Workshops & Groups

WORKSHOPS & GROUPS

At The Grounding Stone, we bring like-minded folks together for education, collaboration, and community connection. We host a variety of gatherings including Therapy Groups and Support Circles, Continuing Education Workshops for Health Care Professionals, and LGBTQ2S+ Therapist Gatherings.


We do not currently have an upcoming group or gathering scheduled for 2024. 

We welcome you to contact us if you have a workshop or group that you would like to facilitate within our community.

CONTINUING EDUCATION WORKSHOPS

We host workshops for Health Care Professionals to come together to learn and to remain supported by, and accountable to one another in our practice. By bringing therapists together in this space, we witness the process of one another, and we support one another in our creative discoveries and expressions. We value community, and we believe that we are capable of far more, united.

  • Let's Get Racey

    Facilitated by Isha Saini, MCP, CCC and Ginelle Foskin

    July 12th, 2018

    the grounding stone.


    This workshop invites participants to explore and expand their relationship with race.  Through a combination of presentations, facilitated discussion, and sharing of resources, we will aim to unpack how our relationship with race and multiculturalism can impact our work as clinical counsellors and the ways that we are with our clients of color. We will also examine the barriers practitioners may face when attempting to understand the impact of racial bias on their clients, and how to overcome these barriers.

  • BDSM For Health Care Professionals

    Facilitated by Robin Beatch

    September 13th, 2018

    the grounding stone.


    Part 1: Breaking Down the Basics

    What is BDSM? What does it mean to those who dabble, and to those who consider it their lifestyle? In this discussion based workshop, we'll break down the meaning of BDSM - Bondage & Discipline, Dominance & Submission, and Sadomasochism, along with a collection of other vocabulary from the kink world. How do intensely heavy Dominant/submissive relationships differ from abusive ones?


    Part 2: Navigating Shame and Supporting Clients

    In this part of the workshop, we'll examine and identify the intents, needs, and motivations of BDSM - along with the well known saying, "Kink can be therapeutic, but it is not therapy.". Together we'll discuss the topics of shame in alternative sexualities; where it comes from, what it feels like, and how to support a person through it.

  • Beyond The Research: Working With Kinky, Poly, Queer Folks.

    Facilitated By: mj, MCP, RCC

    Guest Speaker: Robin Beatch

    October 19, 2018

    Adler University


    mj is the Founding Director of The Grounding Stone Healing Center in East Vancouver.  mj identifies as queer with a big polyamorous heart, and she uses her lived experience of navigating these realities to support dialogue within and between her communities.  


    mj was born into a conservative Christian world with a strong aversion to convention coursing through her being.  The incongruity between her environment and her felt self has enabled her to be best used as a bridge between tradition and non-tradition for individuals and communities.  She believes that we find connection, compassion and understanding through uncovering our parallels, at an individual level.


    In this workshop, mj will facilitate a journey through the roots of the systems that have framed our understandings of ourselves and our concepts of “norms” within relationships, gender and sexuality.  We will focus our exploration on why these norms do not work for so many people, how that discrepancy manifests, and how we may thoughtfully witness folks presented with this struggle.


    We will look to the research, while also engaging with the reality that these topics, although growing in attention, are very under-researched.  We will therefore, explore present issues that arise in clinical work within our local Vancouver queer, trans, and non-monogamous communities.  We will discuss the implications of doing therapeutic work that is potentially  isolating, and we will discuss bold ways to engage with this work and ourselves as therapists.


    In this workshop we will also hear from guest speaker Robin Beatch.  Robin is an international sex educator with a background in nursing and experience working within the sex and adult industry as a stripper, pro domme, former Vice President of MVK (Metro Vancouver Kink) and creator of the queer and trans event known as The Rainbow Connection.  Robin will break down the meaning, intention and motivations of BDSM (Bondage & Discipline, Dominance & Submission, and Sadomasochism), along with a collection of other vocabulary from the kink world. We will discuss navigating intensely heavy dominant/submissive relationships and how these differ from abusive relationships. We will explore shame, it's origin, presentation, and implications for supporting folks who feel it deeply.

  • Supporting Your LGBTQ2S+ Clients

    Facilitated by mj, MCP, RCC

    December 3, 2018 / February 8, 2019

    Various Locations, and ongoing.


    mj offers training for folks in helping professions to raise competency and awareness around issues relating to LGBTQ2S+ communities.

  • SOGI in the Vancouver School Board

    Facilitated by Renee Hock, RCC, Anti-Homophobia and Diversity Mentor for the Vancouver School Board

    February 12, 2019

    the grounding stone.


    There has been a great deal of discussion about SOGI these past two years, and I thought it would be helpful to bring in Renee to clarify the work that is being done, the successes, and the challenges within the VSB to ensure the safety, visibility, and inclusion of LGBTQ+ youth in schools.  


    Renee (who is also an RCC) works within the VSB to ensure that the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities (SOGI) Policy is implemented and that teachers and administrative staff are supported in understanding and adhering to the policy.  Renee’s role and in-house expertise ensures not only succinct communication of the policy but also project management for what continues to be an ongoing process of advocacy and innovation for the safety and inclusion of LGBTQ+ youth in schools.


    The Anti-Homophobia and Diversity Mentor position has inspired similar positions in school districts around Metro-Vancouver and the VSB’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities Policy is looked upon as an example of what inclusive schools can look like.

  • Embracing Harm Reduction

    Facilitated by Kyle Jespersen, mental health worker with PHS Community Services Society

    April 18, 2019

    the grounding stone.


    "The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection." - Johann Hari, author "Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs" (Bloomsbury, 2015)


    Our city is a global leader in harm reduction. What are the facets of this strategy, and what responsibility do we have as citizens to support it? Whether we consider drugs as holding a place in our lives or not, how can we build trust in our community amidst ongoing crisis? How can we repair disconnections and decrease stigma? These questions will help us to share inspiration and clear misinformation, with the goal of advocating for those who are marginalized, and improving the quality of our relationships, and our lives, here in Vancouver. 


    This discussion group is open to all, and will be led by Kyle Jespersen, a mental health worker with PHS Community Services Society. Kyle has worked in various housing models & social initiatives in East Vancouver and the DTES, and for the past several years has been serving as a coordinator at Insite Supervised Injection Site and Onsite Detox & Transitional Housing.

  • Violence in Queer Relationships

    Facilitated by Nazanin Moghadami, MCP, RCC

    October 22, 2019

    the grounding stone.


    Violence in queer relationships hardly gets meaningful airtime. There is not a whole lot of literature, research, or community conversation on the topic, especially dating violence. This workshops aims to provide the participants with a nuanced understanding of the topic and to open a conversation on clinical considerations. 


    This workshop will be facilitated by Nazanin Moghadami.  Nazanin is a feminist, activist, Registered Clinical Counsellor and supervisor practicing in Vancouver. Her passion for equity and social justice paired with her lived experiences and philosophies manifest in many different ways in her life, from serving as the Regional Chair of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors, to running queer competency workshop for agencies, to providing supervision to sexual assault support workers. You can find Nazanin by searching her name online, walking her dog, or riding her bike in East Vancouver.

  • An Evening With Christine Waymark

    Facilitated by mj

    February 21, 2020

    the grounding stone.


    Please join us for an intimate gathering with Christine Waymark, a 79 year old lesbian elder and recently retired supervisor and therapist of over 40 years.


    mj, founder of The Grounding Stone and protégé of Christine, will facilitate our conversation.  With forty years between them, Christine and mj share a special relationship as they both experienced trauma at the intersection of religion and queerness.


    Christine will share her lived experience as a member of, and as a therapist within our allegedly small queer community in Vancouver, during a time when there were no protections from discrimination in place under Canadian law. 


    Christine will share her memories of surviving a war, surviving incest, being kicked out of the ministry in the United Church when she was outed as a lesbian, supporting clients during the AIDS epidemic, and her response to her recent diagnosis of dementia.


    The first half of the evening will be dedicated to Christine’s sharing, and the second half of the evening will be open to any questions that participants may have for Christine.  If you have a question that you would like to ask Christine more anonymously, please send it to me via email, and I will read the question for you during the second half of the evening.

  • Virtual LGBTQ2S+ Youth Support Circle

  • ENBY Peer Support Circle for Folks Working in Mental Health

    Meets the second Tuesday of every month online (via Zoom) from 7-8:30pm 

    This is a Drop-In/Open Group so folks may join us whenever they choose.


    The Grounding Stone is a queer-owned, queer-run Counselling Center and Community Space that provides counselling and workshops facilitated by a diverse group of counsellors. We are offering an ENBY Peer Support Circle for folks working in mental health who identify as ENBY.


    This is an open group (join whenever you like) designed to support folks by creating a community of peers. The structure and function of the group with be further defined after consulting with the folks who join in the first session(s).


    2022 Dates: February 8, March 8, April 12, May 10, June 14, July 12, August 9, September 13, October 11, November 8, December 13


    COST: Free


    If you have questions or would like to join, please contact us here

LGBTQ2S+ Therapist Gatherings

We host gatherings at The Grounding Stone for LGBTQ2S+ identified therapists to support one another through the joys and struggles of working within our own intimately woven community. If you are interested in joining this part of our community, please contact us.
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