{"id":320,"date":"2026-04-02T15:10:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T22:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/?page_id=320"},"modified":"2026-04-09T16:40:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T23:40:52","slug":"practice-1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/practice-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Practice 1 Positionality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"Decolonizing<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Chapter 1.1<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practice 1 Positionality: Leaning into Difficult Conversations<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

By Jessie King, Hadiksm Gaax<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Book: Decolonizing Health, Healing, and Care<\/a>
Published: June 1, 2025
Publisher: Counselling Concepts<\/a>
Chapter DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.71446\/ps57839955<\/a>
Book ISBN: 978-0-9738085-6-8
Format: ePub
Distributor: Vital Source<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Purchase your copy at<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Vital Source<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Abstract<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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\u2013colonialism 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\u2013Indigenous relations. Jessie closes with a number of tools for building awareness while nurturing Indigenous\u2013settler relations that are revisited throughout the book: cultural safety, Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing), and ethical space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jessie King<\/em><\/strong> (she\/her), PhD, Hadiksm Gaax di waayu. Jessie has matrilineal ties to Gitxaa\u0142a, belonging to the Ganhada. She is also settler-European Irish\/English on her father\u2019s 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\u2019enneh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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<\/em> (Chapter 1.1). Counselling Concepts. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.71446\/ps57839955<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 1.1 Practice 1 Positionality: Leaning into Difficult Conversations By Jessie King, Hadiksm Gaax Book: Decolonizing Health, Healing, and Care Published: June 1, 2025Publisher: Counselling ConceptsChapter DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.71446\/ps57839955Book ISBN: 978-0-9738085-6-8Format: ePub Distributor: Vital Source Purchase your copy at Abstract In this chapter, Jessie King introduces the first of 18 practices designed to support culturally responsive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Practice 1 Positionality: Leaning into Difficult Conversations","_seopress_titles_desc":"Acknowledging positionality supports leaning into difficult conversations and decolonizing settler-colonialism to foster relational accountability","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-320","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"sandrac","author_link":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/author\/sandrac\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Chapter 1.1 Practice 1 Positionality: Leaning into Difficult Conversations By Jessie King, Hadiksm Gaax Book: Decolonizing Health, Healing, and Care Published: June 1, 2025Publisher: Counselling ConceptsChapter DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.71446\/ps57839955Book ISBN: 978-0-9738085-6-8Format: ePub Distributor: Vital Source Purchase your copy at Abstract In this chapter, Jessie King introduces the first of 18 practices designed to support culturally responsive…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462,"href":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/320\/revisions\/462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}