Services

Sand Tray Pilot: Queer Relationship Exploration

Spaces available for two partnerships!

Spring registration open to come with a partner to this 6 week sand tray exploration. All relationship configurations are welcome.* Together, we’ll use a playful, gentle approach, to explore your relationship to yourselves and your inner world as a way to get curious about how you’re each showing up in relationship to each other.

One aspect of the experience will be using the sand tray to map out parts of yourself to make a chosen slice of your invisible world visible to your partner and yourself. For example, does one part feel excited about an aspect of your relationship while another part feels anxious? How is this showing up? How do these parts relate to each other?

Another aspect of the experience will be sitting in silence, observing the other person’s process, and being curious about what it brings up for you. You will be welcome to journal, draw, fidget, move etc during this time.

This process allows for a slowing down of the often rapid relational patterns we play out again and again. In this slowing down, we are able to notice, reflect, and tend to what needs to be tended inside ourselves. When we tend to what needs to be tended, more options for relating emerge and getting out of stuck patterns becomes possible.

As needed, we will discuss nervous system patterns, emotional regulation, co-regulation/dysregulation, as well as systemic factors and how these patterns are emerging in your relationship.

My hope is you will leave with a more fulsome understanding of what is going on underneath the surface within your relationship, and as a result, a deeper connection to yourself and your partner.

1.5 hour sessions 

Regular fee - $260/ session

Pilot fee - $182/ session

(30% discount for pilot in exchange for providing feedback)

Sessions are offered this Spring Tuesdays between 4-8pm at #101 – 1416 Commercial Drive.

To inquire contact Christina at counselling@christinakinch.com

* Due to the time constraints of this pilot, I’m only taking 2 people per session (for now).

Note: This exploration is informed by a ‘Parts Work’ approach (Internal Family Systems and Trauma Informed Stabilization Treatment). Don’t worry if this jargon doesn’t mean anything to you. You can give these frameworks a google if you’re interested, or ask me any questions you have in a 20 minute consultation. But, as with many psychological frameworks coming from a heteronormative lens, I hold them loosely. In the end, the framework is just a framework. We’ll take what helps and leave the rest.

Individual Counselling

If you experience…

  • Anxiety

  • Nightmares

  • Panic attacks

  • Difficulty making decisions

  • Substance use that you don’t always feel great about

  • Self harm

  • Questions about your sexual identity

  • Chronic pain

  • Feelings of stuckness

  • Difficulty with everyday life tasks (dishes, laundry, etc)

  • Impacts of trauma

It doesn’t have to be so hard. I can help you find more ease and balance; feel less shame and overwhelm. And hey- maybe even find some joy ;)

If you’re used to pushing to make it through, starting counselling can feel daunting. Don’'t sweat, we’ll start at a pace that works for you and you get to stay in the drivers seat. If you want to learn more about who I work with, or my approach, click here.

Relationship Counselling

I am currently not accepting new clients for relationship counselling

For all types of relationships…

  • Friends

  • Partners*

  • Housemates

  • Co-parents

  • Metamours

  • Polycules

  • Business partners

  • And more. If you’re relating, it’s a relationship.

If you’ve ever worried that a counsellor wont understand the depth or complexity of connections in your life- you’re in the right place. I have a lot of experience living in community and navigating chosen-family relationships with housemates, friends and partners.

You might consider relationship counselling if there are bumps in the road you can’t quite move through. The relationship really matters to you, but you can’t quite figure out how to shift things to make them better. Perhaps you keep running into the same challenges— or you want to talk about something, but you aren’t sure how to do it.

Relationship counselling can be for two or more people. Contact me to discuss more about how relationship counselling might support you and the people you care about.

*As there are many counsellors trained to support straight, monogamous couples, I am not currently taking any on any clients in this relationship configuration.

Professional Consultation

Are you a counsellor or health care professional?

Have you ever wondered:

  • What language is supportive to use when talking with clients who are LGBTQ2IA+ and/or polyamorous?

  • What do I do if I get someone’s pronouns wrong?

  • Am I missing something here about the queer experience that might help my client?

  • How do I navigate asking clients about their polyamorous relationships?

  • How can I help my clients living with chronic pain?

I offer non-judgmental and supportive consultation to professionals seeking to increase their competency working with the LGBTQ2IA+ and poly community.

I also offer consultation to professionals working with clients with chronic pain and other functional barriers that interfere with daily living.