Sisters Dialogue Healing Circle with Art Therapy

REGISTRATION IS FREE

Mothering can be joyous, loving, and nurturing. Mothering can be laborious, stressful, and traumatic. Mothering can be fun, full of laughter and excitement. Mothering can be filled with sadness, grief, and anxiety. The act of Mothering can relate to our own mothers, our children, and extended relations (grandmothers, aunts, in-laws, nieces/nephews, and friends). We can and often do have to mother ourselves.

What is your mothering journey like? How do we care for others, allow others to care for us, and show care to ourselves? In this healing circle, we will go on a journey of exploration around the concept of mothering and its impacts on Muslim women.

Open to all Muslims who mother and are mothered, including mothers, those who are mothered, those who are motherless, those with intergenerational family traumas that impact their mothering journeys, and any other Muslim to whom these concepts feel pertinent.

Organised by Sisters Dialogue

About the Facilitators:

Salima Versi (she/her) is a psychotherapist and a Canadian Certified Counsellor with a master’s degree in Counselling Psychology. At Rahma she specializes in culturally and spiritually supportive mental health, especially with women & queer folx of colour, particularly Muslims. Her work is intentionally anti-oppressive and draws on anti-colonial and feminist perspectives to support clients on their journeys towards healing. She also has a strong background in parenting and is a certified Parent Educator in the Systematic Training in Effective Parenting (STEP) Method, which focuses on respectful, positive parenting techniques. Salima remains actively engaged in community mental health work and activism in a number of ways, including as a Live Your Life to the Full facilitator and volunteer career-counsellor.

Salima is also a PhD Candidate & Instructor in the University of Alberta's Religious Studies Program. Her general focus is Islamic studies, but her research more specifically examines contemporary Nizari Isma'ilism, particularly in Canada. Salima has been teaching in these and in many other capacities for a number of years, and also holds a certificate in Adult Education from the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development.

Added to these professional qualifications is a commitment to social justice and community service. She is actively involved the community at the University of Alberta, her own Ismaili community, the Muslim ummah, and the broader Edmonton community. Within the Ismaili Muslim community, she is an Alwaeza, which is a scholar, preacher, and spiritual care giver. She is also the co-founder of the Muslim Feminist Collective of Edmonton. She has been a board member for various interfaith, Muslim, and feminist organizations and speaks on and participates in a variety of projects and discussions related to Islam, religion, feminism, social justice, and mental health.

Lucy Lu is a Chinese-Vietnamese Canadian practicing as an Art Therapist, counselling therapist, and artist currently based in amiskwacîwâskahikan/Edmonton. She is a Canadian Certified Counsellor, a Registered Canadian Art Therapist, Registered Art Therapist and clinical supervisor for art therapy students and graduates. Lucy has over 10 years of experience working with individuals and families in urban Indigenous and culturally diverse communities. She works in private practice as Red Threads Art Therapy, working with children and adults who have experienced complex trauma, intergenerational trauma, intimate partner violence/family violence, attachment issues, being in care, addictions, anxiety and depression and cultural/inter-generational family dynamics. She also facilitates community dialogue through participatory theatre with her company Third Space Playback Theatre Edmonton, which is a company of diverse individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPoc) artists, activists, therapists and community members.Her use of Playback Theatre in therapeutic and community settings merges her love for embodied listening, storytelling, and facilitating and providing space for the stories of diverse communities.

About Sisters Dialogue

Sisters Dialogue was created initially as a pop-up initiative in February 2021 to address the increasing attacks on Muslim women in Edmonton. It has since established itself as a pivotal voice in the fight against Islamophobia, with its victim and community centered approach. It continues to directly support victims of Islamophobia and other forms of violence / harassment or trauma by sending care packages, connecting them to services, and/or guiding them through reporting to the relevant authorities. Some of its initiatives include mental health referrals to culturally appropriate providers, a safe walk pilot initiative, healing circles with art therapy, an anti-Islamophobia awareness campaign, and a bystander intervention information leaflet. Sisters Dialogue has also fostered relationship building with Indigenous, Black and Asian communities.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We'd like to acknowledge that amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Edmonton), where we live, work, worship and heal is in traditional Treaty 6 territory and we'd also like to acknowledge the Métis people of Alberta who share a very deep connection with this land. We, at Sisters Dialogue, as Treaty people are committed to working in solidarity with First Nations and Metis peoples towards an equitable and just future together.

Contact us via email at sistersdialogue@gmail.com

This workshop is made possible with funding from the City of Edmonton, and the support from Queen Alexandra Community League.