Practice 1 Positionality

Abstract

In this chapter, Jessie King introduces the first of 18 practices designed to support culturally responsive and socially just (CRSJ) counselling practice. Practice 1 Positionality lays a foundation for leaning into difficult conversations on settler–colonialism and its ongoing relational and sociocultural impacts. Jessie links positionality to our awareness of how we know what we know (epistemology), what we consider truth or reality (ontology), and what we value and why we value it (axiology). Each of these questions about worldview lays an important foundation for who we are as people and as counselling practitioners. Jessie encourages us to consider, consistently and carefully, why our positionality matters in terms of our relational accountability to one another. Understanding Indigenous views of health and healing is critical to decolonizing settler–Indigenous relations. Jessie closes with a number of tools for building awareness while nurturing Indigenous–settler relations that are revisited throughout the book: cultural safety, Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing), and ethical space.

Author

Jessie King (she/her), PhD, Hadiksm Gaax di waayu. Jessie has matrilineal ties to Gitxaała, belonging to the Ganhada. She is also settler-European Irish/English on her father’s side. She is an experienced instructor, facilitator, and researcher with a background in health, philosophy, and research design. Her areas of specialization include cultural safety, Indigenous rights and contemporary issues, research methodologies, decolonization and Indigenization, and instructional design. She is living on the traditional and unceded territories of Lheidli T’enneh.

Citation

King, J. (2025). Practice 1 Positionality: Leaning into difficult conversations. In S. Collins and M. Jay (Eds.), Decolonizing health, healing, and care: Embodying culturally responsive and socially just counselling (Chapter 1.1). Counselling Concepts. https://doi.org/10.71446/ps57839955