW, RSW. 🦄 Gavin joins PSC’s community of therapists supporting youth (16+) and adults of all identities. 🤓 About Gavin: I'm an indo-caribbean, neurodivergent, spiritual, Queer therapist who strives to embrace the complexity of who you are. I know that sometimes identifying with many things, or even just being part of the LGBTQ+ community, can create hurdles or blocks to how we feel on the inside and in the world. All your feelings are valid, and I would be honoured to give them and you a safe space to explore the many sides that make you unique! 💚 Book a free 20-minute consultation with Gavin today! #positivespaceconsulting #celebratequeerness #ontariotherapist

💚 2SLGBTQIA+ Therapy starting at $75 / Queers4Queers by PSC 🛝Sliding Scale Options 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🧑🏾🦽➡️For 2SLGBQTIA+ folks 14-35 years 🥁PSC is excited to introduce our Student Therapist 🌟 Holly Naraine [she/her] RP (Qualifying) She loves to support other queer & trans racialized folks as they navigate their intersecting identities. She offers individual sessions on a sliding scale/PWYC rate starting at $75/session. Holly recognizes that healing is nonlinear, and that no two journeys in therapy are alike. She takes a personalized approach to sessions and tailors her style and energy to match the needs of her clients. As a researcher of equine facilitated psychotherapy, Holly welcomes the therapeutic magic of animals and nature. 🙋🏽♀️ What is Queers4Queers? Positive Space Consulting and our community of therapists are committed to providing accessibly priced mental health support to all disabled and 2SLGBTQIA+ folks in need with the same passion and respect we provide to all our clients. Insta: @positivespaceconsulting FB: positivespaceconsulting PositiveSpaceConsulting.ca #positivespaceconsulting #celebratequeerness #lgbtqmentalhealth #Queers4Queers #Q4Q

🧡 Let us recognize that it is on us as settlers to manage our discomfort regarding the hurt and injustice that we have benefitted from and keep going. Graphic 1 & 2 Sioux boys as they entered the school in 1883 [on the left side], Three years later [on the right]”. As found on the Internet Archive, in the book “Souvenir of the Carlisle Indian School” by J.N. Choate, 1902. Graphic 3 Catholic nun in class room with Indigenous pre-teen students at St. Anne’s Indian Residential School Graphic 4 The coronation photo of the King and Queen of Canada Graphic 5 Side by side photos of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.

🧡 A Queer Perspective: Decolonizing Work, Justice & Intersectionality by A.Comeau [she/they] MSW RSW My positionality as a trans, neurodiverse, Acadian, white, and queer settler on Turtle Island, who is specifically occupying the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and the Attawandaron puts me in no position to speak with expertise on Indigenous life, hopes, wants, needs, or dreams. What it does put me in the position to speak on is to other settlers both in the professional space of therapist and to others who are interested in reflecting on their own colonial impact. Whether it is your first read on what this means or not, please do not take my writing here as an “expert” guide, as it is far from it. #1 Orange square with faded half Canadian flag, overlaid with: “What does it mean to decolonize? What does it mean to return land, to return sovereignty, to deconstruct settler colonialism? While it is hard to provide “step by step” ideas on how to do this, as everyone’s situation is different, there are examples we can look to.Some examples for therapists:” #2 Orange square with faded close-up of a child's face and mother overlaid with: “What does it mean to decolonize? Therapeutic practices can prioritize accessible cost services for Two-Spirit and Indigenous peoples.” #3 Orange square with faded Canadian Rocky Mountains overlaid with: “What does it mean to decolonize? Therapists can own their own social location when providing support to Indigenous people in their community. What is your settler history? How does that show up in your work as a therapist? Do you rely heavily on your Indigenous peers to work with Indigenous people due to your own discomfort or uncertainty? Can you balance your need to grow in decolonization while also not potentially burdening Indigenous peers?” #4 Orange square with faded close up of female -presenting white settler therapist overlaid with: “What does it mean to decolonize? Therapists can look at their practices regarding Duty to Report and ask themselves: Do these practices contribute to colonization? Are there ways to maintain our College’s standards while also decolonizing these practices?

🧡 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Every September 30th, we honour the lives of Indigenous children, adults, communities, and cultures who are the true custodians of Turtle Island, the land we know as “Canada”. A phrase such as “Every Child Matters” is not just a horrific reminder of our government's historical colonial violence. It is the calling out of ongoing colonial violence that settlers often accept through silence and complicity. Growing up in the Canadian educational system, our identities were moulded in the colours red and white, to remind us of our colonial past. Today we cover this land in Orange, to symbolize the loss, both past and ongoing, of its Indigenous identity and culture. Colonization has been a centuries long process, from the Residential School system (which had its last school close in 1996) to the Coastal Pipeline “projects” of today. So, although today we acknowledge our continued degradation of the Indigenous people of this land, we also recognize the colonial nature of a symbolic national holiday. Positive Space Consulting is actively reminded of its involvement in the occupation of this land and the sacrifices of its Indigenous people so that 2SLGBTQIA+ communities can live here today- for without them we would/could not exist. To help illustrate the horrors of a community and culture many of us can never relate to, we have chosen to highlight the painting ‘The Scream’ by Cree Artist #KentMonkman @KentMonkman. Even without context, this painting is horrific and invasive in nature. In some ways this painting has identities, feelings or actions we can all relate to. You may be Indigenous or a settler. You may hold identities such as parent, member of a spiritual community, child, or officer of the state. We all in some ways understand fear, aggression, hurt, and confusion to name a few of the emotions present here. 🤔What do you feel as you take time to reflect, look into, and witness the work shown today? This work acts as a harsh yet crucial reminder this is not a fictional story. Rather, it is embedded into the colonial person, and the place we all call home. 🎥 https://lnkd.in/dT858fDM

😎 Celebrate Queerness w/ Jenny Rajewski Gouin [she/her] M. Ed. MSW. RSW ⛴️ Taking the ferry to Toronto Island for some self-care. 🌎 For some Kayaking, cycling and beach fun! 💙 Where I like to go to feel safe, comfortable, and relaxed. 🌅 Image 1: Selfie of Jenny smiling with a bike helmet and sunglasses on the ferry to Toronto Island. Caption: “Taking the ferry to Toronto Island…” 🌃 Image 2: Jenny with a hat, red bandana and sunglasses, in a lime green kayak, a black handle paddle with yellow tips, in lake Ontario in front of the CN tower. Caption: “...for some self-care. For some Kayaking, cycling and beach fun!“ 🏞️ Image 3: Selfie of Jenny with a red bandana and sunglasses in front of Lake Ontario, boats and the CN tower. Caption: “Where I like to go to feel safe, comfortable, and relaxed.” #positivespaceconsulting #celebratequeerness

💚 Community Healing Group in Hamilton 👨🏽🤝👨🏼 Group in-person support by our friends at The Compassion Project @thecompassionproject.ca and Pauline O'Brien ⏱️ Mondays: 7 pm - 8 pm EST 📍 206 Locke Street S., Hamilton 🏳️🌈 For folks who identify as: -Neurodivergent -2SLGBTQIA+ -Woman-identified -Trans/Non-binary/gender fluid persons -Living w/ chronic health & chronic conditions 🏷️ The cost per 90-minute session is $60. Insurance is accepted. 💜 Currently, the location is not accessible to all folks. However, they are actively looking for alternative spaces and have an open and judgment-free team. 🌟 The Compassion Project offers a free 20-minute virtual consultation for questions. Please email info@thecompassionproject.ca or visit thecompassionproject.ca/ #positivespaceconsulting @celebratequeerness #thecompassionproject

🏳️🌈 2SLGBTQIA+ Therapy by Folks Just Like You! #CelebrateQueerness 🐓 Left Video: 4 Chickens Dancing to ‘What is Love’ by Haddaway Right Video:  🌟 Ema de Lanerolle They/Them] B.A. Hon. Office Manager 🌟 Karen Hutchinson [she/her] MSW RSW 🌟 Charlotte Shipley MSW RSW [she/they] 🎼 “Dancing to ‘What is Love’ by Haddaway 🐔 Thank you, @ilgallinaio_special, for your beautiful dancing chickens! #PositiveSpaceConsulting