Selkie Counselling

Selkie Counselling I approach counselling as a collaborative process.

We will each bring our unique perspectives, experiences, identities, and beliefs into sessions to help understand the difficulties you're facing.

Some of my favourites 🌱This book has been on my mind again lately (I mean, it's never really left). As I'm making plans ...
04/22/2026

Some of my favourites 🌱

This book has been on my mind again lately (I mean, it's never really left). As I'm making plans towards bringing on practicum students at Selkie in 2027 I'm thinking about what books I'd encourage them to read and this is at the top of the list by a long shot! I wish I had this book when I was in school, but I'm so glad it exists now.

“Much of what we deem a mental or behavioural health issue may actually be a generationally transmitted manifestation of colonization.”

“Colonialism, manufactured and caused by settlers, has caused significant damage to the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health of both the colonized and the colonizers.”

“Medicalization and rugged individualism support late-stage capitalism through pathologization of big emotions and attempting to medicate big emotions that are a result of the suffering from systemic inequalities and lateral violence.”

Hint: most of these have to do with financial privilege. I've found in my own experience and in many client stories that...
03/25/2026

Hint: most of these have to do with financial privilege.

I've found in my own experience and in many client stories that healing relationship to movement can take so much longer than healing our relationship to food.

The concept of willpower is yet another colonial, extraction metaphor what we've internalized to understand ourselves. Colonialism and wh*te suprem@cy teach us to view the land as a resource to be extracted from and used, and our bodyminds are not exempt. Willpower, focus, motivation, productivity - these are all things we're taught to just "dig down deep" to "tap into" and "unearth" within ourselves.

What if we tended to ourselves instead?
What if we focused on moving gently, responsively?
What if we embraced disability-affirming, anti-racist, and anti-capitalist values of deep rest, enoughness, and worthiness without productivity?

ALSO, what if our governments and systems actually f*cking cared about social determinants of health?!?!?

ID: Things that have radically transformed my relationship to movement (that have nothing to do with willpower):
1. A good raincoat & walking shoes
2. My office being walking distance from home
3. Living near a well-maintained city park
4. Working with an RMT who also has a larger body
5. Practicing my bird & plant identification
6. Cultivating an anti-colonial witchcraft practice
7. Learning how to tend to my chronic pain & illness

My WASP ancestors don't want me to talk about money, so let's goooo!I've been consulting with my supervisor, peers, my p...
03/11/2026

My WASP ancestors don't want me to talk about money, so let's goooo!

I've been consulting with my supervisor, peers, my partner, and friends to bring my practice more into values alignment over the last 6 months. Equity is at the centre of this, for my clients and myself. And because I can't immediately control access to secure housing, UBI, and a comprehensive social safety net, I did this instead.

This approach isn't for everyone! I've been really assessing my tendency to under-value my work, commitment to provide equitable care to those who need it, the privilege I have to take on a bit more financial uncertainty, my own capacity and burnout prevention, and how to be satisfiable both in my efforts and finances.

I'm curious to know your thoughts!

Other counsellors/helping professionals:
Do you offer sliding scale?
Do you have a "generous" or "giving" tier to your services?
How do you structure it?

ID: Therapists deserve to be paid well in our work. Clients deserve financially accessible therapy. This tension takes time and care to navigate in private practice.

As of February, I no longer have a set fee for individual counselling.

I now operate on a full sliding scale, ranging from $100 - $250 per session, based on financial privilege and barriers. I provided my clients with my rational, history of how I’ve structured my fees, research, & asked each of them to set their new fee & explicitly asking them for no explanation.
I have offered lower sliding scale since the very early days of Selkie in 2022. I have been boundaried with it, offering lower fees where I can but still prioritizing my own financial sustainability.

(After all, therapists are the lowest paid professionals with advanced degrees 🙃)

Over time, offering discounted fees and a flat fee for everyone else felt more and more out of alignment with my values as the cost of living rises for all of us.

So I made the new sliding scale...

More in the comments 👇🏻

Anti-Fat Bias for Helpers 101 is now available as a recorded webinar!🌊 Want to learn more about the systemic origins and...
03/09/2026

Anti-Fat Bias for Helpers 101 is now available as a recorded webinar!

🌊 Want to learn more about the systemic origins and impacts of anti-fatness and how it impacts helping work?
🌊 Want to uphold the dignity of fat clients/patients and reduce potential harm?
🌊 Want to know how this can help you support clients/patients with eating disorders?

The webinar includes 2-month access to this 80-minute presentation, plus access to slides, and a references/resources/reflections handout.

🗓️ 2-month access
💰Professional - $75
💸Student - $50

🔗 Link in my bio to check it out! Tell your friends! Tell your therapist!

-fatbias

Who else is listening to Good Girl on repeat? 🙋🏻‍♀️This spoken opening verse floored me the first time I heard it (and s...
03/04/2026

Who else is listening to Good Girl on repeat? 🙋🏻‍♀️

This spoken opening verse floored me the first time I heard it (and still kinda does). I ran to my partner to make him listen and started crying as I recited the lyrics along with her.

🌊 I bend over the river and catch a glimpse of something that's 👏🏻 NONE 👏🏻 OF 👏🏻 MY 👏🏻 BUSINESS 👏🏻
We're not meant to look at ourselves as much as we do, to photograph ourselves as much as we do. No wonder so many of us develop body-checking behaviours in a culture that enforces self-surveillance.

🌊 The water is not in love with the cup that I drink from 🌊
Our body does not make us un/worthy. We don't have to love our bodies to be worthy. Our worth is inherent because we're alive - a part of nature.

The most poetic critique of body positivity I've seen yet 😍

ID: "I sometimes walk naked, a child in the garden,
and I pretend that there is no other way
Despite the distant shadow of incredulous laughter, echoing as if I should know why it’s there
But I like the feeling
I’m at the beginning of time
And no thoughts of who I am
have entered my mind
I bend over the river and catch a glimpse
of something that’s none of my business
As I scoop some up to drink,
I disperse whatever it was
And you can scream at me all you want
that the greatest love affair is with myself
That it should be passionate, unwavering
No shadow of a doubt that I am in love with my body and my body is in love with me,
But I am not. The water is not in love
with the cup that I drink from.

Good Girl by Paris Paloma"
The above text is over a photo of a seal head poking above the water's surface in front of a snowy bank.

Early bird discount ends on Feb 23!What does the Fat Liberation Practice Lab include?✅ 16 hours of Group Consultation ✅ ...
02/20/2026

Early bird discount ends on Feb 23!

What does the Fat Liberation Practice Lab include?

✅ 16 hours of Group Consultation
✅ 1 hour of 1-1 consultation
✅ Discounted access to webinar Anti-Fat Bias for Helpers 101
✅ Supper & insights from interdisciplinary peers

I'm especially excited about that last point! I have found it so helpful over the years to consult with practitioners in other fields. It can bring so much insight that would have never occurred to my counselling-oriented brain.
We hope to see you there!

The details:
📅 March 10, 17, 24, 31, April 14, 21, 28, & May 5
🕙 10am - 12pm PT
🔗 Link in bio to apply
📩 Applications close March 1

PS - (Did you catch the secret training launch in there...? 👀)

-fatbias

Registration closes March 1st, but get $100 off if you apply before Feb 23rd 💸Not only do you get 8 weeks of facilitated...
02/11/2026

Registration closes March 1st, but get $100 off if you apply before Feb 23rd 💸

Not only do you get 8 weeks of facilitated group support, but registration also includes an hour of 1-1 consultation time with either Alli P or Ali S: 17 hours of consultation time in total!

Registration is easy - head to the Fat Liberation Practice Lab page on my website and fill in the short form! You can also reach out to us at any time with questions 🥰

The details:
📅 March 10, 17, 24, 31, April 14, 21, 28, & May 5
🕙 10am - 12pm PT
🔗 Link in bio to apply
📩 Applications close March 1

👇🏼 Drop any questions below!

-fatbias

We move slowly, gently, somatically, & relationally.No one is forced to participate, or sign up for a "presentation" tim...
02/05/2026

We move slowly, gently, somatically, & relationally.

No one is forced to participate, or sign up for a "presentation" time slot. We lead with greatest need, prioritize marginalized voices, and centre lived experience. Here's how it goes:

🌱 One participant steps into the centre with one facilitator to share where they’re stuck

🌱 The rest of the participants & other facilitator create witnessing group & observe with intention, compassion, & attunement

🌱 Participant & facilitator move into witnessing, witnessing group & facilitator move into the centre to discuss

🌱 Participant & facilitator step back into the centre, explore impact of discussion

🌱 Needs met and gifts received shared in chat by witnessing group & facilitators - consulting participant is given time to take it in

Big gratitude to Vikki Reynolds and Carmen Sp****la , whose justice-centered facilitation styles we've drawn on 🥰

🧪 The Fat Liberation Practice Lab Details:
📅 March 10, 17, 24, 31, April 14, 21, 28, & May 5
🕙 10am - 12pm PT
🔗 Link in bio to apply
📩 Applications close March 1

👇🏼 Drop any questions below!

-fatbias

The Fat Liberation Practice Lab includes a relay book club!Each participant reads/listens to a book, writes up a 1-page ...
02/02/2026

The Fat Liberation Practice Lab includes a relay book club!

Each participant reads/listens to a book, writes up a 1-page report (just one quote from each chapter) and we discuss them in week 8.

These books are foundational to our values, beliefs, and practice:

📘 Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings
📚 You Just Need to Lose Weight by Aubrey Gordon
📖 The Body is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
📗 Belly of the Beast by Da’Shaun Harrison
📖 Decolonizing Wellness by Dalia Kinsey
📚 Decolonizing Therapy by Jennifer Mullan
📘 Reclaiming Body Trust by Hilary Kinavey & Dana Sturtevant
📕 Justice-Doing at the Intersections of Power by Vikki Reynolds
📖 It’s Always Been Ours by Jessica Wilson
📙 The Body Liberation Project by Chrissy King
📚 Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Fat Liberation Practice Lab:
📅March 10, 17, 24, 31, April 14, 21, 28, & May 5
🕙10am - 12pm PT

🔗Link in bio to apply
📩Applications close March 1
👇🏼 Drop any questions below!

-fatbias

We need people of all body-sizes doing this work, especially to reach more straight-sized (not-fat) people. Anti-fat bia...
01/28/2026

We need people of all body-sizes doing this work, especially to reach more straight-sized (not-fat) people. Anti-fat bias means that fat voices aren't heard and we need co-disruptors we can trust.

You don't have to be an expert on anti-fat bias to apply, either!

Are you passionate about being "anti-diet"? Do you follow social media accounts or listen to podcasts about fat acceptance? Have you read a book on anti-fatness? Are you concerned about the increasingly overt idolizing of thinness with the rise of GLP1 medications?

AND

Do you feel lost about how to bring these ideas into your work with clients? Do you feel taken off-guard when a patient makes disparaging comments about their body? Are you worried about offending people, know you want to say something, but aren't sure how?

Let's get into it together 😎

📅March 10, 17, 24, 31, April 14, 21, 28, & May 5
🕙10am - 12pm PT
🔗Link in bio to apply
📩Applications close March 1
👇🏼 Drop any questions below!

ID: Fat Liberation Practice Lab
Do I have to be fat myself or identify as a fat liberationist to apply?
No - No - everyone is welcome to apply!
We do require that applicants know very basically what anti-fat bias is, believe that it exists, and understand it as an arm of systemic racism and colonialism.
We’ve got prep materials to help participants start group with shared language.
-fatbias

Meet your facilitators for the Fat Liberation Practice Lab!Ali S (Selkie Counselling) and Alli P (Inner Arc Therapy) are...
01/23/2026

Meet your facilitators for the Fat Liberation Practice Lab!

Ali S (Selkie Counselling) and Alli P (Inner Arc Therapy) are fat counsellors and colleagues passionate about supporting fellow practitioners in uprooting anti-fat bias and making the world more equitable place. They have a combined 8 years experience in direct fat liberation client work, amongst many more years of experience working with youth, community social work, and anti-violence.

Join us in this intimate and safety-building space to deepen your understanding of anti-fat bias, identify where you’re stuck in your practice, and receive support from a group of values-aligned, interdisciplinary practitioners (plus your two, enthusiastic & grounded facilitators!).

We co-facilitated a fat peer support group (The Fat-Tea) together for 3 years and are so excited to be expanding our work together 🥰

📅March 10, 17, 24, 31, April 14, 21, 28, & May 5
🕙10am - 12pm PT
🔗Link in bio to apply
📩Applications close March 1
👇🏼 Drop any questions below!

You get to be a person, not just a practitioner, here. Join us in this intimate and safety-building space to deepen your...
01/21/2026

You get to be a person, not just a practitioner, here.

Join us in this intimate and safety-building space to deepen your understanding of anti-fat bias, identify where you’re stuck in your practice, and receive support from a group of values-aligned, interdisciplinary practitioners and your two, enthusiastic, grounded facilitators!

📅March 10, 17, 24, 31, April 14, 21, 28, & May 5
🕙10am - 12pm PT
🔗More info and link in bio to apply
📩Applications close March 1
👇🏼 Drop any questions below!

Fat Lib Practice Lab, what is it?
8 week-long, closed group
Relational and somatic-informed
Group and 1-1 practice with peers

Who is it for?
Mental health workers
Body workers
Students in any of those fields

Address

1834A Oak Bay Avenue
Victoria, BC
V8R1C2

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Selkie Counselling posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Featured

Share