We create this content from the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish Nations. As settlers providing therapy in Vancouver, we acknowledge that play has existed in Indigenous communities worldwide long before clinical approaches were developed. We’re committed to moving beyond acknowledgment into active accountability.

This post is part of our “Therapy Beyond Walls” series, exploring how healing happens beyond traditional office settings. Other posts in this series examine art therapy, EMDR, and animal assisted therapy in Vancouver.

In This Guide:

• Who Needs Permission to Play? A Critical Analysis
• Capitalism’s War on Joy: Beyond Productivity
• Decolonizing Play: Beyond Cultural Commodification
• Play as Political Resistance: Theory and Practice
• Collective Play & Community Liberation
• Radical Accessibility in Play Spaces
• Liberation in Practice: SDQTBIPOC+ Centered Approaches
• Integrative Approaches to Play Therapy
• Resources for Collective Liberation
• Next Steps

As a provider of culturally responsive counselling in Vancouver, we’re reimagining play therapy through anti-oppressive and decolonial frameworks. This isn’t about getting permission from colonial systems or medical models – it’s about reclaiming play as a birthright, particularly for SDQTBIPOC+ folx who’ve been told their ways of playing, moving, and expressing joy need to be “corrected” or “managed.”

Who Needs Permission to Play? A Critical Analysis

The very concept of needing permission to play emerges from intersecting systems of oppression – capitalism, colonialism, and ableism. These systems work together to control not just how we play, but whether we believe we have the right to play at all.

As an anti-oppressive therapy practice in Vancouver, we’ve witnessed how these systems impact our relationships with play and joy. Through disability justice and mad liberation frameworks, we understand that:

• “Appropriate play” often means conforming to white, ableist, capitalistic standards
• Different bodies play differently – and that’s revolutionary
• Joy doesn’t need clinical approval
• Play has always been a form of resistance
• Your stim toys, movement patterns, and joy are valid without permission

Capitalism’s War on Joy: Beyond Productivity

Capitalism’s relationship with play reveals a fundamental contradiction: while it commodifies play through the “wellness industry,” it simultaneously devalues play that doesn’t serve productive ends. In Vancouver’s therapy landscape, this creates a double bind where:

• Play becomes another form of “self-improvement”
• “Therapeutic” play must demonstrate measurable outcomes
• Joy is only valid when it increases productivity
• Rest and “unproductive” play are pathologized
• Cultural play practices are appropriated and marketized

Through our anti-oppressive therapy practice in Vancouver, we’re actively challenging these narratives. When we play without permission, we’re not just engaging in personal healing – we’re participating in a broader resistance to capitalist control of our joy.

Decolonizing Play: Beyond Cultural Commodification

Colonization has always targeted play as a means of cultural control. In providing culturally responsive counselling in Vancouver, we must acknowledge how colonizers systematically:

• Criminalized Indigenous play practices
• Imposed “civilized” forms of recreation
• Pathologized cultural expressions of joy
• Commodified and appropriated cultural play practices

Through anti-oppressive play therapy in Vancouver, we’re actively working to decolonize how play happens in therapeutic spaces. This means:

• Centering SDQTBIPOC+ ways of playing and healing
• Honoring cultural play traditions and ancestral wisdom
• Supporting different ways of moving and being in space
• Recognizing play as political resistance
• Creating spaces where permission isn’t needed

Play as Political Resistance: Theory and Practice

In Vancouver’s SDQTBIPOC+ communities, play has always been resistance. Through decolonial therapy practices, we recognize that joy itself becomes radical when it challenges systems of oppression. We know something is powerful when the first thing a colonizing force uses to destabilize a population is to tear away their play and practices of community.

• Using play to build community
• Engaging in cultural play practices
• Creating community play spaces outside institutional control
• Refusing to make play “productive”
• Celebrating “inappropriate” joy

Anti-oppressive practice within these theoretical frameworks draws from:

• Disability justice’s emphasis on joy as resistance
• Mad liberation’s reclamation of “inappropriate” expression
• Black radical tradition’s celebration of joy as survival
• Queer theory’s embrace of play as world-making
• Feminist critiques of “appropriate” behavior

Collective Play & Community Liberation

The individualization of therapy under capitalism obscures a fundamental truth: healing happens in community. Play therapy in Vancouver doesn’t have to be an individual journey. Through transformative justice approaches, we understand that healing happens in community, and play creates pathways for collective liberation.

• Creating collective play spaces that honor different access needs
• Supporting community-led play initiatives
• Building solidarity through shared joy
• Challenging individualistic approaches to healing
• Centering mutual aid and collective care in play spaces

Making Play Accessible (No, Really)

Providing accessible play therapy in Vancouver means understanding that accessibility is about more than physical space. Through disability justice frameworks, we recognize that true accessibility includes:

• Multiple ways to engage with play materials and spaces
• Respect for different sensory needs and processing styles
• Language justice
• Recognition of different energy levels and play styles
• Virtual and hybrid options for different access needs
• Moving beyond compliance to liberation

Liberation in Practice

Here’s how we embody these principles in our practice (details changed for privacy):

• Community play circles centering SDQTBIPOC+ joy and resistance
• Integration of cultural play practices in healing work
• Digital play spaces for different access needs
• Movement-based play that honors all bodies
• Collective joy practices that challenge isolation

Resources for Collective Liberation

For deeper engagement with justice-oriented therapy approaches in Vancouver, explore:

• Disability justice writings on play and joy
• Mad liberation perspectives on expression
• Decolonial approaches to healing
• Transformative justice resources
• Community-led play initiatives
• Anti-oppressive clinical supervision frameworks

Next up in the series:

• Paws, Reflect, Resist: Animal Partnered Therapy in Vancouver

Next Steps in Your Play Journey

Ready to explore how liberation-focused play therapy in Vancouver might support your healing? Here are some ways to connect:

1. Book a free consultation to discuss how our integrative therapy approaches might support your healing journey.

2. Take our 3-minute questionnaire to receive personalized therapist recommendations.

3. Explore our free resource database for more information about justice-oriented therapy approaches.

Have questions? Text us at 778.775.7504 or email connect@venturouscounselling.com.

Your play doesn’t need permission. Whether you’re seeking therapy in Vancouver or exploring different ways of expressing joy, we’re here to support your journey toward collective liberation.

Healing and self-discovery don’t have to be rigid processes—at Venturous Counselling, we embrace creativity and joy in therapy. The Revolution Will Be Playful explores how play can be a powerful tool for liberation, particularly for SDQTBIPOC communities.