Esther Groenhof, MA, RCC
They say a therapist isn’t someone a crazy person goes to; it’s someone a sane person seeks out when everything around them has gone crazy.
I believe this to be true - for all of us. Life is difficult. There are times in our lives when we feel completely overwhelmed or off track, and we are not coping as well as we’d wish. We are not our best selves. And we need help getting back on track.
In the past 22 years as a mental health clinician, I have had the privilege of helping thousands of people at various ages and stages of life, get back on track and heal the pain that is driving their problematic symptoms. I work from a strengths-based, person-centred and evidence-based approach, with a primary focus on being authentic and genuine. We are all in this thing called life together. And while I may have over 2 decades of clinical experience and training in various therapies, I believe the person of the therapist and the connection to the client at a human-to-human level is of utmost importance and makes the biggest difference in creating change. That, and a good sense of humour!
My areas of speciality include, but are not limited to:
- trauma and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- anxiety disorders
- depression
- grief and loss
- relationship challenges
- life transitions
- parenting
- emotional dysregulation
- eating disorders
- psychosis
- self harm and suicidality
- addictions
I hold a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology and have extensive training in evidence based therapies such as Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) , Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Emotion Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) and the Gottman Method.
I have also learned much from the “school of life” with my own personal experience of being married, divorced and re-married; raising two teenagers, a dog and cat; and losing close friends and family to cancer. I have known my share of loss and believe that every person has their own story of pain and loss. Yet I am continually in awe of the resilience of the human spirit and the ability of people to survive the horrific things in life. It’s my honour and privilege to have a front row seat to observing the hope and healing that my clients have experienced - it’s mutually inspiring!
If you are interested in seeing if I am a good fit for you and your needs, please contact me to set up a free 15 minute consultation. I look forward to hearing from you and wish you well in this “brutiful” life.