Hi, I’m Ji-Youn 지연

I'm a queer, middle-class, neurodivergent while relatively non-disabled Corean immigrant, settler and femme. I am also a joy-seeker, liberatory dreamer, psych survivor, solopoly-ish lover, justice-oriented care worker & therapist-ish, and ongoing creation of community. My name 지연 (志娟), meaning beautiful purpose/meaning, was gifted to me by my great aunt based on the stars and I aim to embody this gift in my everyday practices.

My settler story on Turtle Island: My paternal ancestors are from just north of the 38th parallel and my maternal ancestors are from the coast of South Chungcheong Province, ROK. I was born in Bucheon right before the IMF financial crisis (shaped by US imperialism) to working-turned- middle-class parents. This shaped our immigration to so-called Vancouver, Canada as uninvited guests in 2000 and I grew up here on stolen and unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories since then. My relationships with land, home, belonging, kinship, and liberatory co-resistance are largely informed by living on these stolen lands as a kyopo, settler, and Canadian citizen complicit in the foundations and ongoing violences of this nation-state.

On neurodivergence, Madness & disability: While my neurodivergence is currently not associated with much struggle, I grew up with many years of mental illness, behavioural addiction, chronic suicidality and police-involved “mental health care” and I identify as a psychiatric survivor with Mad experiences, knowledge and skills (which also informs my abolitionist praxis). In the commitment to Disability Justice in the ongoing pandemic, I am also COVID cautious/conscious with my continued practices of COVID safety and the recognition of how abled supremacy is at the core of racial capitalism & settler colonialism. And as I’ve been delving further into Disability Justice, I am recognizing more and more that I am currently in the in-between of the disabled/non-disabled binary and have been preparing for my/our disabled future(s).

Silly & joyful things: While I may sometimes come off as * serious * with my political praxis, I am generally a playful & joyful being full of laughter, groans & moans (apparently it’s verbal stimming, not just ~ somatic release ~). I deeply believe in the importance of liberatory dreaming and embracing pleasure as embodied practice (thank you, Audre Lorde). I’m an avid reader of QTBIPOC historical, visionary, and science fiction and I’m a nude frolicking enthusiast in the summer months. Also a double leo & gemini moon with cancer placements deeply committed to queer platonic love, self-celebration and erotic body joy. ✌️

Professionalized Experience & Education

I have been working with client community members as a coach since 2017 and I completed a Professional Counselling Diploma in spring 2020. I am a Registered Therapeutic Counsellor (#2713) with the Association of Cooperative Counselling Therapists of Canada (ACCT). For community accountability, I see a clinical supervisor consistently for professional guidance and I am both challenged and supported by colleague friends with shared political praxis.

Rather than claiming legitimacy through my professionalized designation, I recognize the ways in which it makes me complicit in the mental health industrial complex and my therapeutic practices are largely informed by my political education and lived experiences of Madness & being in community. I currently choose to stay registered for the benefit of insurance coverage for my client community members based in so-called Canada.

Values-based Directories

Despite the immense loneliness I felt about politicized therapeutic practice during my schooling, I am grateful to be among a growing number of justice-oriented practitioners. Below are three directories that I am happy to be a part of, where you can further your exploration of finding a therapist who is right for you.