About
A “Last Best Place” is somewhere you arrive after looking for a while. A lot of the people who find us have tried counselling before and found it did not fit. We would like this to be the one that does. Our work is queer and trans-affirming, trauma-informed, anti-oppressive, and decolonial. Here is what each of those means in a session.
Our values
Queer and trans-affirming
We do not require you to justify your identity, and we do not treat it as the cause of everything else in your life. If gender or sexuality is what you want to work on, we can absolutely work on it. If it is not, we can focus on what is most important and relevant to you.
Trauma-informed
We go at a pace you set. We aim to pay close attention to where your boundaries are in each moment so that we can respect them and we understand that living with trauma can be incredibly challenging. We encourage you and support you in living in your values and aim to create a nonjudgemental, welcoming environment for all parts of you.
Anti-oppressive
When what you are dealing with is coming from outside you — a workplace, a family, a healthcare system, a landlord — we name that rather than treating it as a distortion in your thinking or a problem with you. If you are feeling it, it’s real.
Decolonial
We hold that distress lives in bodies, relationships, histories, and land, not only in individuals. We do not position Western clinical models as the only legitimate way of understanding what is happening to you.
Where we work
We provide counselling to people who are physically located in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, or Nunavut at the time of their session.
Who we are
Our team is small and growing. Every clinician here is registered with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors, carries their own professional liability insurance, and works from a queer and trans-affirming, anti-oppressive foundation.
What happens in the consult
When you book a consult, we will spend about 15 minutes getting to know one another and we will talk about what brings you to counselling. We use video call on the same secure platform we use for sessions, so you can find out whether this feels like a fit before you make any financial or emotional commitment. Here is what happens:
- You pick a time online. There are no forms to fill in beforehand and no payment details required. Booking takes about 2 minutes.
- We ask what brings you in, what you are hoping counselling might do for you, and whether you have tried counselling before. You share as much or as little as you want to.
- You ask us anything — how we work, what experience we have with what you are bringing, fees, availability, scheduling, or anything else that matters to you.
- If you would like to go ahead, we book a first session and email you the intake paperwork.
Land Acknowledgement
We are grateful to be based on the unceded territories of the Semiahmoo, Katzie, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, Qayqayt, and Tsawwassen Nations, and to meet people across many more territories. We acknowledge the ongoing harms of colonization and the intergenerational trauma arising from it, and we hold that history in the counselling room as well as outside it.