Amy Quintal, IMSW RSW

05/30/2026

"Mental health conversations must include disabled and neurodivergent people. Their experiences are not an exception to the conversation, they are part of it."

Too often, mental health discussions center neurotypical experiences while overlooking the realities many disabled and neurodivergent people face every day.

➡️ Masking
➡️ Sensory overwhelm
➡️ Chronic invalidation
➡️ Exclusion
➡️ Bullying
➡️ Barriers to communication
➡️ Lack of accommodations
➡️ Systems that prioritize compliance over well-being

These experiences can significantly impact mental health, yet they are often treated as separate from the conversation rather than central to it.

As Mental Health Month comes to a close, remember that disability and neurodivergence are not side notes in discussions about mental health.

We cannot build truly inclusive mental health supports while ignoring the experiences of the communities most impacted by systemic barriers and misunderstanding.

Mental health includes disabled people and neurodivergent people. Always.

05/26/2026

Save the Date! For our 5th Annual Indigenous Justice Conference!

October 2-3, 2026

05/25/2026

05/22/2026

Reflecting on Our Growth at IPS

Over the past three years, IPS has grown in both size and reach. What began as a focused vision has expanded into a broader, community-rooted practice serving clients across greater geographic distances while deepening the quality of care we provide.

We have intentionally attracted and cultivated relational therapists who center the therapeutic relationship and approach healing through an Indigenous trauma-informed and genocide-aware lens. Our work remains grounded in understanding the historical, intergenerational, and systemic impacts of trauma on individuals, families, and communities.

Since 2023, IPS has provided $113,400 worth of free counselling sessions, reinforcing our commitment to accessibility and community care.

We are proud to have fostered and mentored numerous emerging and established professionals, including psychologists, within an agency framework that integrates a genocide-informed clinical lens. Our providers are extensively trained in multiple modalities, including:

Somatic Attachment approaches
Somatic Experiencing
EMDR
Indigenous-focused and Indigenous-oriented therapies
Indigenous healing tools and practices
This integrative foundation allows us to support clients holistically—mind, body, relationship, and community.

Most recently, we were honored to host the IFOT training in partnership with our incredible community collaborators. Bringing this training to our region reflects both our growth and our ongoing commitment to advancing culturally grounded, trauma-responsive care.

IPS continues to expand—not only in numbers, but in depth, integrity, and responsibility to the communities we serve.

05/21/2026

Come join Indigenous Psychological Services on June 5!

05/17/2026

❤️

05/07/2026

It’s difficult to put words to how crucial these skills and training are. Two more days of learning. I’m so grateful to be part of Indigenous Psychological Services and to learn from Karlee Fellner with ᒪᐢᑭᐦᑭᕀ maskihkiy wellness and the founder / grandmother of IFOT, Shirley Turcotte.

05/02/2026

Eduardo Duran and Renee Linklater have both critically examined how dominant Western therapeutic models can inadvertently perpetuate harm when working with Indigenous clients. They describe how conventional approaches rooted in individualism, pathology-based diagnosis, and symptom reduction may ignore the historical, cultural, and spiritual contexts central to Indigenous wellbeing.

Duran argues that Western psychology often medicalizes responses to colonial violence, framing distress as individual dysfunction rather than as a reflection of historical trauma, land dispossession, and cultural disruption. When therapy centers on “fixing” the individual without acknowledging collective and intergenerational trauma, it can replicate colonial dynamics positioning the clinician as expert and the Indigenous client as deficient. This dynamic risks patronization and reinforces power imbalances embedded in colonial systems. We can bring the spirit back by providing therapy that heals soul wound.

Renee Linklater similarly critiques mainstream mental health frameworks for failing to address the spiritual dimensions of healing. She emphasizes that for many Indigenous communities, wellness is inseparable from relationships—to land, ancestors, community, and spirit. Speaking the language is a part of the therapeutic process. Having land available in the sessions. Do you have plants, land bowls and rocks in the room.

05/01/2026