Hi, I’m Eli. I facilitate in depth conversations about how to live into and through life’s big challenges, especially if you live with a heavy dose of Extenuating Circumstances.
I am a deep listener, working with you to create the safety and space you need to get to the heart of it. I work from a relational approach; I centre your unique experiences in your path towards healing, however you define that. I don’t use manualized treatment models, worksheets, or give homework. I listen, reflect, ask good questions, share relevant resources, and help you find and use your own wisdom.
I support people whose personal work lies at the intersections of:
My goal is to help you navigate your world with more authenticity, ease and joy. Together, we’ll search for inner sources of strength and bolster parts that have been lost or abandoned along the way, at your pace, based on your needs.
Who I work With
As a hospital-based practitioner in the mental health and addictions sector for the last 7 years I’ve had extensive conversations with a wide variety of people from all walks of life; sane, mad, straight, queer, trans and cis, old or young, and from a wide diversity of generational, religious, class, and cultural backgrounds.
I work virtually with adults, emerging adults, and older adults/seniors who:
- Live with a significant trauma history;
- Own and operate a sensitive or traumatized nervous system;
- Exist in the world with a marginalized sexual, gender, ability, religious, class, or racial identity, or fall in the intersections of several of these;
- Engage in, or seek to cultivate romantic or sexual relationship models that fall outside of the mainstream;
- Navigate the challenges of recovery from substance use or other addiction;
- Carry a mental illness diagnosis and/or have lived experience with the psychiatric system;
- Are navigating a gender or life transition or are contemplating a significant life change;
- Have experienced many or significant personal losses.
Therapeutic Fit
Therapeutic relationships are unique, sacred, vital. With a focus on supporting people who experience marginalization through various means, it’s particularly important to assess if the relational fit is right for you. Research tells us the best outcomes in therapy happen when a person and their therapist can easily build trust and connection.
Before meeting, you might want to consider if the following parameters reflects your goals for therapy:
- I want to make changes to improve my life and I’m ready to take action, whether that means learning new coping skills or finally addressing the pain of the past;
- I have some level of stability in my day to day experience and am in active, honest recovery if addiction/problem substance use is something I’m working on;
- I am managing symptoms related to a mental illness diagnosis or struggle with self harm or suicidality, (Like all registered mental health professionals, I am a Mandatory Reporter in the province of Ontario, and will discuss with clients on a person to person basis about what practice model I use with regards to reporting);
- I am seeking a long term, good fit therapeutic relationship that focuses on change through growth and healing (according to my definition of what healing looks and feels like).
Eli Hood, Registered Psychotherapist (RP) 