Prospect Counselling + Training is a POC-led counselling practice dedicated to providing accessible and exceptional counselling to SDQTBIPOC+ communities while disrupting the capitalist values currently upholding standard clinical training programs. Rather than building wealth for practice owners, proceeds from services provided support further training, thereby enhancing the services you receive, while funding projects for collective healing within communities.
We were chatting away about life, its going ons, and frustrations with training folx within an institutional setting, when we came to the topic of liberation. We shared our hopes in engaging in spaces where there is already a buy-in into the ethics and radical politics that inform our work. Not having spaces where the messiness of dreaming up and creating liberatory practices felt like a lost opportunity that costed too much. What are we leaving on the table when we only engage in institutionalized training and educational practices? What change could we spark if we created a space for therapists-to-be to build their practice on a more radical foundation?
For several years, Bhupie had envisioned a community-oriented learning space where students and practicing counsellors can come together to learn/unlearn together that also serves communities in more radically useful ways. Abby’s excitement + passion for the idea propelled it forward. From there we began to co-create what it would look like on a practical level and how it may evolve in the future. Putting boots to the ground, Prospect became what it is today.
We aren’t experts; just figuring things out as we go, but we are thrilled to continue having creative, tough, and fiercely radical conversations with each other and communities as we do our part in moving towards collective liberation.
We are uninvited settlers occupying the stolen, unceded, ancestral territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō) peoples.
Our relationship with these lands dictates our commitment to understanding the ongoing impacts of colonization and decolonizing our practices in and out of the counselling room.
Hello and welcome! Come and sit, let’s chat for a while. In my own lived experience getting counselling, I know how uncomfortably vulnerable it is to reach out for help; I’m glad that you are here, bravely making that first step for yourself.
I am an uninvited settler currently occupying the unceded and ancestral territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. I am a cis-het, non-disabled Chinese woman, and am a 1.5 generation immigrant, born to a
dad from Guangdong, China and a mom
from Hong Kong; I’ve navigated the nuanced and complex clashes within colonialism, Eastern traditions, and Western philosophies and familiar with the challenge of straddling multiple cultures, trying to satisfy conflicting expectations whilst trying to find a place where I can plant my feet and live out my full authentic story.
My work is grounded on the perspective that how we story our lives is incredibly powerful, and it is through these stories that we make sense of the world, ourselves, and our experiences. These stories can be taught, inherited, passed down, adopted, melded, and combined. Some stories are helpful and empowering, and some stories can cause us to feel trapped, frustrated, and helpless. And for some stories that we have, we would rather them be forgotten, hidden, and ignored because of how much pain and shame these stories bring us.
is a settler who was born and raised on the stolen unceded, ancestral territories of the Semiahmoo, sq̓əc̓iy̓aɁɬ təməxʷ (Katzie), Kwantlen, kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), Qayqayt, and sc̓əwaθenaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsawwassen) Nations; and her ancestors are from India. Bhupie is a cis, non-disabled, middle class, small fat woman.
Currently, Bhupie works as a therapist, supervisor, professor, and consultant. Her work is informed by social justice and collaborative principles. She is honoured to work alongside people who are navigating and resisting multiple systems of oppression individually, within relationships, and in communities. As a clinical supervisor, Bhupie supports teams providing health care services and counselling services, practicing counsellors and student counsellors. Supervision is an enriching experience for Bhupie—a space where she can engage in a collaborative dialogue about best practices and ethics alongside the critique and feedback.
Bhupie also provides workshops, trainings, and consultations to organisations, teams, and boards. She is an adjunct faculty at Adler University and City University, and an instructor at Vancouver Community College. And she is a board member at Healing in Colour.
is a queer, currently non-disabled Corean femme, immigrant and settler, joy-seeker, liberatory dreamer, psych survivor, justice-oriented therapist-ish and ongoing creation of community. Born in Bucheon, Corea, they grew up and continue to live on the unceded territories of Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations in what is colonially known as Vancouver, Canada, which shapes their relationships with land, kinship, sovereignty and co-resistance.
Ji-Youn works in private/alternative practice in relationships with predominantly Sick & Disabled QTBIPOC client community members with the orientation of therapy-ish as a space to practice embodied liberatory practices in the spirit of collective liberation. In recent years, she has also been teaching about abolitionist mental health care, the mental health industrial complex and the blurring of the categorization of therapy. Their practices are informed by Black & Indigenous feminist scholars, Disability Justice & Transformative Justice educators, abolitionists and organizers, as well as their lived experienced of mental illness/Madness and psychiatric incarceration.
Premala (Lala) is queer and cis, a brown woman and a settler, chronically ill/disabled and middle class. Some of her people are Indian and others are white. Her understanding of power, privilege, and oppression is shaped by the range of her positions in the world.
Lala's experiences of violence and oppression led her to seek change, for herself and others. She is a therapist in independent practice, and the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Healing in Colour, a non-profit that supports BIPOC both to access and to offer healing services. She is also the co-creator of SEEN, a podcast that explores personal healing and collective liberation work through the eyes of Black and brown queer women. Her work sits at the intersection of counselling and activism, firmly rooted in the radical possibilities of QTBIPOC spiritual and emotional healing.
In my therapeutic practice and activism, I focus on supporting individuals and people in relationships who are part of communities subject to structural violence (including but not limited to BIPOCs, Queer, trans & gender nonconforming folks), people involved in social justice movements & direct action activism, and folks working on being accountable for doing harm in ways that are connected to, or involve participation in, systems of structural oppression (eg. gendered violence & white supremacy). I also provide clinical supervision to counsellors and other practitioners and have been a member of the teaching staff at City University since 2017.
I draw on knowledge and perspectives from feminist, queer, and critical race theory as well from social movements and activism. I truly value the wisdom and knowledge from outside the academy that students bring with them to the program and strive to create a space where it can be recognized, acknowledged, and integrated into clinical practice. Ultimately, I believe that teaching in a counselling program involves an ethical obligation to clients. More specifically, a requirement to participate in the creation of a field that not only more fully reflects the faces of its clients, but seeks first to be in care of, and led by, the communities in our society most marginalized and subject to structural violence. I attempt, in whatever ways I can, to always orient my teaching to respond to this requirement.
is an educator, counsellor, mentor, and creator originally from so-called Texas. For 7 years post-graduate Theresa worked on the front lines with local non-profits to provide accessible and quality therapeutics for those with barriers to support. Theresa is committed to helping people achieve freedom from systemic and societal oppression in every capacity, addressing the distresses that come from navigating shame, marginalization, discrimination, disassociation, and self-worth.
Theresa is passionate about developing personal power and helping individuals and relationships live authentically and thrive in their truths. In 2020, she started her own therapeutic practice, In-Power Counselling & Services, which continues the work she’s done in healing and empowerment. Theresa is also a clinical supervisor for new and developing therapists. Theresa’s hope is to make mental health, daily health!
When she’s not working Theresa is a learner in every sense of the word. She loves to read and consume content and information. She is a sister, a friend, a daughter, a cat aunt, a writer, crafter, painter, and creator.
is a non-binary, queer, 1.5 generation Chinese-Canadian immigrant settler who live, work, and benefit from taking up space on the unceded traditional territories of hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh peoples (colonially known as Burnaby.). I’m also neurodivergent, mentally ill, and a parent to a pre-schooler.
As an art maker, I enjoy all things creative. Some of my favorite interests include caring for plants and animals, painting, collaging, cooking, and immersing myself in the alternate realities of video games. Many of my healing experiences were inspired by meaningful relationships with others and in communities of care. In these supportive spaces, I am able to reclaim parts of myself and nourish my growth by embracing every aspect of my humanity.
I see working as a therapist and being a human being as inseparable processes. More than my educational and training backgrounds, I draw from my lived experiences and inner knowing to support those who share space with me. I have found deep healing in the practice of embracing “enoughness”. In the therapeutic space, my role is to guide you to connect with “being enough”, while cultivating gentleness and compassion for you to embody the richness of your humanity.
Hi everyone, I am Larissa. I am a queer, non-disabled, cis woman from mixed heritage. My mother is a European settler, and my father is Indigenous from Sq’ewqéyl First Nation. I am an aspiring counselor, who is currently enrolled in my second semester of counseling psychology.
I was drawn to Prospect for a variety of reasons. Some include their commitment to inclusivity, diversity, and their focus on working with BIPOC communities. As well, their desire to break down hierarchical structures and anti-oppressive framework. I felt a connection to this organization, I felt as though our values align and I admire the work that they are doing.
Within my work in the counseling field, I hope to continue to push the boundaries to create a safe and inclusive environment for all. I aim to create a community where folx feel as though they can live authentically, while deconstructing the structures and policies in place that prevent folx from feeling comfortable in spaces.
Hello there! I’m an immigrant-student of counselling, aspiring to be a therapist with focus on realistic change in terms of inclusivity in counselling and mental health practices. I was drawn to counselling because of my love for working with and understanding people in their unique context. The practice of empathy to help as well as learn from people I seek to help is the core of my counselling journey.
The issues that arise from our unequal opportunities, and its effect on communities is an area of particular interest to me. Our intersectional identities in the context of seeking help is also another area of potential exploration for me. Here, I hope to make content that speaks, resonates and drives educative change
Other than that, you can always find me exploring new art styles and painting! I value creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, kindness and humour.
is a gay, cis, non-disabled, second generation, racialized settler. His parents immigrated to these lands from India and he was born and raised in what is colonially known as Surrey; the stolen unceded, ancestral territories of the Semiahmoo, Katzie, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, Qayqayt, Musqueam, and Tsawwassen Nations.
Nav is currently in the process of completing his Master of Counselling degree at City University. He strives to practice from a place of cultural humility, and views the world through queer, social justice, and anti-oppressive lenses. He attributes his outlook to his lived experiences and positions, to the
journey of exploring and embracing his personal and cultural identity.
Nav is passionate about working with individuals who feel isolated from themselves or the world around them. He believes in the resilience of the human spirit, and the healing power of storytelling. His focus is on queer and gender diverse identity, minority experiences, identity exploration, life transitions, anxiety, and depression. He hopes to create anon-judgmental, compassionate, and collaborative space for clients to share and explore their stories.
When he is not working, Nav finds joy in other pursuits that nourish his mind and spirit. Experimenting in the kitchen, reading and writing, being a plant dad, and exploring worlds of make-believe with his partner and friends playing tabletop roleplaying games.