As humans navigating capitalist and heteronormative expectations – e.g. being ‘productive’ within a minimum of a 40-hour workweek, having all the ‘right’ answers, ‘flawless’ sex without communicating desires – we forget that growth often occurs because friction exists, and learning happens through inquiry and unintended actions. The Japanese concept of wabi-sabi understands that imperfection allows for new paths to form and for curiosity to flourish.

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This seminar will define and explore the concept of wabi-sabi as a way to relieve pressure from our clients' search for sexual perfection, and from our own search for the ‘right answers’ to give them.

If there’s anything we learned from a global, 21st century pandemic, it’s the power of the outdoors. Specifically, how many of us longed for fresh air, tranquility, and an escape from a challenging world. Recorded science has now shown us the true physical benefits of spending time amongst the trees, from a decrease in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress, to an increase in productivity, psychological well-being, and life longevity. 

In this two part seminar (3-hour guided forest immersion and 1-hour post-walk discussion), you’ll learn the biopsychosocial benefits of shinrin-yoku (‘forest bathing’), hosted by Certified Shinrin-Yoku guide, Anne-Marie Lafortune. Share space with the forest and more-than-human world, learning how to slow down, reflect, and engage all your senses. Forest ‘invitations’ and tea ceremony also included.

Explore Michael Metz and Barry McCarthy’s ‘Good Enough Sex’ Model as an intervention framework to help partners intimately connect without the pressures of ‘perfect sex’. While the name leaves a bit to be desired (how 'bout just the ‘Good Sex’ Model?), it cultivates the wabi-sabi of intimacy.

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Here we will delve into the 12 goals of the model that feature the “physical, cognitive, behavioural, emotional, and relational factors” (Metz & McCarthy, 2007) that enhance partner experience and help foster intimate relationship success. From eschewing the scripted formula of ‘intercourse + orgasm = sex’, the GES helps partners develop a new lens through which to see pleasure.

Inspired by her work on Black women’s Pleasure Mapping, we welcome Ashley Townes, PhD. to to share data and insight about the sexual experiences of Black women.

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She will highlight stereotypes/myths that perpetuate racist and sexist views of Black women; define respectability politics; identify research gaps related to Black sexuality; and discuss how messages about Black sexuality and stigma impact Black health, including in the therapy room. Ashley will also open discussion to explore how we think about our own pleasure and how to incorporate pleasure into our work.​

Pleasure is something often desired yet not fostered, with beliefs that it simply arises from thin air, from a ‘spark’, or from a romantically scripted idea of relating. This often leads to placing pleasure out of mind, only noticing it when it ‘magically’ appears. In contrast, mindfulness and flow states require engagement with the here & now, and a thoughtful cultivation of pleasure.

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Inspired by the work of psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as well as that of Dr. Emily Jemea, we explore the state of flow and how it can work in tandem with mindful practice to weave a fabric that fosters pleasure, both sexual and non.

Exploring gender identity, transition, intimacy, and sexuality through a gender-affirming lens, Jennifer will discuss moving beyond gender dysphoria, and share ways to help clients cultivate identity euphoria, authentic self-expression, and fulfilling intimacy and sex.

Jennifer is the Clinical Director of Roots in Wellness, a group Psychotherapy practice out of Hamilton, Ontario, and works as a Psychotherapist, Educator, Mentor and Workshop Facilitator. With over 10 years of experience working with the queer community, she is passionate about advocating for quality, informed care for the trans community. She also specializes in sex therapy, working with couples to navigate the physical, emotional, and physiological changes that come along when one or both partners are transitioning. 

As a queer woman who came out later in life, Jen has firsthand experience with what it can feel like to deal with identity incongruence and channels that experience in her work. 

​As therapists working in a largely virtual world, we can often feel siloed, yearning for bygone days of in-person learning. As more research appears about cognitive offloading and deskilling due to virtual technologies, personal community knowledge becomes all the more salient. In what cognitive anthropologist Jean Lave and educational theorist Etienne Wenger define as ”communities of practice”, knowledge sharing amongst those with a shared focus can enrich both the individual and the group.

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Here we’ll take time to engage deeply with our peers, exploring our most and least favoured interventions and approaches, why we use them or don’t, and develop a shared knowledge base that we can continually build upon.

Case consultation with peers and supervisors is an aspect of our practice ethics and guidelines. Sometimes this can fall by the wayside with consultation and support becoming more infrequent as we balance client loads, training opportunities, license requirements, financial costs, as well as fears associated with sharing our vulnerabilities.

Collaborative perspective on client cases offers us ways to improve both client outcome and our own safe and effective use of self. Explore sex therapy case and client issues with the years of expertise and experience of the peer group.

Remember what it was like to receive a letter in the mail? The excitement of a stamped envelope and the promise of emotion inside. ”A letter is never ill-timed; it never interrupts. Instead it waits for us to find the opportune minute, the quiet moment to savor the message. There is an element of timelessness about letter writing.” - Lois Wyse, author

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“A collection of letters constitutes an archive of desire” - Gergan et al, Desirable Futures: Write Me A Letter

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As therapists, we are required to produce formal notes of record, following specific protocols and doing so in ‘efficient time.’ This is where much of our writing efforts are placed. In deliberate contrast and inspired by the desire to revisit the tangible and the creative, here we will gather, slow down, and craft an epistolary to our futures. This is an open invitation to share what we have learned about ourselves and to foster the community built within the intimacy of Kokoro:Quebec.  Sonya will collect these letters to mail to your chosen addressee in the future.

Ever consider movie watching as a therapeutic intervention? Cinematherapy does just that. A way to foster exploration of themes and character behaviours, movies are a great entry into meaningful conversation.

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Should you want to wind down after dinner with some snacks and a movie, we’ll be screening films that explore sex, relationships, pleasure, or the natural world around us. In what Rami Gabriel describes as the attraction of ritual, come together with your peers for some popcorn and “shared emotional community.”

Outside of the cerebral, take time for yourself to engage all your senses at the Spa. Therapeutic treatments and relaxation, comprehensive thermotherapy facilities, rest areas conducive to letting go… everything is here to support the balance of body and mind. Physical practices, the gym, and nature trails allow you to move mindfully, while each experience naturally adapts to your pace and needs at any given moment.