At Blossom Counselling Centre, our team strives to align with progressive, social justice aligned values. We believe that psychotherapy and nutrition counselling are inherently political, and we aim to create a brave space where individuals feel valued, heard, and respected.

We believe people of all genders and sexualities deserve a life free of violence, discrimination, and oppression. Examples of actions our team is taking:

• We always strive to use our client’s gender-affirming names and pronouns

• We aim to use gender-neutral language on our forms and in our conversations

• We are continuously educating ourselves on gender- and sexuality-related issues, including understanding how oppression impacts mental health

We operate under the principles of Health at Every Size® (HAES®) as defined by the Association for Size Diversity and Health. We do not believe in pathologizing weight and/or body size. We recognize that people at higher weights experience weight stigma and fatphobia, and that this has a profound impact on eating patterns and mental health.

As providers who hold many layers of privilege, we acknowledge the inherent power differences when supporting individuals who hold marginalized identities. We aim to equalize this relationship by valuing our client’s lived experience and by seeing them as the experts of their own lives. Many of our providers offer sliding scale rates to accommodate the needs of marginalized communities. We also regularly participate in professional development offerings and reinvest a portion of our earnings into community and grassroots organizations, especially those serving marginalized and oppressed individuals.

We recognize the lack of racial diversity within our team members. While we welcome clients of all racial backgrounds, we acknowledge that those within BIPOC communities are often best served by therapists who share their racial identity and who have lived experience of racism.

For those seeking BIPOC therapists, we encourage you to visit the following directories:

• Healing in Colour

• Black Therapist List

• Women of Colour Remake Wellness

• Black Mental Health Canada