Kathleen Charles Verified listing

Hi! I’m a Black, queer therapist based in Tio'tia:ke and I am committed to a decolonized or re-indigenized and essentially non-pathologizing view of health. Instead of viewing behavior and symptoms through the lens of pathology, I ask: How has your system been responding to the world around it, and why? How can we work together to deepen awareness and compassion for these responses, while working to find new ways of responding that better suit who you currently are and what you desire?
I believe that acknowledging oppression and highlighting both individual and collective resources for resistance are essential to support and nourish mental health within oppressive systems. In my practice, denouncing the violence of systemic oppression serves to undermine any unnecessary individual responsibility my client may be taking on (i.e. prevent internalized oppression). I then work to shift the focus towards their inherent worthiness and agency to engage with internal or collective resources for resisting oppression and living unapologetically in defiance of it.