About Quinten Hackwood

How I work
I want to help you feel comfortable showing up as yourself–maybe you’re kinky, non-monogamous, asexual, gender- or neuro-diverse. I support people in finding and navigating authentic connection in the way that works for you. I think that the ultimate goal of psychotherapy is to explore our methods of connection and disconnection, and to take what we learn from therapy into the rest of our lives.

How do you want to show up for yourself? Or with the people in your life? How can we care for, grieve, and/or change what’s getting in the way of that? In session, we might explore what your authenticity looks like, what’s going on internally, your hopes for the future, or events in the past–but always with an eye on how outside factors–culture, oppression, capitalism–are contributing to your unique set of strengths and challenges. We can can work together to explore these impacts on you, your identity, your relationships, and how you respond to your life.

I work from a Relational-Cultural Therapy perspective that’s explicitly embedded in social justice values. Inside and outside of session I am dedicated to anti-oppression, a practice of self-awareness and responsiveness, and forming a new relationship with the land, its caretakers, and protectors. I’m sex-work positive, fat-positive, and oriented around racial justice and returning stolen land to Indigenous care-taking. I am kink, asexual, and ethical non-monogamy affirming.

Sometimes the scripts we have been given to guide us in our lives don’t work for us. There is sometimes grief in that, but also a rich opportunity to write our own stories. I sincerely welcome people of all a/sexualities, a/genders, relationship styles, and family compositions to reach out for a meeting.

Areas of interest:

• relationships (couples and non-monogamous partnerships, queerplatonic and asexual partnerships, as well as family and friends)

• sexual health and physical intimacy (including kink, BDSM, platonic, asexual)

• identity (such as gender, sexuality, parenthood, and neurodivergent and neuroqueer identities)

• life changes and transitions (birth, death, relocation, gender)

More About Me

I’m a white, disabled, neurodivergent, queer and trans person who has experienced many beginnings, endings, and life transitions. I have felt out of place or unmoored many times, but supportive relationships are what kept me afloat and ultimately lead to a deeper and more compassionate relationship with myself.

My previous experience lies in peer mental health support and community education. My kink workshops focussed primarily on communication for safety and joy in BDSM, as well as how to communicate needs and negotiate boundaries within a relationship (romantic or otherwise). I have also worked in support and solidarity for addiction and mental health service users, and I bring knowledge and humility from these experiences.

Credentials

Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario 10635

Student Member of the Ontario Society of Registered Psychotherapists 57864925

Education

Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology, Yorkville University

BFA Film Production, York University