About Elena
Therapy, for me, is about helping you come back into contact with yourself and to regain access to your own sense of aliveness.
WHO I AM
I work with people who are looking for support and resources to cope when something feels overwhelming, stuck, or difficult to carry alone.
My path into therapeutic work began through many years of meeting people in vulnerable and complex life situations. Working in mental health care and acute psychiatric wards gave me a deep respect for how much people carry, and how important it is to be met with both humanity and professional depth.
Over years, my work in research, mental health promotion, and psychotherapy has shaped the way I work today. I bring together clinical experience, academic understanding, and an integrative approach that pays attention to mind, body, and the wider context of a person’s life.
For me, therapy is a space where you do not have to perform or have everything figured out. It can be a place to pause, reflect, and understand more clearly what is happening in you and around you.
THERAPEUTIC APPROACH
There are many different ways of working in therapy. My approach is mostly grounded in humanistic psychology and Gestalt methodology, and shaped by an integrative and systemic perspective.
For me, therapy is not only a dialogue-based therapeutic encounter. It is also a space to gain freedom in the choices you have and to improve your living skills.
I work in a relational and explorative way, drawing on different therapeutic perspectives depending on what supports you best. I often combine group and individual formats of therapy.
BACKGROUND
My educational background brings together my studies in nursing, psychology and public health along with a continued therapeutic training.
My professional path began in acute psychiatric wards where I trained as a mental health nurse. This gave me a strong clinical foundation and early experience in meeting people in vulnerable and complex life situations.
I hold Master's and PhD in Health Science focused on Mental Health Promotion and a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship within the area of Occupational Health and Organizational psychology at the University of Copenhagen. Over the past 10 years, I have specialized in understanding the connections between physical and mental health and the systems that shape our daily well-being.
Through more than 10 years of teaching, mentoring, and academic work, I have supported students and professionals within the field of mental health. This has strengthened my ability to translate complex knowledge into something meaningful and usable in practice.
Today, I am in the fourth year of my psychotherapy training in humanistic psychology and Gestalt methodology, at the Gestalt Institute of Scandinavia (GIS-International) certified by the European and Danish Association of Psychotherapy (EAP and DPFO) with more than 50 years of experience in training therapists. The training takes place in English in a multicultural and experiential learning environment, and combines theory, personal therapy, supervision, and extensive practical therapeutic training.
THERAPY
In therapy, I am not focused on quick solutions. I am interested in understanding what is actually happening - in you, in your body, and in the space between us.
We slow down, notice, and explore what feels true and important for you.
CLIENT EXPERIENCES
EXPERIENCE
My experience is rooted in therapeutic work, interdisciplinary research and selected collaborations within the field of mental health and well-being
Working with individuals, groups, young adults, and organizations has deepened my understanding of how wellbeing is influenced by both our inner experiences, relations and the environments we move through. This continues to inform the way I meet people today.
In individual therapy, I offer a safe space to make sense of what is happening inside you and to find new ways of meeting life’s challenges. Together, we explore what feels difficult right now and what may help you move forward with more clarity, balance, and self support.
I offer group work as a supportive space for self awareness, connection, and co-regulation. Group process can help people feel less alone, discover new perspectives, and strengthen their capacity for relational awareness and personal growth.
I also work with teams and leaders who are navigating relational challenges, professional pressure, or questions about boundaries, trust, cooperation and workforce's wellbeing. Here, the focus is on creating a more supportive working environment by fostering personal, professional and organizational leadership.
I work with young adults and others who are moving through identity questions, emotional pressure, low self worth, relational difficulties, or uncertainty about direction in life. In these situations, it is often important to create a space where things can become clearer and begin to move.
Through both personal and professional experience, I understand how deeply health challenges can affect identity, hope, and the relationship with one’s own body. I support people in finding a steadier and more life supporting way forward when living with long term strain, fatigue, pain, burnout, or chronic illness.
QUALITY
As a psychotherapist, I see supervision as a natural and important part of responsible practice. It supports reflection, professional development, and the ongoing care needed to meet clients with depth, clarity, and ethical responsibility.
Supervision gives me space to reflect on my work and continue developing as a therapist. It helps me stay attentive to the therapeutic process and to the responsibility that comes with working closely with other people.
Supervision always takes place with full respect for the client’s anonymity and dignity. The purpose is never to share personal stories, but to reflect on the therapeutic work in a careful and professional way. I am a member of the Danish Association of Psychotherapists (DPFO) and committed to their professional guidelines and ethical standards.
All personal information is treated confidentially and in accordance with applicable data protection rules, including GDPR. For me, supervision, professional affiliation, and ethical accountability are essential parts of maintaining quality, responsibility, and care in therapy.
IN THERAPY
In therapy, I often work with the deeper patterns beneath what feels difficult on the surface. These are some of the themes I pay particular attention to together with my clients.
How stress, inner pressure, or emotional intensity can build up when there is too little space to feel, pause, or recover.
How people lose contact with their own direction, sense of self, or inner clarity during periods of change, uncertainty, or transition.
How relational patterns, difficulty expressing needs, or unclear boundaries can affect self-worth, connection, and emotional safety.
How shame, self-doubt, and harsh inner expectations can shape the way people relate to themselves and move through life.
How loneliness, cultural transition, grief, or major life changes can affect a person’s grounding, sense of belonging, and emotional balance.
How long-term strain, fatigue, illness, or physical vulnerability can affect identity, hope, and the relationship to one’s own body and life.
Når tankerne kører i ring, eller kroppen føles konstant anspændt.
Når tankerne kører i ring, eller kroppen føles konstant anspændt.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
It means that I do not work from one fixed formula. My work is grounded in humanistic psychology and Gestalt methodology. This means a very embodied and relational approach that is rooted in existentialism as a way of understanding living skills. While Gestalt therapy draws on 4 cornerstones: awareness, here and now, responsability (as your ability to respond) and contact, I also integrate exercises or insights from other perspectives when they support your process in a meaningful way.
Many people arrive without a clear starting point. Sometimes the work begins with a feeling, a tension, or a sense that something in life no longer feels right.
That is very welcome in therapy. I work with attention to thoughts, emotions, bodily experience, and the wider context of your life, because these are often deeply connected.
Therapy can be helpful in times of crisis, but also during periods of transition, disconnection, stress, self-doubt, or when you want to understand yourself more deeply.
A good therapeutic relationship matters. An introductory session can help you sense whether you feel comfortable, understood, and able to work with me in a way that feels right for you.
This is one of the reasons many people begin therapy. Sometimes what feels like being stuck is connected to overwhelm, loss of contact with yourself, or a life transition that needs more space and attention.
I work with people in English and Spanish, and I have a particular understanding of living between cultures, belonging, and starting over. At the same time, the themes I work with are deeply human and not limited to one specific group.
Therapy can offer a space to explore how long-term strain, fatigue, or health-related challenges affect your emotional life, your identity, and your relationship with yourself and others.
