Welcome! I am so glad that you are here.
My name is Dr. Danielle Sarah McPhail. I am a licensed Clinical Psychologist in the Northwest Territories, a yoga instructor, and a fellow traveler along this healing path.
My approach.
My style of practice is grounded in unlearning my White colonial programming. I am a student of the decolonizing mental health movement. A decolonial mental health approach seeks to shift the power from a Eurocentric diagnostic focus to honouring and working with Indigenous knowledge systems and worldviews. This approach values allyship within the settler-Indigenous relationship, involving changes in language, an unlearning of colonial practices, and implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s calls to action. My current teachers are Dr. Rocio Rosales Meza and Dr. Margaret Kovach.
There is a sacredness in simply sitting down and speaking with one another in a good way.
Land acknowledgment.
I wish to acknowledge that I am on the lands of Treaty 8 and Treaty 11. These lands are recognized as the traditional and contemporary homes of the Yellowknives Dene, Akaitcho Dene First Nations, Willideh, Denesuline, Tlicho, Dehcho, Sahtu, Gwich'in, Inuit, Cree, and Métis. Through these lands, I am honoured to find myself in relationship with all of those who share it, including the four-legged, winged, finned, and rooted. I will continue to deepen my understanding of these connections through curiosity, respect, and celebration.
