We create this content from the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish Nations. As settlers providing therapy services in so-called Vancouver, we’re committed to moving beyond acknowledgment into active accountability and supporting Indigenous sovereignty.
In This Guide:
- Understanding Colonial Impacts On Mental Health
- Reclaiming Cultural Approaches To Healing
- Integrating Anti-Colonial Practices In Therapy
- Embodied Approaches To Decolonial Healing
- Integrative Healing Approaches
- Land-Based Healing & Urban Connections
- Collective Care & Community Healing
- Accessing These Approaches Online & In-Person
- Reflecting On Your Healing Journey
Understanding Colonial Impacts On Mental Health
The mental health system, like many institutions, carries the legacy of colonial practices. These systems often fail to recognize the profound impact of intergenerational trauma and systemic oppression on BIPOC communities. Understanding these impacts helps us move toward more culturally responsive and liberatory approaches to healing.
Colonial frameworks continue to shape mental health systems through diagnostic criteria that often pathologize normal responses to oppression and dismiss cultural expressions of distress. These frameworks can invalidate the ways our communities have always approached healing and wellness.
The impact on cultural healing practices has been profound, with many traditional approaches being dismissed or devalued by Western mental health systems. Yet these practices have sustained our communities for generations, offering wisdom that extends far beyond individual therapy.
Reflection Questions:
- How have colonial mental health systems impacted your community’s traditional healing practices?
- What cultural wisdom about healing has been passed down in your family or community?
- How do you envision mental health care that truly honors your cultural experiences?
Reclaiming Cultural Approaches To Healing
Traditional healing practices have sustained communities for generations, offering wisdom that extends far beyond individual therapy. These approaches recognize the interconnected nature of personal and collective healing, honoring cultural knowledge and community care.
In Vancouver’s diverse communities, anti-oppressive therapy approaches draw from various cultural traditions while acknowledging the specific contexts and needs of SDQTBIPOC+ individuals. This includes understanding how different cultural perspectives view wellness, healing, and the relationship between individual and collective care.
Learn more about anti-oppressive therapy approaches and how they support decolonial healing practices.
Reflection Questions:
- What healing practices from your cultural background resonate most deeply with you?
- How might these practices be integrated into your current healing journey?
- What role does community play in your understanding of wellness?
Integrative Healing Approaches
Anti-colonial mental health care integrates multiple healing modalities that honor cultural wisdom while supporting individual and collective liberation. Through somatic approaches, EMDR therapy, nature-based healing, and expressive arts, we can create pathways for healing that acknowledge the full complexity of human experience.
EMDR therapy, while developed within Western psychology, shares important parallels with traditional healing practices. The bilateral stimulation central to EMDR mirrors ancestral practices found in Indigenous drumming ceremonies, African dance traditions, and Asian movement practices.
Nature-based therapy connects us with traditional ways of healing through land connection, even in urban environments. This approach recognizes that our relationship with land is both personal and political, especially in the context of colonial displacement and ongoing environmental justice struggles.
Reflection Questions:
- Which healing modalities resonate most with your experience and cultural background?
- How do you connect with land-based healing in urban spaces?
- What role does movement and embodiment play in your healing journey?
Embodied Approaches To Decolonial Healing
Our bodies carry both wisdom and wounds, particularly in relation to systemic oppression and colonial violence. Through embodied approaches, we create pathways for healing that honor cultural body wisdom and collective resilience.
Somatic approaches help us reconnect with our bodies’ inherent wisdom. These practices acknowledge how systemic oppression impacts our nervous systems while building capacity for regulation and resilience through cultural and ancestral practices.
Learn more about how somatic therapy supports decolonial healing practices.
Reflection Questions:
- How does your body hold cultural wisdom and ancestral knowledge?
- What practices help you feel most connected to your body’s wisdom?
- How might embodied healing support your connection to community?
Land-Based Healing & Urban Connections
Connecting with land remains vital for healing, even in urban environments. In Vancouver, we explore ways to maintain these connections while acknowledging our responsibilities as settlers on unceded territories.
Urban nature connection can take many forms, from connecting with local plants and waters to creating ceremonial spaces in city environments. These practices help us maintain our relationship with land while recognizing the complex realities of displacement and urban living.
Reflection Questions:
- How do you maintain connection with land in urban spaces?
- What role does nature play in your cultural healing practices?
- How might urban environments support rather than hinder land-based healing?
Collective Care & Community Healing
Anti-oppressive therapy recognizes that individual healing is inseparable from collective liberation. This understanding shapes how we approach mental health care, acknowledging that personal transformation occurs within broader community and social contexts.
In Vancouver’s SDQTBIPOC+ communities, collective care takes many forms, from mutual aid networks to cultural celebration and resistance. These practices remind us that healing happens in community, even within individual therapeutic relationships.
Reflection Questions:
- How do you envision the relationship between personal and collective healing?
- What role does community play in your healing journey?
- How might your healing journey contribute to collective liberation?
Accessing These Approaches Online & In-Person
Anti-colonial mental health care adapts to meet community needs through both online and in-person formats. Whether accessing support from Vancouver or across British Columbia, these approaches maintain their commitment to cultural responsiveness and anti-oppressive practice.
Learn more about online therapy options and in-person sessions in Vancouver.
Your Healing Journey
As you explore anti-colonial approaches to mental health care, remember that your healing journey is unique and valid. Whether you’re seeking individual support or looking to connect with broader community healing practices, there are many pathways to wellness that honor your cultural experiences and wisdom.
Learn more about our approach to anti-oppressive therapy and how it might support your healing journey.
Anti-oppressive Therapy provides a crucial framework for BIPOC communities seeking healing that acknowledges systemic injustices and prioritizes culturally responsive care.
