Community Resources & Support Document

Welcome! Please reach out via my website or email with any questions about this support document.

Website: www.bridgetbertrand.com

Email: bridget@bridgetbertrand.com

What I'm Listening To

What I'm Reading

Wish List

Global Majority Coaches, Internet Spaces, and Teachers to Follow

Local SF Bay Area Queer Therapists, Coaches, and More

Therapists, Coaches, and Healers Around the World

Disability Justice

Divorce Support

  • Bay Area Mediation and Collaborative Divorce - Website - Additional resources needed - please message me with your business name and website

Speakers, Experts and online lists

Bay Area Massage Therapists

Parenting Resources

For Global Majority Parents

For Non-Global Majority Parents

Mutual Aid

Herbalists, Tarot Readers, Witches, Meditation Space

Books for Kids

Books on Queer, LGBTQ+ Community, and Divorce

Authors and Artists I Follow

Bridget's Commitment to Embodied Anti-Racism

Action Steps

  1. For Therapists: Read and take action - Licensing Board DEI Action You can also buy a super cute Inclusive Therapist sweatshirt!

  2. For Everyone: Follow, join, and fight to liberate Compton's - Compton's SX Coalition

Want to Be Included?

Do you want your name included in this document? Email me at bridget@bridgetbertrand.com.

Please indicate if your work is in person or online. Let's chat to ensure you are a good fit for this gathering of collective minds.

joy

I am happy you are here. I appreciate you sharing these posts if you wish. They are all public and all free. I am following up on the last post to include the theme of joy. I will share a bit of my 2025 joy with you in this writing.

The previous post is found here:

joy-and-pain

I found joy this year at the Trans March, one of the biggest in San Francisco’s history. My intention coming out of the deeper lockdown of the pandemic was to find on-the-ground activists to organize with, and I did. I plan to post another bit of writing about one of those groups and urge you to join or be aware of Compton’s Coalition:

https://www.comptonsxcoalition.net/ They have taught me SO much! I am grateful.

How do we stay connected to joy when there is so much pain in the world? The image below is of our dog, Maverick, the brown chihuahua, flying across the beach.

Since my friend and co-keeper of the activist space suggested the topic of joy for our last meeting, I have been on the lookout for my own joy. (https://bit.ly/activistrestore2026) Join us in 2026 by registering on the link.

So, I looked up synonyms for joy: delight, happiness, satisfaction—and let’s also bring in the word pleasure. One might deduce that we can’t have one emotion without many others (cue the inside-out image). Grief, sorrow, unhappiness, and misery can come right in as we experience joy, pleasure, and delight. Can activist spaces help you find joy? I think so.

IRL activism has been on my to-do list since we started coming out of the pandemic lockdown, *knowing that many are still unable to move freely because we don’t all wear masks enough of the time.

This year, especially, I got a good bit of marching, connecting, and putting up signs announcing various activist activities. I also did more online activism than ever before. At many turns, I tried to offset my need for urgency, which comes from my conditioning as a white person and my discomfort with grief—but also, I think, my discomfort with joy. More on that later, but a lot of research has found that we as a species have trouble with the lighter emotions, especially in these times. It makes sense.

Other research, when planning our last activist support circle, found these two little bits of joy: a beautiful blog calling in our chosen queer community and ancestors.

blog - embracing-queer-joy-as-a-form-of-empowerment

I shared this last week, but here is another little nudge to listen and to let go of Spotify (I love Deezer—it was easy to port all my playlists over). Click to listen to a playlist for joy and pain, and to this Instagram post, where players from the Palestinian and Syrian national football teams embraced each other in celebration after a tie, qualifying both teams for the Arab Cup quarterfinals. The joy is palpable, and so is the pain right underneath. https://www.instagram.com/p/DSBPZUpjBog

Maybe you worry that if you have joy, you won’t be able to fight all that is happening in the world? Joy won’t get in the way; it will empower and help us keep moving.

Awe can be found in mindful photography, simple scribble art, obscured journaling, and laughing at silly jokes.

Image ID: an obscured journal piece in various colors with journaling all in a circle.

Somatic practices—like shaking, dancing, singing, stretching, breathing—can create the space for joy or perhaps even the feeling in its raw form. And nothing beats a hot shower.

In our activist circle, we spoke about the difference between grief and pain. I’m thinking about this handy equation: pain times resistance equals suffering (P × R = S). It is a good one to explore. Let me know how it goes. bridget@bridgetbertrand.com

Another joy hack: I have been using apps less lately, especially on my phone. With the United States in an autocracy/tyrannical slide, I have swung between needing to pull back from reading the news and diving in headfirst. I will also tell you, as a fun fact, I don’t watch a lot of news videos or “listen” to the news. Especially with the new empire pursuits (re: Venezuela), I will only read or look at what my activist friends online are sharing and read some stories from ground news.

If you have been on this activist/artist/healer/helper ride for a while, your Signal chat has already been blowing up. If you don’t know what Signal is or have it on your phone, all good. As many have said before, we all have our lane. I know all readers don’t consider themselves activists, so here is a little nudge to start.

Some have been signing petitions, calling Congress, writing Congress, etc. Maybe you have been in the streets. Maybe, like our family, you are in an ongoing boycott of places that give to the tyranny: Target, Walmart, Meta (I use their products but never pay them to advertise), Apple (won’t buy a new phone from them, might switch next time to a simple phone), Amazon (been done), Google (getting out of their products THIS YEAR!). I have never been a Microsoft, OpenAI, or Uber user. AI is a whole other post. I will never pay for it and only use it very selectively. I do use Grammarly and sometimes Claude AI to edit my writing.

Are you fighting in this way?

So, where is the joy, you may ask, Bridget?

Let’s keep digging into it! I hope you felt some of my joy here in this post.

In the new year, I will offer an ongoing Thursday meetup at 2 pm PST (https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html). I will be sure to give you space to check in, connect, and network (likely in 2-3-minute breakout rooms), and time to share with the larger group what work you offer. I’ll plan to keep this going through May. You can learn more and sign up here: https://bit.ly/queerconnection. All who own a small business are welcome!

If you want to get creative, I am offering space again on Tuesdays: https://bit.ly/creative2026 - we meet for an hour at 12 pm PST, and this is also for the healer/helper/queer business owner who needs space to land and get their own healing happening.

Curious about land acknowledgment? 🌱 https://native-land.ca/resources/territory-acknowledgement

Hope to see you soon—whether for action, rest, or both. 💛

Take care, and be gentle with yourself. Please share this info with a friend or two.

Warmly and in fierce solidarity and don’t forget the activist space; https://bit.ly/activistrestore2026

Bridget Bertrand (all pronouns)
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist CA LMFT 83020
Telehealth 100.0134497 VT, Telehealth TPMF1773 FL
Expressive Arts Facilitator - Creative Cultivator

📌 www.bridgetbertrand.com
📞 650-539-4325

📍 IRL in the Flood Building
870 Market Street, Room 953, San Francisco, CA 94102
🚗 Parking: 123 O’Farrell St (or enter via 71 Ellis St)

I pay land tax to the Bay Miwok. Reading about their history and flowing some funds through helps me feel connected to the land I live on and less in the dark about the genocide of the First People on the land where the united states is now.

Bridget Bertrand’s Anti-Racism action Plan

This lived on a notion link that has been on my https://linktr.ee/bhopeb for five years, but I wanted it to have a more visible spot here on my website.

Bridget Bertrand is committed to building an equitable, anti-racist company. I am taking steps to become an anti-racist company BECAUSE I aspire to be a change agent against racism and white supremacy. I want to be a part of a community of micro-businesses that prioritize justice, equity, and inclusion. I will always have work to do in order to get there. This document names some of that work.

In this document, "I" means Bridget Bertrand, the owner of the company Expressive Arts Work and Bridget’s private practice (a therapy practice). I, Bridget Bertrand, as a white, gender queer dyke/lesbian, have white privilege, cisgender privilege, am able-bodied for now, and have class and education privilege. I'm committed to taking action against a system that gives me unearned privilege. I move forward imperfectly. I continue to make mistakes. I will learn from those mistakes, and I am open to and grateful for feedback. I will meet feedback without defensiveness.

Here are some of the steps I have taken and will take:

  • Signed The Anti-Racism Small Business Pledge in June of 2020.

  • Created this public document listing my company values.

  • I pay for and engage actively in education on anti-racism work. In addition to weekly listening and reading, I commit to investing money, time, and spirit in education and consultation on at least a quarterly basis and listing my educators/programs here.

  • I commit to open conflict and to allowing discomfort. When conflict arises in my life, in individual work, and within my programs, I let it arise. I don’t try to hide it, delete it, or ignore it and I do not protect hate speech. I acknowledge the conflict, allow space for community members to be heard, and deal with the underlying issue rather than demonize the community member who raised the issue. These conversations are happening regardless, and I allow them to happen in these spaces and participate in the conversations. I am willing to sit in the discomfort of being called out or in and take action to implement the needs expressed by community members. I state these community guidelines that acknowledge these things. (Most of the language in this bullet point comes directly from the Anti-Racism Pledge listed above.

  • I commit to paying for the resources I benefit from and receive from BIPOC educators. When I regularly absorb information from experts on JEDI and am not enrolled in their programs, I seek ways to pay for the help I'm receiving. I buy books, contribute to Patreon, or find other ways to invest.

  • I commit to investing at least 10% of the ex-arts work budget to BIPOC communities by the end of 2022 or sooner. This may include hiring BIPOC employees, vendors, and contractors, using BIPOC-owned software and services, purchasing BIPOC-authored books, donating to organizations, and more.

    I will report the percent annually (or more frequently) below, usually after Q2.

  • Express my sincere, long-term commitment to becoming an anti-racist organization.

    I will create a permanent statement that illustrates our commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and anti-racism that goes on all of my external-facing documents.

  • Do you want to know more about mutual aid, click here and also read more about Dean Spade.

trans lives are sacred

The last few days (lifetimes) have been a nightmare for anyone who believes in and understands the importance of Gender Affirming Care as a human right that saves lives. These “United States,” aka Turtle Island, has increasingly become a hellscape for Trans people, Global Majority people, and anyone not adhering to cis-straight Christian norms. All of the Buddhist training I have participated in has taught me that hell is right here; there are many realms, and to release ourselves from suffering, we learn to be present in this moment: one breath, one step, one call, one protest. One ACTION.

Even if you’ve had your head in the sand, you know the Trump Regime is coming for every marginalized identity in this country.

As I sit with my Trans clients this week, I think of Ms. Major, Marsha, Silvia, Chase, and my friends who are deeply afraid for their lives. I hold close my trans partner and my trans son. I know we will fight. We have to. We are stronger together than this hate could ever be. The state will not save us; we will save ourselves. Many trans siblings have known this since way before I was born.

We need our cis allies NOW. I do not write polished political statements for nonprofit groups, even though I sit on a board that needed one. Thankfully, my colleague and friend wrote that statement! BUT I keep writing even though I’ve been told in online therapy spaces that “we can’t be political.” You know who gets to be “non-political” right now? People who aren’t being targeted—until they wake the fuck up and realize we are ALL being targeted. Unless you’re a billionaire, eventually, you will be on the list too.

My identity has been made political. If you can sit there as a healer, a helper, a therapist, and remain “nonpolitical,” it’s because the state hasn’t come for you yet…YET!

When I came out nearly a decade ago, I joked about paying the lesbian tax. I learned fast—even with all my privileges—that I’d have to fight to build my therapy practice while keeping my sanity. It’s still a struggle. Some days, I wonder if these political statements hurt me more than they help anyone.

But I can’t be silent.

So if you’re a cis human being: JOIN US. At minimum, share this post, and if you are a therapist, join Gaylesta.

https://www.gaylesta.org/

This not-for-profit is expanding to explicitly include trans, queer, bi, asexual, and other gender minorities in our name and—more importantly—in our work with deep, radical inclusivity (or this is my hope for the org.).

Some days I want to stop. Stop calling, stop marching, stop looking, but I can’t. This fight has been building in me since I was small enough to read that famed nursery rhyme: “What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and everything nice.”

FUCK THAT NOISE.

Gender affirming care will continue one way or another. We’re in the middle of upheaval. We’re in a cultural revolution. All of our participation, no matter how big or small, is needed more now than ever.

Our activist committee at gaylesta and our partner Rainbow Families Action have posted action steps, and there’s more coming. But I need you to hear this from me, one human to another: I see you. I won’t give up.

WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT THE HHS RULE:

Push back on multiple fronts: submit formal comments, support litigation, work with advocacy groups, pressure elected officials, and protect people in your community. All of this and what has happened is listed here:

google doc, what to do, Rainbow Families Action

What HHS is doing:

  • HHS has announced proposals to cut Medicaid/CHIP funding and Medicare participation for hospitals providing gender-affirming care to minors, and to roll back civil rights protections for gender dysphoria.

These proposals are part of a broader federal assault to exclude gender-affirming care from federal programs and ACA plans, and to redefine this care as outside accepted medical standards.

As I said above, FUCK that noise!

I hope whatever you celebrate, you feel safe enough to take a few breaths in peace. I am still running my ongoing mutual aid effort, which is here:

mutual aid

I am offering some very reduced-rate spots to meet with me in 2026. Let’s find a time.

https://www.bridgetbertrand.com/sessions/sliding-scale-time-to-meet

And if you can’t pay anything, I still want to meet you. Let’s chat! Community is everything.

Love, Bridget

www.bridgetbertrand.com

all the things, cuz I am in a lot of places

https://linktr.ee/bhopeb

Playlist for joy and pain: https://link.deezer.com/s/31XdKXdBHZm4w9ppIHXWh