Lionhearted Practices

Abstract

This chapter is written from the perspectives of three racialized Asian women with lived experiences of navigating colonial and oppressive practices in academia within the landscape of counsellor education. The need for lionhearted practices is rooted in the lived reality that many racialized individuals experience harm and trauma from racial discrimination permeating the educational landscape, ranging from in-class interactions, curriculum materials, to grading criteria. The damage from continual exposure to these practices contributes to feelings of inadequate safety and support, leading many to consider leaving counsellor education altogether. To enhance safety, counsellor education must embed tools that support students and instructors in integrating steps towards greater cultural safety. Learning to facilitate lionhearted conversations, which are courageous dialogues that challenge biases and address harm directly, creates a more inclusive space for students. This practice is also crucial for promoting more responsive care for counselling clients who do not fit the conventional mould that counsellor education has historically prepared students for, an urgent endeavor given that racism is a public health emergency. In this chapter, Gina, Sherani, and Ya Xi collaboratively present the lived experiences that ground their work, a framework for understanding lionhearted conversations, and a self-assessment matrix wheel designed to help readers consider the lionhearted stances they can take when engaging in this critical work. Drawing on Yevgen’s instructional design expertise, they offer a series of animated videos to encourage applied practice of lionhearted stances. The chapter concludes with a call for systemic action to address harmful legacies in counsellor education, examines the impact on the well-being of those harmed, and invites genuine allyship to foster a culture of lionhearted engagement across the counselling profession.

Co-Authors

Gina Wong (she/her; they/them), PhD, RPsych, is a psychologist, researcher, writer, and a perinatal mental health certified (PMH-C) clinician. She is dedicated to increasing literacy, focus, and successful treatment for maternal mental health illness in Canada, particularly for women of colour. She co-founded and served as the vice-president of the Postpartum Support International-Canada. She has authored or edited three books related to mothering: Moms Gone Mad: Motherhood and Madness Oppression and Resistance (Wong, 2012); Mothering in East Asian Communities: Politics and Practices (Duncan & Wong, 2014); and Maternal Infanticide and Filicide: Foundations in Maternal Mental Health Forensics (Wong & Parnham, 2021). Dr Gina Wong

Sherani Sivakumar (she/her), MC, is a registered provisional psychologist who holds various intersectional identities, such as being a settler on this land, Tamil, and a daughter and only child of immigrants. Her lived experience impacts her passion for supporting IBAPoC communities to heal from racial trauma and grief, identity-related concerns, and family-of-origin challenges. Her experience includes supporting the development of children and youths in a school, group, and community setting, anti-sexual violence advocacy work, supporting survivors of sexual violence, and working with other professions to support young people who have experienced marginalization, abuse, and neglect. BIPOC Healing and Wellness Centre

Ya Xi (Nancy) Lei (she/her), MC, is a recent graduate with a master’s degree in counselling. She completed a thesis exploring racial equity and inequity in Canadian counsellor education and their impact on racialized graduate students’ well-being. Her passion for this work stems from her lived realities as a racialized student navigating academia, alongside her intersecting identities as a 1.5-generation Chinese Canadian woman of colour, an English-as-a-second-language speaker, and an only daughter from a low-income household. Professionally she has supported individuals and families fleeing domestic violence, helping them navigate systemic barriers to secure housing. She currently works with individuals facing complex mental health and substance use challenges.

Yevgen Yasynskyy (he/him), MEd, MSc, is passionate about instructional design and use of technology in education. He has worked in different roles related to online course and program delivery for over 20 years. His goal is to make online learning more interesting, engaging, and motivating while aligning it with curriculum outcomes and assessment strategies. In his spare time he enjoys discovering new places, meeting new people, and learning about different cultures while camping or travelling. Being involved in this project pushed his boundaries and beliefs and helped him to grow personally and professionally. 

Citation

Wong, G., Sivakumar, S., Lei, Y. X., & Yasynskyy, Y. (2025). Dismantling harmful legacies of counsellor education in Canada: A new era of lionhearted practices. In S. Collins and M. Jay (Eds.), Decolonizing health, healing, and care: Embodying culturally responsive and socially just counselling (Chapter 2.1). Counselling Concepts. https://doi.org/10.71446/ek5793779