Welcome to my website!
About Gisèle Harrison MSW, RSW
I am a registered social worker, an EMDRIA approved Consultant that was first trained in EMDR in 2001. I am a network member with the Institute for Creative Mindfulness and am in the process of applying to become an EMDRIA approved trainer, licensed under the Institute for Creative Mindfulness. I am a relational life couples therapist (Home - Terry Real), a sex therapist, a yoga/meditation teacher, and have considerable training in polyvagal theory, ego state work (parts work), attachment theory, somatic psychology and somatic abolitionism. I am a former guest columnist for the Windsor Star. I am currently in the process of completing an Advanced Certificate in Dissociation Studies for EMDR and a Certificate of Expressive Arts Therapy, both with the Institute for Creative Mindfulness.
To ensure that I am providing the most cutting edge therapy, I engage in monthly individual consultation, monthly group consultation, peer consultation, study groups, as well as listen to various podcasts (listed in calming and movies, podcasts...pages of my website) and attending ongoing training and professional development.
My decades long path to becoming a seasoned therapist has been fueled by a quest to secure excellent mental health services for myself and for the folx around me. My own healing path has been filled with friendship, laughter, tears, pain, discovery, hard work, adventure, travel to distant lands (even within my own inner landscape) and an unlimited budget (not really, but I do allocate a generous chunk of my income to training, consultation, retreats, and of course my own therapy).
Over more than two decades, I have worked and continue to work toward becoming an intersectional feminist activist. My mother introduced me to formal activism at around age 8-10, by way of a strike/protest march when I was in elementary school. I have learned over the decades that understanding oppression and my location in the world, is an ever evolving undertaking. I work tirelessly to maintain the energy and conviction required to obtain freedom and equity for all folx even the ones I disagree with.
From 2010 to 2022 my activism was centred on securing dignity and basic human rights for my aging parents that moved into a nursing home in 2015. My father passed away in November 2019 and my mother passed away in 2022. For the last years of their lives they resided in an understaffed, overpriced, nursing home that was allotted the most minimal resources to ensure residents bodies received the most basic care: being toileted, cleaned, fed, dressed, and put to bed. There was minimal time and practically no resources allotted to creating opportunities for meaningful engagement with other folx and the world around them.
Previous to developing Alzheimer's disease my mother's life was filled with family, friends and visitors had either passed away or simply quietly disappeared from her life. The stress of caring and advocating for her and my father was the most emotionally taxing endeavor I have ever undertaken. It is during this time that I learned that nursing homes are to ageism and ableism, what the prison industrial complex is to racism. Unfortunately nursing homes are the perfect place to also witness the intersection of multiple forms of oppression within both the resident and staff population: ageism, ableism, classism, heterosexism, capitalism, special needs, and of course racism.
I try to be a thoughtful neighbour, a loyal adventurous fun friend, a committed loyal wife, a dedicated loving daughter, a grateful step-mother, a joyful grand-mother, a privileged dog owner, a lover of nature and nature walks, and a voracious reader/learner passionate about cultivating inner and outer peace. Hopefully this translates into being an effective guide for the folx that choose to work with me.
- Pronouns are She/They
- I am an EMDRIA approved Consultant, a certified EMDR therapist that completed my first of three Basic EMDR training programs in 2001. I am also in the process of applying to become an EMDRIA approved Trainer licensed under the Institute for Creative Mindfulness founded by Dr. Jamie Marich.
- My practice is often full and I do not keep a waiting list. I do however have openings for EMDR therapists seeking individual or group consultation.
- Whether or not we work together, I'd like to invite you to go through my website which is filled with helpful resources, calming strategies and lots of other information. That being said - this website should not be used instead of counselling but as an adjunct to therapy.
- If you are seeking a referral, please note that I have a strong bias toward EMDR trauma therapists that explicitly state that they are trauma and dissociation focused (not just "informed") with a practice that is strongly rooted in anti-oppression. I believe that effective trauma therapy requires multimodal approaches including: ego state/parts work that does not pathologize dissociation and is tailored to clients rather than forcing clients to fit into one parts mapping model (ie therapists that are only adhere to one of the following models: IFS, structural dissociation, schema therapy, sensory motor psychotherapy...); polyvagal theory; somatic psychology; attachment theory; mindfulness; yoga; and expressive arts.
- Not all EMDR therapists have this training so please carefully browse thru EMDR Canada's website or Psychology Today to find a good enough match for you (please note that most of us are not insured to see clients out of Province).
- Since the mid 90s I have spent considerable time and effort and money each year toward anti-oppression and anti-racism training. You can tell by looking thru a potential therapist's website and social media feed to see if their claim to be "intersectional" or "queer affirming" is reflected in all that they do. You can also ask the potential therapist directly how they invest their time and money in staying current with issues of race, gender, ability, class, sexual orientation? AND how do they connect the dots between personal and political issues (ie racism and chronic illness).
- How many years of experience do you have? I graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University's Master in Social Work program in 1999 and have been a practicing trauma and dissociation focused therapist since then. I strive to be intersectional in my approach thru ongoing training and consultation. Prior to becoming a registered social worker, I worked for almost ten years in community development with not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations.
- Are you trauma and dissociation focused? Yes I am. I'm a trauma survivor with a dissociative system that has personally engaged in various forms of trauma focused therapy from EMDR and expressive arts to yoga and meditation. I am passionate about finding modalities that help survivors heal and find peace and joy in their lives. The approaches I use are often referred to as "bottom up" approaches that target the whole brain (not just the cognitive brain), the whole body, mind and spirit. I adhere to the Adaptive Information and Processing model which means that humans were designed to repair themselves; current challenges are often rooted in past memory networks, thus healing addresses past and present wounds while also building the skills to manage future experiences that are similar to past wounds.
- Are you LGBTQIAA2S+ affirming? I am in a long-term monogamous heterosexual marriage. I have been involved in the LGBTQIAA2S+ community for over 30 years as an activist, a volunteer, and a community member. I am committed to living and working toward allyship and being an accomplice. I have attended conferences and training workshops across the country to inform my LGBTQIAA2S+ affirming counselling practice and have engaged in extensive consultation and mentorship with LGBTQIAA2S+ focused consultants.
- What is your understanding of structural/systemic issues and how they can contribute to individual, group and intergenerational traumatic experiences? (ie LGBTQIAA2S+ identities, systemic racism, sexism, ageism, heterosexism, classism...) I am a White, middle class, woman with a chronic degenerative illness. I have spent decades learning and unlearning about systems and practices that oppress some individuals and groups while advantaging others. I continue to be committed to ongoing regular anti-racism, anti-oppression training, workshops, and retreats and have a particular interest in somatic abolitionism (as taught by Resmaa Menakem). I have written articles, opinion pieces, marched and have organized marches and writing campaigns to abolish systemic marginalization since 1990. I believe that the personal is political which means that much of our pain can be linked to larger political issues. My approach is and has been rooted in connecting the dots between personal problems and systemic issues like poverty, violence, sexism, heterosexism, racism, ableism, and ageism.
- How much training and experience did you receive prior to entering into private practice? I entered into private practice in 2005 after over 6 years of supervised community practice in various clinical settings (2 hospitals, a rape crisis centre, two homeless women's shelters; and two different children, adolescent and family mental health centres.
- Do you obtain ongoing regularly scheduled consultation/mentorship? If yes, with who? I attend monthly individual consultation, monthly group consultation, and two different monthly peer consultation groups. I have obtained consultation from: Dr. Jamie Marich, Amy Wagner, Irene Rodrigues, Gary Brothers, Beyond Healing Centre (Melissa Benintendi, Caleb Boston, Bridger Falkenstein, Jen Savage), Kathleen Martin, Terrence Real, Wendy Behary, Cindy Shrigley, Patricia Sandford.
- What kind of training are your currently engaged in? I attend as many advanced training workshops as possible re: Somatic Abolitionism; LGBTQIAA2S+ affirming therapy; Somatic Psychology, Attachment Theory, Polyvagal Theory, Ego State Therapy, Structural Dissociation, Yoga, Buddhist Meditation, Chronic Illness/Pain, Autoimmune Disease, Family Mediation, and EMDR Advanced Training. I am currently completing an Advanced Certificate in Dissociation Studies for EMDR and a Certificate of Expressive Arts Therapy, both with the Institute for Creative Mindfulness.
- What training have you already completed outside of your degree? This is a very long list that I'd be happy to provide to you. That being said I am a certified EMDR therapist, Approved EMDR Consultant, Yoga Teacher, Meditation Teacher, Relational Life Therapist, University of Guelph's Intensive Sex Therapy Program, Pain and Chronic Illness, and ongoing training in antiracism, anti-oppression, and queer affirming therapy.
- What is your specialty? (Beware of therapists with a long list of specialties) PTSD, C-PTSD, anxiety, trauma, stress, depression, relationship issues, sex therapy, trauma due to oppression and marginalization.
- What is your cancellation policy? Do you apply this policy toward yourself? Click on my fees and cancellation policy page and YES, I apply my cancellation policy to myself if I forget an appointment or double book (I'm human too).
- Are you a member of a college that regulates your profession? If not, why? I am a member in good standing of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.
- Have you and do you continue to engage in your own therapy? YES, and YES - I'm a lifer!
- How will we address conflict in our therapist/client relationship? I welcome feedback and if that feels scary to you, I vow to help you express your concerns. When/IF I do something that leads to a rupture in our relationship I vow to repair the rupture so that it can provide you with a "disconfirming experience" (in other words in a way that will feel empowering for us both).
- How do you provide/receive feedback? I work really hard to communicate feedback from a place of kindness and compassion. I also work hard to receive feedback in a way that allows other folx to feel seen, heard and understood.
- What do you look for in a client? Please go to "My Ideal Client" page.
- Do you believe therapists need therapy? Absolutely! I would never choose to see a therapist that was not also engaged in their own therapy and in ongoing regular consultation.
- How do you develop treatment plans for your clients? I am trained in Somatic Integration and Processing Case Conceptualization? I typically use Somatic Integration and Processing as a Case conceptualization model - but have adapted this model so that it is rooted in an antiracist, anti-oppressive, feminist, and queer affirming: Episode 46: Somatic Integration and Processing - Notice That (emdr-podcast.com)
About Gisèle Harrison MSW, RSW
I am a registered social worker, an EMDRIA approved Consultant that was first trained in EMDR in 2001. I am a network member with the Institute for Creative Mindfulness and am in the process of applying to become an EMDRIA approved trainer, licensed under the Institute for Creative Mindfulness. I am a relational life couples therapist (Home - Terry Real), a sex therapist, a yoga/meditation teacher, and have considerable training in polyvagal theory, ego state work (parts work), attachment theory, somatic psychology and somatic abolitionism. I am a former guest columnist for the Windsor Star. I am currently in the process of completing an Advanced Certificate in Dissociation Studies for EMDR and a Certificate of Expressive Arts Therapy, both with the Institute for Creative Mindfulness.
To ensure that I am providing the most cutting edge therapy, I engage in monthly individual consultation, monthly group consultation, peer consultation, study groups, as well as listen to various podcasts (listed in calming and movies, podcasts...pages of my website) and attending ongoing training and professional development.
My decades long path to becoming a seasoned therapist has been fueled by a quest to secure excellent mental health services for myself and for the folx around me. My own healing path has been filled with friendship, laughter, tears, pain, discovery, hard work, adventure, travel to distant lands (even within my own inner landscape) and an unlimited budget (not really, but I do allocate a generous chunk of my income to training, consultation, retreats, and of course my own therapy).
Over more than two decades, I have worked and continue to work toward becoming an intersectional feminist activist. My mother introduced me to formal activism at around age 8-10, by way of a strike/protest march when I was in elementary school. I have learned over the decades that understanding oppression and my location in the world, is an ever evolving undertaking. I work tirelessly to maintain the energy and conviction required to obtain freedom and equity for all folx even the ones I disagree with.
From 2010 to 2022 my activism was centred on securing dignity and basic human rights for my aging parents that moved into a nursing home in 2015. My father passed away in November 2019 and my mother passed away in 2022. For the last years of their lives they resided in an understaffed, overpriced, nursing home that was allotted the most minimal resources to ensure residents bodies received the most basic care: being toileted, cleaned, fed, dressed, and put to bed. There was minimal time and practically no resources allotted to creating opportunities for meaningful engagement with other folx and the world around them.
Previous to developing Alzheimer's disease my mother's life was filled with family, friends and visitors had either passed away or simply quietly disappeared from her life. The stress of caring and advocating for her and my father was the most emotionally taxing endeavor I have ever undertaken. It is during this time that I learned that nursing homes are to ageism and ableism, what the prison industrial complex is to racism. Unfortunately nursing homes are the perfect place to also witness the intersection of multiple forms of oppression within both the resident and staff population: ageism, ableism, classism, heterosexism, capitalism, special needs, and of course racism.
I try to be a thoughtful neighbour, a loyal adventurous fun friend, a committed loyal wife, a dedicated loving daughter, a grateful step-mother, a joyful grand-mother, a privileged dog owner, a lover of nature and nature walks, and a voracious reader/learner passionate about cultivating inner and outer peace. Hopefully this translates into being an effective guide for the folx that choose to work with me.
