Rebecca Holmes

People often come to Rebecca when life has taken a turn they did not choose. A diagnosis that changes everything. A marriage they are trying to decide about. A loss they are still carrying. Often several at once.

Many of her clients are in midlife or older and work in the helping professions. Their days are spent responding to what everyone else needs, at work and at home, and their own needs have quietly moved to the bottom of the list. Some arrive worn down by that, or grieving a life they had expected to have.

Rebecca describes her approach as compassionate, practical support that draws on research and is tailored to your unique journey. She is empathetic and open, with room for humour where it fits, and she works from the view that you are the expert on your own lived experience.

Her approach rests on a few pillars: safety through a strong therapeutic relationship, insight into patterns and the roots of suffering, understanding through psychoeducation and awareness, mind-body awareness of how emotions and stress are experienced physically, and compassion and action through acceptance, self-compassion, and practical coping skills. She draws on cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic and relational work, compassion-focused therapy, person-centered and culturally sensitive practice, and group therapy.

Rebecca holds a Master of Social Work from Hunter College, City University of New York, and has practised since 2006. Her own journey has included profound loss, major transitions, and moments of having to redefine who she is and what her life can look like, which is part of what drew her to this work.

Outside of work she sails, swims, does strength training, plays disc golf and pickleball, watches birds, and gardens on her balcony. She travels when she can, especially in Southern Africa.