Liz Gruenfeld (she/her)
LCSW, PhD
Undergraduate Degree - Smith College (BA)
Masters Degree - Harvard Graduate School of Education (EdM), Boston College, School of Social Work (MSW and PhD)
Specialty/Age Groups Treated - I work with adults and children (age 4 and up) and specialize in complex trauma recovery, anxiety, depression and self-regulation difficulties. I often focus on recovery from abuse & exploitation, intergenerational healing, sex/relationships, motherhood & perimenopause, as well as intercultural stressors, migration strain, and post-conflict recovery. I tend to work with kiddos managing anxiety, tantrums and encopresis. I use eclectic trauma-sensitive cross-cultural approaches, the visual arts, yoga/mindfulness tools, spirituality/faith and play therapy, as well as humor and hope, as resources to support healing and thriving.
Languages Spoken - English and Spanish (some Italian and Arabic)
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In a typical first session, I ask: how can I help? I spend lots of time empathically listening, and asking questions to get to know you (or your child) better. I work to understand not only what the struggles are, but also where your strengths and resources reside. I also take time to tell you a bit about me and Artful Life, and give you space to ask any questions you have. If I'm working with a kiddo, I also have lots of toys and/or art activities for them to explore. By my observation, folks leave feeling better than when they came in, more hopeful, and excited to return.
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I have an eclectic toolkit, and I'm happy to offer whatever might be useful and leave the rest out. I'm complex trauma trained, so I like to offer psychoeducation on trauma and self-regulation, as well as tools to help. These might include IFS-inspired tools, mindfulness tools, or visual arts-based approaches. If it's a resource for you, I often hold a spiritual frame in my clinical work, and can support folks with a traditional faith-based frame as well as the esoteric. I have a lot of training in yoga and meditation, so I can offer related tools to support healing and thriving, if helpful in the moment. I use a person-centered, strengths-based approach that honors client choice & empowerment and promotes self-esteem. Finally, I'm interested in cross-cultural approaches to healing, and systems-level framing (including an anti-racist/anti-oppression/feminist lens) which recognize that our personal struggles reside within larger systems. I work to validate, support and uplift your goodness amidst challenging life circumstances, and lend hope.
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I've lived and worked in many different countries (approximately 21!), primarily in Latin America, the Middle East & North Africa. And I've lived on the east & west coasts of the U.S. I once got a terrible sunburn climbing a snowy volcano in Chile, I'm a former college athlete, I love learning languages, and my school-age daughter & I adore the circus!!
I'm glad you made it here; Artful Life is a lovely place. I’m a licensed clinician (LCSW) with a PhD in social work, a clinical MSW, an Ed.M. in arts education, and a specialization in trauma recovery. I believe in the power of the arts and mindfulness practices to accompany us in darkness and to catalyze healing, connection and thriving. I’ve used creativity (primarily visual arts) as well as yoga/mindfulness/spirituality to work as a clinician and educator in the U.S. and across five continents with children and adults impacted by adversity, trauma, and war. I bring gobs of warmth, curiosity, empathy, and humor to my clinical work. I also bring a deep interest in and sensitivity to intercultural issues.
I graduated from Boston College School of Social Work with my PhD & MSW, with a trauma and sex trafficking recovery specialization. I also took courses at Lesley University on expressive arts therapy and trauma. I completed a 2-year Advanced Social Work Fellowship at The Trauma Center at JRI and Project REACH, working bilingually with children and adults struggling with complex trauma impacts, family neglect, substance abuse, emotional dysregulation, trafficking exploitation, and migration strain. I use trauma-sensitive body-centered approaches, play therapy, expressive arts, IFS-inspired approaches, and psychoeducation. I've received wonderful training, including; Certificate Program in Traumatic Stress Studies, Trauma Seminar (with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk), Dissociation Seminar, and trauma-sensitive yoga, as well as ARC, SMART, and TF-CBT for children. I've taught in Salem State University’s MSW program, where I highlighted use of the arts in clinical and macro social work practice, and at North Shore Community College. I've taught study abroad programs in Peru's High Amazon focused on Indigenous ecology, spirituality and plant-based healing, studied with Indigenous healers and Shamans, and guest lectured at Harvard Medical School and Boston College School of Social Work.
I also have an Ed.M. in Arts Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where I focused on arts-based psychosocial interventions for children and communities impacted by violence, war, intergenerational trauma, and migration strain. I spent a decade leading workshops throughout the U.S., MENA region (Middle East/North Africa), Latin America, and East Asia using the arts, mindfulness/embodiment approaches, and psychosocial tools to help communities reconnect and heal after social division, war, displacement, and intergenerational trauma. My research and publications center on creativity & critical thinking, program evaluation, and recovery from sex trafficking, male childhood sexual abuse, and community violence. I’ve been incorporating the arts, mindfulness, and cultural humility into my work for several decades. I've trained yoga therapists and taught workshops at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. I'm myself a long-term student of yoga & meditation and mother to a young child; we're all in this business of being human together! Multiple frames guide my work, with special interest in whole human living, intergenerational thriving, creative arts, spirituality, yoga, anti-racism and interculturality. I'd be honored to work with you and/or your child.
