liberate your imagination

sarah kathleen wilson

mentor   consultant   therapist   ritualist

my story

if i’m being radically honest, it has been my own experiences of deep, complex, heart-shattering grief that has brought me here.

since 2005. i’ve held roles like housing support worker, outreach and harm reduction worker, and program director at various non profits. i’ve organized with collectives in support of tent cities, against the expansion of police budgets, and co-created national events for youth living with HIV.

for nearly 15 years i served the street community in so-called “Victoria,” as a front-line worker. i experienced sudden and traumatic loss and contended with overwhelming feelings of despair and hopelessness.

 

i know how it feels to be wading through endless tides of grief and still showing up to work every day because it seems like there’s no other option.

i know how exhausting this work is.

i know how confusing it can become when our sense of self is wrapped up in feeling needed.

i know how difficult it can be to make space for ourselves when we are so keenly aware of how much suffering there is in the world.

the process of beginning to heal from the impacts of this work on my body, mind, and soul took me on a journey through somatic therapy, deep into learning about attachment work and trauma, attempts to understand the historical roots of capitalism that got us to this place, to exploring and developing practices rooted in animism, folk herbalism, ancestral healing and ritual.

i’m grateful to all of the teachers and elders i have learned from along the way, and i’m still learning. i am forever indebted to my mentors in the street community, radical harm reduction workers, long-term survivors and youth living with HIV who have shared their stories, wisdom, sadness and rage with me.

their resilience and commitment to joy in the face of adversity has been a guiding light for me in this work. i hope to honour their legacies by carrying this wisdom forward.

“…trees act not as individuals, but somehow as a collective. exactly how they do this, we don’t yet know. but what we see is the power of unity. what happens to one happens to us all. we can starve together or feast together.
a
ll flourishing is mutual.”

robin wall kimmerer

credentials

Training

Registered Social Worker
British Columbia College of Social Workers #14042
Ontario College of Social Service Workers & Social Workers

 

Member, Climate Aware Therapists Network
Co-Founder, The Queer Care Collective

 

i hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Calgary, Southern Alberta Division.

one of my values is to be continuously learning. i have invested a lot of time, energy, money and effort into study and training, and i believe that my clients benefit greatly from that effort. the additional training listed in this section have had significant influence on my work.

in addition to engaging in ongoing study and training, i am supported in this work through participation in group and peer supervision. i am also supported by my mentor, Cora Bilsker.

personally, i am supported through participation in my own therapy, by a network of nourishing friendships, land-based and somatic practices, and my two senior cats.

2023- 2024

Grief Ritual Leadership Training, 5 months. online Frances Weller, Holly Trular, Embodiment Matters
Social Work and Suicide: Ethical Considerations for Practice

2022

Somatic Attachment Therapy Certificate,  Embody Lab (online, in-progress)

2021

ACT for Beginners, Psychwire (online)
Trauma-Focused ACT, Psychwire (online)

2020

Feminist Copywriting Certification, Kelly Diels
Caliban in the Witch in the time of COVID – 19, Feminism School with Dr. Kimberly George (online)
Psychedelic Psychotherapy Conference, Nanaimo, BC (online)
Ritual and Our Relations, Ritual As Justice School of Cultural Somatics (online)

2019

Of Stone, Bone & Water,  Sacred Grief with Shauna Janz (online)
Feminist Marketing School Year Long Program, Kelly Diels (online)

2018

Hawthorn Heart: Boundary Spells for Femme Witches and Healers (online)

 

2012

Certificate of Clinical Hypnosis, (150 hours plus supervised practicum, in person)
The Horizon Centre School of Hypnotherapy, with Linda Campbell

 

consulting

mentoring

1:1 therapy

we might be a good fit if

this sounds like you –

  • you came to this work with passion and drive, but lately you’ve felt overwhelmed, exhausted or even burnt out
  • you worry that your sense of self worth is enmeshed with what you can provide to others
  • you feel like you’d benefit from some guidance to take your skills to the next level
  • you want to transition to private practice, but you’re nervous about feeling isolated or lacking support
  • you want your anti-oppressive values to shine through your offerings
  • you know your work is important, but you feel nervous about increased visibility or taking up space
  • you know you would benefit from implementing routines, rhythm, and rituals to support your well being
  • you desire specific, individualized feedback and critique on your work
  • you’re spiritual or intuitive but you’re unsure of how to bring these aspects of yourself into your work
  • you’re seeking a mentor who has been in the non profit and community organizing realm and ‘gets it’

“the work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and to be stretched large by them. how much sorrow can i hold? that’s how much gratitude i can give.”

Frances Weller

hi, i’m sarah

mentor & consultant
feminist hypnotherapist
ritualist

i have been serving my community as a careworker for the past 19 years. five years ago, i transitioned from front line work to private practice, where i support clients through an approach that is experiential, embodied and intuitive.

i’m also the co-founder of the Queer Care Collective, a mutlidisciplinary space for counsellors, coaches and bodyworkers in downtown ‘Victoria.’ because i know we can’t do this work in isolation.

i work from a feminist perspective because if our therapy and our businesses aren’t grounded in anti-oppressive, anti-capitalist values they risk replicating the very systems we are working hard to liberate ourselves from.

my dream is to live in a world where carework is recognized as the essential, culture-building practice we know it to be. where careworkers are recongized, celebrated, and compensated for their work.

i support careworkers, creatives, and healers who desire to grow and expand their work without replicating harmful and exploitative practices.

instead, we’ll work together to embody rhythms and practices to help you stay grounded and present in your work. through trancework, we’ll explore how you can liberate your imagination from the limits placed on it by a society that told us that carework isn’t the culture-shifting practice we know it to be.

this way, you don’t feel isolated and overwhelmed because you can envision yourself within a wider story and feel how your struggles are intimately connected to our collective experience.

 

office

The Queer Care Collective
888 Fort Street, 2nd Floor
Victoria, BC V8G 1H8

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