Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

Raised by the Yukon

My healing journey involves reflecting, making peace, and understanding my past. Here are pieces of my story—perhaps you'll find comfort, see your own reflection, or feel ready to explore your past too.

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Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

The In-between

Today's poetry explores the fluid, complex nature of being, embracing liminal spaces where binaries fade. It reclaims wholeness and rejects fixed labels—a manifesto of selfhood and belonging in-between.

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Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

Dare to Dream

Dare to Dream reflects on imagination's power—how dreaming shaped and guides me. Inspired by a Queering Mental Health talk, it highlights the necessity of dreaming, especially for those facing oppression and trauma. It honors past dreams and encourages dreaming bigger beyond past limits.

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Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

Do you ever feel like you don’t fit in?

How many of us feel like we don't fit in? That we are too much, or not enough. I like to call this, "a case of the shoulds".

Where does this idea come from? That we should be different from who we are?

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Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

A Therapist Showing Up As Herself

A quote inspires today’s post—thoughts about professionalism, perfectionism, and hierarchy. About bringing self into the therapeutic space. and the Alchemy of connection

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Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

Thoughts from the frontlines...

Before becoming a counsellor, I spent nearly a decade on the front line at a treatment centre, learning invaluable lessons from real people in recovery. Witnessing vulnerability, resilience, and connection deeply shaped my approach to this work. This post reflects the truths I carry from those years.

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Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

Decoding Mental Health Professions

If you are someone who gets confused about different roles within a Mental Health context. Maybe you don’t really know the difference between a counselor, a clinical counselor, a coach, a clinical social worker, a psychologist, or a psychiatrist then this blog post is for you.

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Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

What is Decolonization?

I’ve mentioned in other areas of my website, that decolonization guides my work and in this writing, I will try and tease apart some of what I mean by that.

This week I am getting ready to be part of a panel discussion at the Queering Mental Health online Conference. The panel will be discussing Substance Use and Harm Reduction. As with all of my prep when I’m getting ready to speak, I write, I spend time looking inwards at what lives within me already, and then try and fill in the gaps with research.

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Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

Disordered Eating with the LGBTQ2+ Community

Trigger Warning: Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating

Last month, I joined a Recovery Talk for Eating Disorder Awareness Week with the Looking Glass Foundation. Eating disorders are deeply personal, shaped by my own experience and witnessing their impact.

I discussed challenges faced by the LGBTQ2+ community, especially trans and gender-diverse individuals, who often face stigma, minority stress, and gender dysphoria, leading to disordered eating as coping.

Traditional treatments may fall short for these groups. Gender-affirming, identity-respecting care and safe, supportive spaces are crucial for effective healing.

Open dialogue and research are vital to improving understanding and equitable care for LGBTQ2+ individuals facing eating disorders.

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Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

Being with the Stuck.

My favorite OG therapist is Carl Rogers. He is one of the founding fathers, who changed the world of therapy for what it is today, he allowed humanness to show up in the room.

Today’s post was inspired by a quote by Carl Rogers, in his writing: On Becoming a Person: “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change. ..”

Today I’m sharing my thoughts on stuckness and why it is important to be with the stuck.

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Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

A Narrative of Narrative Therapy…

Today we will be using our imagination.

We will explore the world of therapy through the lens of Mapping and Cartography.

When I’m working with someone, I am never 100% sure where we will go in a session. My clients are the map holders of their inner world, and together we create more detail and expand out the areas of the map that feel the most important to look at.

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Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

Story telling

The word of the day is: Story Telling

Today I will share with you my thoughts on what I mean when I say I work from a narrative framework

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Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

What does it mean to be Trauma Informed?

I hope to use my blog to explain some of the clinical jargon that we tend to use in this field. I want the information to be accessible to everyone, not only to communicate with others who work in the area of health.

the word of the day is: Trauma-Informed

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Chantelle Sands Chantelle Sands

A letter to my clients

I often have a difficult time explaining what I do. Counseling can look so different depending on who you are going to see. What is counseling? How do I explain this process to people? I’m often clumsy with my words and find that I can do better with writing. Here is my best explanation of what my goals are as your therapist:

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