Angela J Davis Counselling & Consulting

1) Are the forms used in your practice inclusive of various sexual orientations and gender identities (e.g. opportunities to fill in different pronouns etc.)? Yes, all optional.

2) Do you collect and use preferred names (rather than legal names) for all
communications? Yes, of course.

3) Do you and your colleagues have experience providing services that support clients with navigating gender dysphoria*? *TransCareBC describes gender dysphoria as a term "intended to describe the distress some trans people experience with relation to their gender identity, particularly if they would like to transition but have not yet done so." Yes, my service is client-centered - lived experience rules.

4) Please tell us how equipped you feel to support a client in determining if/when their mental health symptoms are related to their gender-related experiences or other factors? I feel fairly equipped (meaning: comfortable, with room to grow and willingness to learn).

5) Do you/your colleagues understand the difference between gender dysphoria and mental health conditions/symptoms that are unrelated to gender dysphoria or distress? Yes, and I believe the counsellor’s role is to help, when appropriate, a person discover where those symptoms may or may not overlap, or be intensified by environmental, social or cultural pressures.

6) Do you and your colleagues have experience working with people who identify as living with a disability or chronic illness? Please tell us more about your experience and any training you have received. I do not have specific training for this area but can, and do, comfortably meet a person/s in their lived experience with the hope of together reducing emotional suffering.

7) Are you and your colleagues comfortable asking relevant questions about gender identity and sexual orientation? Yes, if applicable – and question asking is less valuable to me than leaving space for what the person wants to share or explore.

8) Do you offer Indigenous 2SLGBTQIA+ specific resources, for example Indigenous Elders or Knowledge Keepers? That is my continued goal but I have not found some local Indigenous communities to be super supportive of my queer community. I admit I haven’t made the time (maybe through a personal lack of confidence I’ll be met openly) to make more of these connections recently, but your question has inspired me to try again as part of my commitment to the TRC 94 calls to action.

9) Do you and your colleagues ask clients about pronouns and use them appropriately? I don’t ask about pronouns; I simply use the pronouns shared/ticked in the intake form (of course). One-on-one sessions don’t have a lot of space to use pronouns but I use the person’s pronouns in my notes.

10) Are you and your colleagues aware of what specific barriers may exist for Two-Spirit, queer, or trans Indigenous individuals accessing your services? Yes, appropriate fear of systemic racism, stigma, colonization, violence, as well as daily barriers such as transportation, finances, private space/housing, internalized shame.

11) Are you and your colleagues aware of what specific barriers may exist for
2SLGBTQIA+ individuals accessing your services? Yes, appropriate fear of systemic homophobia and transphobia, violence, stigma, assumptions and so on, as well as things like transportation, finances, private space/housing, internalized shame.

12) Are you and your colleagues aware of what specific barriers may exist for trans individuals accessing your services? As above but sometimes amplified, along with appropriate fear of being pathologized.

13) Are there clear anti-discrimination policies that include gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation in your organization or practice? Absolutely, in my information and consent that is reviewed at the first session.

14) Are all individuals involved in service provision actively engaged in decolonizing their practices and/or organization? If yes, please type below what actions you and/or your organization are taking. This is a major point of discussion that I will simply say has to do with the general ‘nice notion’ of decolonization that I feel is a catch phrase. Decolonization involves giving land back to start. Yes, I practice decolonizing by naming my privilege and doing my own work to lower or remove barriers, to accept all ways of knowing and being, to invite or point toward Indigenous literature or speakers, to be a truthteller – still this is hardly decolonization, but I take the actions I can.

15) Are all individuals involved in service provision actively engaged in anti-racist practices, policies, and systems in their care model? Absolutely, it’s just me and I am adamant in these policies and practices and will stay open to change and feedback. Here is that section of my information and consent form: I invite and include all humans—even if you feel alien—you are welcome here. No one will be turned away. However, if racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, sexism and so on, show up with you to the clinic waiting room or therapy room you will kindly be asked to examine such in therapy sessions. I will not tolerate discrimination except for the purposes of therapeutic examination. I include myself in a continued examination of my biases.