Who is EMBS Wellness?

In other words, who is Emily M. Bagot-Sideen & what is "wellness?" It's been a month of running my therapy practice now and maybe you know me, or you've read about me somewhere online, likely through one of my business pages or socials.

I'm a seasoned registered social worker working on Treaty 1 Territory and across Manitoba on Turtle Island. Maybe we've crossed paths in the last decade (or more...) through an agency or organization, a conference, a protest, or a rally. Maybe you sat across from me once upon a time in a dimly lit office or clinic space to tell me part of your story... or maybe I told you mine. Maybe we haven't met before and you think you might want to meet me (I'd like to meet you!).

Now, here we are and this is my "practice". Any discipline you can call a "practice" is one where you're forever committed to learning & getting better. So what am I practicing? For one, I'm practicing mental health therapy and counselling. Two, I'm practicing community-based "wellness". That's to say I'm working on helping folks (maybe you, my reader) with their mental health, and because mental health is a need & a right, I'm working on relationships. This is why I've called my practice "liberatory" and "decolonial" and I work from a harm reduction perspective.

Not only am I working on the therapeutic relationships I have with the humans who come to see me, but you're working on the relationships around you. Maybe you're starting with the ones that matter most or maybe you're figuring out the ones that aren't as close, but still important. And I'm also working on those relationships, as a fellow human. As a therapist who's passionate about mental health and my community, I'm also finding ways to connect with others, talk about mental health and build "wellness" together beyond a 50-minute session.

The idea of being "well" isn't new - it's supposed to be our human baseline, where we have our basic needs met, we don't live to the chaotic rhythm of a false sense of urgency, and we can experience joy without having to look for it - because it finds us where we are. At EMBS Wellness, I want to acknowledge the colonial role of therapy and that therapists need to exist in our modern world. It would be unethical and ignorant if I didn't. Being "well" and embodying "wellness" is a lot harder for many folks than it was at other times in human history. While a therapist is a great tool & resource to have when you need a human mirror & to figure out new "coping" strategies, the reality is that humans were built with this capacity to give to one another. That capacity shows up in our togetherness, in our relationships.

To me, that is liberatory and decolonial - figuring out how to show up in a better way for ourselves by showing up with and for others, resisting all the ways we've been disconnected in this fast-paced world.

Hopefully, you've learned a bit about me, my values and how I work. I can't wait to run into you, meet you for coffee, or have a session with you.

In solidarity,

Em