“How we tell our stories tell the people around us a lot about who we are. But our stories aren’t always in our control; they are told to us and about us too. They are voices all around us telling us who we are and who we are ‘supposed’ to be - and this can cause significant distress. These voices come from friends, family, cultural and religious institutions, the medical system, our education, and any of the other relationships of significance in our lives. I want to spend our time together helping you creating the space to share your story in your voice. We can talk about death, love, depression, anxiety, suicide, and gender. Or anything else that’s causing you to feel stuck. I particularly love working with 2SLGBTQIA+, youth and others who face marginalization in their day to day lives. I value collaboration, commitment, humour, joy and love (Adapted from EDPS 670).
I approach counselling from a predominantly Narrative approach incorporating elements of solution focused therapy and glimmers of emotion focused therapy. All of these approaches are filtered through a feminist, anti-oppressive, and trauma informed lens. ”
Michelle Kennedy completed her Masters Degree in Counselling Psychology at the University of Calgary in June 2019. Michelle is a Registered Psychologist in Alberta.
Michelle is currently accepting clients for her waitlist through IGNITE Counselling and Wellness. Priority given to member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Please get in touch for more info?
Michelle is fat, a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, she is a settler on Treaty 6 territory and is descendent of British, Jamaican, Dominican, and Irish folks. She is the child of an immigrant and the descendent of those who were enslaved and those who enslaved folks.
She is passionate about working to better understand how mental health, advocacy, anti-oppressive practice, social justice and feminism intersect within relationships, sexuality, and the systems that influence people's lives. She believes in the power of compassion and empathy and works (mostly) through a Narrative, Feminist, trauma informed, and anti-oppressive lens. She continues to pursue additional training in sex therapy and family therapy. When she isn’t at IGNITE Michelle is working at a large mental health organization that supports children, adolescents, and their families.
In her role as a sexual health educator Michelle focusses primarily on pleasure, sex positivity, consent, communication and safe(r) sex.
She used to do other things: playwriting, music reviews, theatre direction, dramaturgy, and tour managing. You can see that stuff here on her website too, it was part of her life for a long long time.
Her practicum was in three unique and wonderfully challenging places:
Barrhead Composite High School: Michelle worked with teenage girls focusing on depression, anxiety, body image and interpersonal relationships.
Blue Heron Support Services: Providing mental health care to adults with developmental disabilities and traumatic brain injuries. Client concerns included (among other things) life skills, interpersonal relationships, addiction, suicide, and involvement with the criminal justice system.
QUEERFLEX Canada: QUEERFLEX is an LGBTQ2IA+ exclusive gym that offers additonal wellness services including massage, reiki, and counselling. As the student counsellor, Michelle was responsible for setting up the counselling program, creating intake policies and procedures, creating client information storage and confidentiality, and providing care to approximately 12 clients. Client concerns were typically surrounding: gender, sexuality, interpersonal conflict, anxiety, depression, and suicide.
A note on copyright: I have tried, where possible to share references. Where not otherwise indicated the work written here is mine and was created for this site or adapted from my own work to demonstrate particular skills in a particular area. Much of this site fulfills a requirement for my MC, and part of that is demonstrating my work over the course of my degree. Please see the reference page for a full list.