Land acknowledgement and decolonizing practice
Intentional Living Psychotherapy is located in Kitchener, on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabe, and Haudenosaunee Peoples.
A land acknowledgement does not undo dispossession or repair the continuing effects of colonialism. It is one reminder that psychotherapy, health, identity, and everyday life are shaped by history, land, relationships, and systems of power.
What this asks of my practice
Western psychotherapy can centre individualism, treat one cultural worldview as universal, and overlook colonialism, racism, displacement, and systemic inequity. I am responsible for examining those assumptions in the theories I use, the questions I ask, and the way I understand distress, relationship, and change.
In practice, this means asking rather than assuming what matters to you; considering family, community, culture, faith, migration, land, and social conditions when they are relevant; paying attention to power within the therapeutic relationship; and respecting consent, pacing, and choice. Cultural similarity does not guarantee understanding, and I don't claim authority over experiences that are not my own.
Accountability in practice
Accountability requires more than a statement on a website.
- Commitment 01
I continue learning about local treaties, histories, and the present-day realities of Indigenous Peoples in Ontario and across Turtle Island.
- Commitment 02
I use supervision and consultation to examine colonial, anti-Black, racist, and other oppressive assumptions that may enter clinical understanding or decision-making.
- Commitment 03
I review therapeutic language and practices that pathologize culture, privilege dominant norms, or treat individual independence as the only form of wellbeing.
- Commitment 04
I learn from Indigenous-led scholarship and organizations without extracting, repackaging, or presenting Indigenous knowledge as my own expertise.
- Commitment 05
I remain open to feedback, acknowledge mistakes, and make changes when my practice does not align with these commitments.
An evolving responsibility
This work is ongoing and imperfect. Decolonizing practice is not a finished credential. It requires continued learning, reflection, material choices, and accountability.
Questions, feedback, and relevant resources can be sent to info@intentionallivingpsych.ca. Please keep private health information out of an initial email.