{"id":575,"date":"2026-04-22T16:46:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T23:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/?page_id=575"},"modified":"2026-04-24T16:52:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T23:52:17","slug":"practice-18","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/practice-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Practice 18 Pluralism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignfull is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-625b63cf wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:55%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"409\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/Picture1.svg\" alt=\"Decolonizing health, healing, and care\" class=\"wp-image-9\" style=\"width:495px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<p class=\"has-x-large-font-size\">Chapter 8.4<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-xx-large-font-size is-style-default has-small-font-size\"><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong>Practice 18 Pluralism: Collaborating in Health, Healing, and Care<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>By <em><em>Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Darlene Auger, Jason Brown, Adrienne Carter, Judy Chew, Andrew Estefan, Charlotte Finnigan, Ya Xi (Nancy) Lei, Marguerite Lengyell, and Mahdi Qasqas<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-text-display has-medium-font-size is-style-text-display--2\">Book: <a href=\"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/\">Decolonizing Health, Healing, and Care<\/a> <br>Published: June 1, 2025<br>Publisher: <a href=\"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/\">Counselling Concepts<\/a><br>Chapter DOI: <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.71446\/sj23756904\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.71446\/sj23756904<\/a><br>Book ISBN: 978-0-9738085-6-8<br>Format: ePub <br>Distributor: Vital Source<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-54af5b55 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-text-align-center has-x-large-font-size\">Purchase your copy at<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons alignwide has-custom-font-size has-medium-font-size is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-c124d1c4 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\">Vital Source<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-19206ade wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-xx-large-font-size\">Abstract<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Practice 18 focuses on co-constructing microlevel change with the individuals, couples, or families. Many of the culturally responsive and socially just (CRSJ) counselling practices in this book assume that there are multiple, inherently valid, and equally meaningful worldviews and approaches to health, healing, and care. Melissa and Sandra carry forward the lens of decolonizing praxis to disrupt eurocentric discourses and create space for new approaches. They also centre Indigenization to amplify Indigenous and other culture-centred approaches. The practice of Etuaptmumk guides their search for meaningful and helpful approaches that honour clients\u2019 culture-centred views of health and healing. This epistemological pluralism enhances cultural responsivity in theory and practice. The authors return to a question posed earlier in the book: <em>How can my collaboration with <u>this person<\/u>, facing <u>that challenge<\/u>, embedded in <u>these contexts<\/u>, best demonstrate client-centred, culturally affirming, and socially just care? <\/em>They revisit the WISE Practices framework for responsible and ethical centring of Indigenous and other culture-centred approaches to health and healing (Practice 14). Four WISE Practices approaches are positioned on a continuum to encourage theoretical flexibility and cultural appreciation: (a)<em>Wise Practices<\/em> are culture-centred approaches to health, healing, and care based on localized ways of knowing, being, and doing; (b) <em>integration<\/em> applies the practice of Two-Eyed Seeing to construct new healing practices drawing on equally valid worldviews; (c) <em>suitable adaptation<\/em> requires creative collaboration to meaningfully shape conventional practices to client cultural identities and preferences; and finally (d) <em>eurowestern approaches<\/em> are offered with careful attention to building bridges across worldview. Embracing pluralism in health, healing, and care is where the art of health, healing, and care comes into play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Sandra and Melissa appreciate the contribution the following co-authors to opening of this chapter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Ya Xi (Nancy) Lei<\/strong> speaks to her journey toward anti-racist practice, highlighted the gaps in representation and culturally relevant approaches throughout her education.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Marguerite Lengyell, Charlotte Finnigan, and Jason Brown<\/strong> share their reflections on privilege, positionality, and cultural humility, perspectives that shape and inform their work as therapists.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Sandra and Melissa are also honoured to feature practice illustrations for each of the WISE Practices approaches by following co-authors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-medium-font-size\">\n<li><strong>Darlene Auger<\/strong> offers an example of how Wise Practices embedded in the ways of knowing, doing, and being of her specific Indigenous heritage shaped her approach to health, healing, and care through the <em>healing swing<\/em> or <em>W\u00eew\u00eep\u2019son nurturing therapy<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Adrienne Carter <\/strong>describes the creation of a mental health counselling and support program for refugees in which a team of helping professionals stepped outside of the box to adapt existing approaches to this specific population, creating a wholistic approach to family care.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Judy Chew<\/strong> models client empowerment through gender role analysis by being transparent about the underlying assumptions of feminist therapy and positioning the client as expert in assessing the goodness of fit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Andrew Estefan<\/strong> recalls his early work with Daniel, a client whose story of life-making was supported through the thoughtful use of various narrative therapy techniques.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mahdi Qasqas<\/strong> illustrates what it might look like to integrate eurowestern practices with sources of meaning-making and motivations for change from within a client\u2019s Islamic worldview.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-xx-large-font-size\">Co-Authors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>Sandra Collins<\/em><\/strong> (she\/her), PhD, is a co-editor of this book. She writes from the perspective of a feminist, lesbian, cisgender, woman with an invisible disability, who is a white, retired professor, and inhabits a privileged social class. Over the 25 years of her academic and professional career, she focused her research, writing, and teaching on cultural responsivity and social justice in theory, research, and practice. This is her fifth book on these topics, two of which were awarded the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Counselling biannual book award. She also received a silver medal for best e-book design by the Independent Publisher Book Awards<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ippyawards.com\/index.php\">.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>Melissa Jay<\/em><\/strong> (she\/her), PhD, RPsych, is a cisgender nehiyaw (Cree) member of the M\u00e9tis Nation of Alberta and lifelong student of yoga philosophy. She is a cisgender, able-bodied woman who moves through the world with white-passing privilege. She is a psychologist and associate professor at Athabasca University. Her work is centred in reciprocity and relationship, decolonized healing, anti-oppressive practices, and the integration of ancient wisdom and psychology. Her intention is to share trauma-informed, culturally responsive care, alongside her ongoing collaborative research exploring relational accountability, Indigenous methodologies, and ethical engagement with community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>Darlene Auger<\/em><\/strong> (she\/her), PhD, a Nehiyaw-Nahkawiyiniw (Cree\/Saulteaux) woman and a professor at the University of Alberta. She holds a psychology degree from the University of Alberta, a master\u2019s and a doctoral degree from the University Nuhelotine Thayotsi Nistameyimakanak Blue Quills in \u201cIyiniw Pim\u00e2tisiwin Kiskeyihtamowin\u201d (Indigenous Life Knowledge). She travels worldwide to share her research and therapy, the w\u00eew\u00eepson (Indigenous Healing Swing). See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wiwipson.com\">www.wiwipson.com<\/a>. She has developed and administered numerous projects and programs. The most recent is an early childhood Cree cultural resource package, which includes a CD of Cree lullabies, four children\u2019s books of traditional parenting teachings, a toy swing, and a baby in a moss bag, all within a 5-foot tipi called \u201cThe little women\u2019s lodge.\u201d These books were awarded the \u201cBest Learning Title of 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>Jason Brown<\/em><\/strong> (he\/him), PhD, CPsych, is a white settler settler living on stolen land. He is a psychologist and professor at the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Education. He focuses on counselling and psychotherapy practices informed by equity and social justice. He conducts research in collaboration with community organizations, emphasizing the strengths of individuals, families, and communities that face systemic barriers. He is the author of <em>Anti-Oppressive Counseling and Psychotherapy<\/em> (2019) and <em>Community Development in Canada<\/em> (2022).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>Adrienne Carter<\/em><\/strong> (she\/her), MSW, RCSW, is the co-founder of the Vancouver Island Counselling Centre for Immigrants and Refugees (VICCIR). She is a psychotherapist with over 40 years of local and international experience. She worked for 24 years with Victoria Child &amp; Youth Mental Health. Since 1999 she has been on 15 missions with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in many parts of the world, working with populations traumatized by war or natural disasters. In 2011 she joined full-time the Centre for Victims of Torture, a US organization with many international projects. She spent a year with a local Kenyan Human Rights organization, worked in Jordan for 2.5 years as psychotherapist and trainer, offered refugee mental health training in Hong Kong and Tokyo, and provided long-distance mental health training and supervision to local counsellors in the Gaza Strip through the United Palestinian Appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>Judy Chew<\/em><\/strong> (she\/her), PhD, RPsych, spent her career years (1992\u20132020) at the University of Calgary, Counselling Services where she held the positions of psychologist, tenured faculty member, associate adjunct professor, senior counsellor, and training director. In continuing her passion for lifelong learning, she is immersed in knowledge acquisition and writing on early Chinese immigration, sleuthing efforts into the unsolved mysteries of my ancestral background and the complex intertwining of lives with de(colonization), diversity themes, intersectionality, and social justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>Andrew Estefan<\/em><\/strong> (he\/him), PhD, RPN, is a registered psychiatric nurse in the province of Alberta and an associate professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary. Before coming to Canada he practiced and taught in the United Kingdom and Australia. His practice and research focus on the intersections of mental health and human sexuality, in particular self-harm, eating disorders, and trauma. His doctoral work used narrative inquiry to explore the moral dimensions of self-harm in same-sex attracted men. He maintains a strong interest in how self-harm is enacted and how it is responded to therapeutically. His research also extends into understanding the complexities of the relationship between sexuality and mental health in experiences of physical disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>Charlotte Finnigan<\/em><\/strong> (she\/her), MA, is a PhD candidate in the School and Applied Child Psychology program at Western University, where she also teaches as a limited duties professor. In research and practice her work is focused on fostering environments that promote healing, psychological growth, and meaningful, actionable change in individuals and communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>Ya Xi (Nancy) Lei<\/em> <\/strong>(she\/her), MC, is a recent graduate with a master&#8217;s degree in counselling. She completed a thesis exploring racial equity and inequity in Canadian counsellor education and their impact on racialized graduate students\u2019 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>Marguerite Lengyell<\/em><\/strong> (she\/her), PhD, CPsych, is an assistant professor of counseling psychology at Western University in London, Ontario. As a psychologist with a focus on culturally affirming practices, she integrates her professional and educational expertise with her personal experience as a mother of two mixed-race children, bringing valuable insights into her research and practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>Mahdi Qasqas<\/em><\/strong> (he\/him), PhD, RPsych, holds a PhD in social work, is a registered psychologist, and is the head of Q&amp;A Psychological Services. He has worked both professionally and probono with a range of local and international governmental and nongovernmental organizations. As a volunteer leader he has served over 15,000 hours of serious leisure, which became the subject focus of his doctoral studies and led to patenting Psycho-Spiritual First Aid\u00ae, a mental health consultation model used to build culturally localized and adapted evidence-based interventions and programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-xx-large-font-size\">Citation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-contrast-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-8316602ea267286fd2fa35750932880e\">Jay, M., Collins, S., Villebrun, G., Connelly, K., Aujla, G., &amp; Z\u00fa\u00f1iga, A. (2025). Practice 17 Presence: A self-reflective way of being. In S. Collins and M. Jay (Eds.), <em>Decolonizing health, healing, and care: Embodying culturally responsive and socially just counselling<\/em> (Chapter 8.1). Counselling Concepts. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.71446\/sj23756904\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.71446\/sj23756904<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chapter 8.4 Practice 18 Pluralism: Collaborating in Health, Healing, and Care By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Darlene Auger, Jason Brown, Adrienne Carter, Judy Chew, Andrew Estefan, Charlotte Finnigan, Ya Xi (Nancy) Lei, Marguerite Lengyell, and Mahdi Qasqas Book: Decolonizing Health, Healing, and Care Published: June 1, 2025Publisher: Counselling ConceptsChapter DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.71446\/sj23756904Book ISBN: 978-0-9738085-6-8Format: ePub Distributor: [&hellip;]<\/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 18 Pluralism: Collaborating in Health, Healing, and Care","_seopress_titles_desc":"Epistemological pluralism in microlevel change centres Wise Practices alongside integration of culture-centred healing practices and adaptation of conventional approaches.","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-575","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 8.4 Practice 18 Pluralism: Collaborating in Health, Healing, and Care By Sandra Collins, Melissa Jay, Darlene Auger, Jason Brown, Adrienne Carter, Judy Chew, Andrew Estefan, Charlotte Finnigan, Ya Xi (Nancy) Lei, Marguerite Lengyell, and Mahdi Qasqas Book: Decolonizing Health, Healing, and Care Published: June 1, 2025Publisher: Counselling ConceptsChapter DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.71446\/sj23756904Book ISBN: 978-0-9738085-6-8Format: ePub Distributor:&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/575","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=575"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":602,"href":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/575\/revisions\/602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/counsellingconcepts.ca\/decolonizing-health-healing-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}