We’ve been talking about
communication forever.
Esther Perel says “The quality of your life depends on the quality of your relationships.” We couldn’t agree more. The question is, how do we actually go about building healthy relationships?
The answer is: through honest, clear and non-defensive communication.
Unfortunately we are generally not taught to be honest, perhaps with ourselves most of all. We are also not taught to be clear (especially as cis women) because we are told that to ask for what you want is to be “bitchy” or “bossy.” So instead we resort to manipulation, martyrdom and hoping our partners will read our minds. These approaches are ineffective and lead to a viscous cycle of defensive communication.
We’re here to change that.
Our Values
At Kim & Amy, the following core values underpin all of our program offerings as well as our business practices.
COMPASSION
Show up with an open mind and an open heart. Assume the best in others.
GROWTH MINDSET
Fail forward. View ‘mistakes’ as learning opportunities.
PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY
No blaming or shaming.
Own what’s yours. No less and no more.
VULNERABILITY
View authenticity as strength.
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
Diversity is an asset. Get curious about different views and perspectives.
BOUNDARIES
Caring for others starts with caring for ourselves.
The History of Kim & Amy
Kim and Amy grew up in a blended family with three step-siblings and a psychologist for a step-father. Family conversations often turned into group or personal therapy sessions and no topic was considered too taboo for the dinner table.
In 2007 Kim and Amy opened a storefront business in Toronto that provided that same sense of safety and personal exploration. Their groundbreaking work in holistic fertility and sexuality landed them features in every major Canadian news outlet.
Kim and Amy were only 23 and 29 years old respectively when they opened Red Tent Sisters in 2007. As lifelong learners, their work has naturally evolved. In 2012 they moved fully online. In 2014 Amy left Toronto, moving to the U.K. and U.S.A. before settling with her husband and daughter in Nova Scotia in 2016. In 2017 Kim and Amy pursued individual career development opportunities, all the while maintaining conversations exploring the intersection of their mutual passion for open and clear communication.
In Spring 2020, as COVID-19 began taking its toll on people’s mental health and divorce rates began to climb, Kim and Amy rejoined forces to share their communication expertise with their community around this shared area of passion. They hosted an online workshop titled End The Blame Game, which was positively received by both new and longterm fans of Kim and Amy’s work.
While Kim and Amy are particularly passionate about communication in intimate relationships, the application of their work developing healthy communication styles extends far outside of the bedroom. If you are interested in hiring Kim and Amy to speak at your next corporate training or special event, please see their contact page.
Kim Sedgwick
CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL CO-ACTIVE COACH
Kim is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) who specializes in sexuality and relationships. She is particularly interested in attachment theory and the ways in which intimate relationships can facilitate healing. In her private coaching practice, Kim coaches women to explore their desires, claim their sexuality autonomy, and step into a life of genuine authenticity and connection.
As a recovering people-pleaser, Kim is acutely aware of how easy it is to fall into the trap of putting everyone else first... and the resentment that follows. Learning to communicate her needs clearly and unapologetically allowed Kim to break that harmful cycle and build a deeply fulfilling relationship with her partner.
In addition to her Gender and Women’s Studies degree, Kim has spent over a decade studying relationships and communication. She is a big proponent of the work of Esther Perel and Emily Nagoski, as well as Randi Buckley’s Healthy Boundaries for Kind People. She’s passionate about unpacking the scripts we’ve been told to follow in service of consciously choosing a relationship dynamic that’s right for you. In some cases that may still look like a traditional partnership, but there is power in reflection and choice. Building on her personal experience, Kim particularly enjoys coaching women who wish to navigate what it means to be in a heterosexual relationship that’s not heteronormative.
Running a brick-and-mortar sexuality shop in Toronto for five years gave Kim the opportunity to talk to hundreds of folks about their most intimate desires. In addition to casual conversation with customers, she also taught and facilitated solo workshops and assisted guest sex educators with their workshops. She really has heard it all! No matter the context, Kim brings her trademark warmth and compassion to the table – along with a commitment to actionable change.
Amy Sedgwick
REGISTERED OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST
As an Occupational Therapist, Amy is interested in how our physical, emotional and cognitive health affects our daily activities and interactions. She has spent her career devoted to addressing women’s health - how hormones, sleep, nutrition and movement affect our wellbeing. In over a decade of work counselling women she has gained extensive experience helping clients navigate intimate partnerships and some of the most challenging questions that face cis-gender women in primarily heterosexual relationships - choosing the most appropriate contraceptive, managing fertility and infertility, and communicating sexual desires.
Amy is continually building on her clinical skills in order to bring the best that health and counselling have to offer. She is a certified Fertility Awareness Educator and Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner. She received advanced training from Justisse College International (JCI) and now sits on the faculty of the College. In addition to her teaching role, she also took on the role of Executive Director at JCI in Spring, 2020. Amy has also trained in Harner Shamanic Counselling and the Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy. She is an initiative of a gynocentric shamanic tradition centred around the sacred honeybee that regards women’s sexuality and reproduction as sacred.
Amy has been in partnership with her husband for over twenty years. Like Kim, she considers herself “straight but not narrow.” She believes in the power of consistently leveraging our relationships to explore the shadow side of our personalities, and never shying away from an opportunity to use conflict in the relationship as an opportunity to grow as a person and as a partner.
Amy’s current professional area of interest lies in the field of Dynamic Emotional Integration.® Developed by Karla McLaren, Dynamic Emotional Integration® seeks to help people enhance emotional awareness, cultivate empathy and develop effective relationship skills. The model also seeks to de-stigmatize emotions and recognize the inherent intelligence in all emotions, including depression, anxiety and anger.
Amy’s approach to coaching and consulting is deeply empathic and fluid. She relies on her own intuition, as well as the intuition of her clients, to guide the therapeutic process. Amy’s clients report that her eclectic, holistic approach helps get to the root of symptoms and problems. Amy’s focus on teaching also helps to ensure that clients are empowered to continue their healing work well after the session or therapeutic relationship has come to a close.