deirdre mclaughlin

welcome!

i'm a clinical counsellor, somatic sex educator, supervisor, & phd candidate in clinical sexology. my approach is inclusive, gender affirming, sex-positive, & social justice-oriented. thanks for visiting.

about me

i acknowledge my place of work is within the ancestral, traditional, and unceded territories of the tmixʷ (Syilx okanagan), snʕickstx tmxʷúlaʔxʷ (Sinixt) and ɁamakɁis (Ktunaxa) peoples, as well as many other diverse Indigenous persons, including the Métis.

what's with the lower case writing? language is inherently malleable. the aim is to challenge my own perspectives, invite new ways of seeing, and disrupt convention through the written word. 

dr. linda manyguns, associate vp of Indigenization and decolonization at mount royal university, uses lower case as a political act, only using capital letters to acknowledge the Indigenous struggle for recognition. i align with her and others like e. e. cummings, bell hooks, and adrienne maree brown, who play with form and ~ as manyguns states ~ "reject the symbols of hierarchy" wherever possible.

services

one-on-one counselling

i provide in-person and online counselling. with specializations in eating disorder treatment, sexuality, and gender, i also offer consultations, group work, supervision, and presentations.

presentations

i offer presentations to youth, parents, educators, and health care professionals. my areas of specialty include sexual health, body image, and eating disorders.

clinical interests

sexual health

in my work as a sexual health educator i teach audiences ranging from elementary school children through to elderly community groups. the approach is somatic, sex-positive, gender-affirming, and kink aware.

gender & sexuality

gender is "a social construct used to classify a person as a man, woman, or some other identity. a 'social construct' means that gender is not something we are born with, but rather something we create.

eating disorders

having spent my early adulthood overcoming anorexia and bulimia, i then pursued an undergraduate degree in women’s studies. this deepened my understanding of what influences body image and self worth in this culture.

latest articles

>