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In this episode, I'm joined by Ryan Yellowlees, a registered clinical counselor who was rejected by 48 out of 50 therapists. Their reason? "Uncomfortable" treating someone with chronic illness. Ryan's experience reveals a disturbing gap: a mental health field that trains therapists to be inclusive while systematically excluding 27% of the population.

Ryan brings four years of clinical experience specializing in chronic illness, physical disabilities, and caregiver support. Born and raised in Victoria, BC, they were told at age 8 by a pediatric neurologist that they wouldn't amount to anything. Instead of accepting that narrative, Ryan became the therapist they needed as a child and a disability justice activist fighting oppression in healthcare.

We explore Ryan's journey through a system that didn't want them. From being rejected by nearly every therapist they contacted to facing discrimination during their master's program, where practicum directors refused them clients because they needed to work remotely. We discuss diagnostic overshadowing and how medical professionals make dangerous assumptions about cognitive abilities based on physical disabilities. Ryan explains why discrimination and poor treatment, not the disability itself, cause mental health struggles.

The conversation challenges fundamental assumptions about therapy and who gets to practice it, revealing how ableism is embedded in everything from training programs to emergency care.

Chapters: 
(00:00:00 ) - When 48 Therapists Say No
(00:03:13 ) - Discrimination During Training: "You Can't Do In-Person"
(00:04:29 ) - Diagnostic Overshadowing and Medical Malpractice
(00:09:00 ) - Why Therapists Aren't Trained in Disability
(00:14:00 ) - The COVID Empathy Collapse
(00:20:00 ) - What Is Disability-Informed Counseling?
(00:27:00 ) - Medical Model vs. Social Model of Disability
(00:30:00 ) - Eugenics, Ableism, and What Society Needs to Learn
(00:32:00 ) - Disability as Part of Being Human

About the Host: Moody Abdul is the co-founder of Klarify and host of the Future of Therapy podcast. After experiencing how therapy and AI tools combined during a personal breakthrough, he became passionate about helping therapists leverage technology. Through Klarify, he's working to automate time-consuming tasks like case notes, allowing therapists to focus more on client care. The Future of Therapy podcast reaches over 65,000 therapists across North America.

• Website: https://www.klarify.ca/
• LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/moodyabdul

About Ryan Yellowlees: Ryan Yellowlees, MC, RCC, is a Registered Clinical Counsellor, disability activist, and board member of Every Canadian Counts, a disability advocacy organization, who lives in Victoria, British Columbia. They live with a progressive chronic illness called Duchenne muscular dystrophy and run a private virtual counselling practice called Life Empowered Counselling. They specialize in disability discrimination, ableism, chronic illness, physical disability, and caregiver support counselling. Their counselling approach draws from personal experience living with chronic illness and Disability Justice, narrative, person-centred, and strength-based perspectives.

• Life Empowered Counselling: https://www.lifeempoweredcounselling.ca

Recommended Resources:

• Untold Stories: A Canadian Disability History Reader
• Unravelling MAiD in Canada: Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide as Medical Care
• The Rejected Body: Feminist Philosophical Reflections on Disability