We are passionate about
radical, holistic mental health
It goes without saying that our lives are incredibly complex. Not only are we navigating our own inner world, but we are doing it alongside imperfect, complex others in a wide range of relationships and roles.
At Tend and Cultivate Counselling, we believe each person deserves care and support that works within the reality of their life. Instead of trying to fit our clients to a one-size-fits-all treatment, we commit to honoring and centering each of our client’s lived experiences, goals, and needs.
Rest, joy, satisfaction, happiness, and pleasure are radical acts of agency and autonomy – for our clients AND our providers.
The field of mental health is rooted in legacies of harm.
Imperialism, patriarchy, classism, racism, cultural appropriation, gatekeeping, anti-fat bias, and more form the foundation upon which the field of psychology and mental health stand. Psychologists of old (and new) sought to render the complexity of the human experience into a rigid binary of sane versus insane – pathologizing everything deemed “abnormal”. We know inequity continues to dominate mental health, and we are committed to justice-doing (a concept from therapist Vikki Reynolds) and disrupting dominant culture in ways that contribute to your (and our) liberation and healing.
How Our Core Values Impact the Way We Work with Clients
While our team possesses immense expertise, we also understand our clients are the experts in their lives, bodies, and stories. We do not assert power over or assume to know what it’s like to live another’s life.
Lived experience is as important (if not more) than academic studies and medical industrial norms. While we refer to books & resources for support, ideas, or understanding, our team prioritizes YOUR lived experience over a static definition or diagnosis in a book.
Family, culture, religion, relationships, and identity impact how you move through the world. The context of your life matters – a lot – and we work hard to carefully understand and consider that context and how it impacts you.
Therapy is not the only path to healing. We strongly believe in the power of care-filled, skillful mental health support AND we know there are many paths to healing. Ritual, music, friendship, nature, community, food, and play can contribute to personal and collective healing. We can help you explore and connect with more healing practices in our work together.
Who we work with can have a big impact on whether we feel safe enough to do vulnerable work. We understand that BIPOC clients may not feel safe working with a white therapist just as a larger bodied client may not feel safe working with a smaller bodied provider. We do our best to name our identities and experiences so that you feel fully informed before consenting to the work.
The work of healing is relational. The concept of therapist as a blank slate is fiction. Instead of pretending to be unbiased or unmoved, our therapists are encouraged to show up in their humanity, to be moved by the work, and to do this work relationally. We know how to do this in ways that validate your experience without taking away from what you really need – a safe space to explore important things.
We are inspired & informed by…
We did not get here alone. We stand beside and within long legacies of activism, resistance, joy, resilience, survival, art, joy, play, and more.
Black feminist thought
Such as: adrienne maree brown, Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Loretta Ross, Octavia Butler
Queer and Gender theory
Like: Gloria Anzaldúa, Michel Foucault, Alok, S. Bear Bergman, Sam Dylan Finch, Judith Butler
Fat liberation
Including Cat Pausé, Sonya Renee Taylor, Da’Shaun Harrison, Caleb Luna, Sonalee Rashatwar, Jes Baker, Hilary Kinavey, Dana Sturtevant, Carmen Cool
Radical mental health
Such as: Dr. Jennifer Mullan, Vikki Reynolds, Dr. Chris Hoff, Michael White, LD Green, Kelechi Ubozoh, Dr. Sand Chang
Anti-racism
Like: Resmaa Menakem, Ijeoma Oluo, Dorothy Roberts, Maya Angelou, Audre Lorde, Michelle Alexander, Tricia Hershey
…and many others
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Emily Nagoski, Desiree Adaway, Carmen Spagnola, Isabel Abbott, Mia Mingus… we could go on!
