I am an affirmative counsellor and I believe that the cultural context of our lives is integral to processing how we feel about ourselves and the world around us. The rules and expectations of society can feel draining and for those who fall outside of cultural norms this may be overwhelming.

On top of the daily stressors that everyone faces, those with marginalised identities experience Minority Stress as a result of the interpersonal and systemic discrimination they face. This may go unnoticed and leave you feeling like you are not good enough for not being able to 'cope' with life, you may even experience feelings of anxiety and/or depression. Over time this can lead to self-gaslighting thoughts such as "I'm being too sensitive" or "It's not that bad and other people have it worse than me" and we can start to gently challenge this in our work together.