HOPE PROGRAM

Living with health challenges

Different diagnoses. Different stories. A shared experience of loss, change, and learning to live again.

When health changes, life often changes with it. What may begin as symptoms, treatment, or a diagnosis can also affect your sense of self, your relationships, your energy, and the way you experience everyday life and imagine the future.

Some people live with long-term or fluctuating conditions. Others face hormonal, metabolic, or systemic challenges that gradually shape daily life. Others again are affected by an acute diagnosis or a life-changing health event that creates a clear before and after.

Even when the diagnosis is different, many of the emotional experiences can feel surprisingly similar: grief, uncertainty, isolation, pressure, loss of trust in the body, or the feeling that life no longer moves in the same way.

This space is created for exactly that part of the experience. A place where what you are carrying does not need to be hidden, explained away, or managed alone. Within the HOPE Program, group support is one of several ways of working with health, personal growth, embodiment, and relational connection.

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Grønnegade, Copenhagen K

This work is informed by my clinical and academic background in healthcare, psychotherapy, and mental health research, as well as my own lived experience of navigating long-term illness and its impact on identity, everyday life, and hope.

HEALTH CHALLENGES

Health challenges can affect life in many ways

People may live with different diagnoses, but many recognise some of the same emotional and everyday struggles.

Living with uncertainty

Symptoms may shift from day to day, which can make it harder to trust your body, plan ahead, or feel grounded in everyday life.

Feeling unseen

You may look well on the outside while carrying fatigue, pain, strain, or emotional pressure that others cannot easily see or understand.

Losing trust in your body

Your body may no longer respond in the way it once did, and that can affect safety, confidence, and the relationship you have with yourself.

Grief and identity change

Illness can bring a sense of loss - not only of health, but of freedom, certainty, roles, or the person you thought you would be.

Relationships and belonging

Health challenges can affect how close you feel to others, how understood you feel, and whether you still feel at home in your life.

Treatment fatigue

Daily treatment, routines, monitoring, or lifestyle adjustments can become emotionally exhausting over time.

THE PROCESS

A steady and respectful pace

When health has changed your life, trust and pacing matter. The group is therefore held in a way that allows you to take part without having to push yourself before you are ready.

You do not need to arrive ready to share everything. You are welcome to begin quietly, to listen, and to take in the group at your own pace. Over time, many people find that safety grows through the rhythm of meeting, the shared themes, and the experience of not having to carry everything alone.

The aim is not to perform or open up too quickly, but to create a space where trust can build gradually and where each person can take part in a way that feels manageable and meaningful. For some, it may also feel helpful to combine the group with individual sessions alongside the programme.

You are welcome to begin by listening and simply being there
No one is expected to share more than feels right
Trust and participation are allowed to grow gradually over time

POSSIBLE OUTCOMES

What may begin to change through the group?

Living with health challenges can affect how you feel in your body, how you see yourself, and how you relate to everyday life and other people.

Through the group process, many begin to experience more understanding, more steadiness, and new ways of living with what they are carrying.

Some participants may begin to experience:

Living with illness

You may begin to relate to your condition with more acceptance, less inner struggle, and a greater sense of how to live with it in everyday life.

Feeling less alone

You may discover that others understand more than you expected, and that being part of a group can bring relief, recognition, and connection.

More calm

You may begin to feel more calm in your body and in your thoughts, and a greater sense of balance in everyday life.

More self-contact

You may experience greater self-acceptance, more contact with your body, and a stronger sense of standing more safely and freely in your own life.

Finding words

You may find language for experiences that have felt confusing, private, or difficult to explain to others.

Daily rhythm

Through the group process and the methods we work with, you may begin to find a more supportive rhythm and better ways of caring for yourself in daily life.

More hope

You may reconnect with a renewed sense of what remains possible, and with parts of yourself that still long for meaning, connection, and life.

A sense of belonging

You may feel part of a shared human experience, where different diagnoses can still meet in common feelings of loss, change, vulnerability, and connection.

CLIENT EXPERIENCES

What participants say about the process

“I have often felt misunderstood because my illness is not always visible. Working with Elena has helped me feel seen in a deeper way — not only for my symptoms, but for the emotional weight of living with them.”

— Isabel

“I feel more calm in my body and less overwhelmed by my thoughts. I still have difficult days, but I now have a different way of meeting them, and that has made everyday life feel more manageable.”

— Daniel

“One of the most meaningful things for me was discovering that I was not alone. Being with others who understood something of the same struggle gave me a sense of relief, belonging, and hope.”

— Lucia

“The space Elena held allowed me to meet myself more fully. I left feeling lighter, freer, and more connected to who I am.”

— Mateo

“My condition is still part of my life, but I no longer feel that I am fighting myself all the time. The work has helped me move toward more acceptance, more self-compassion, and a gentler way of living with what is here.”

— Elena R.

“After my diagnosis, I felt like I had lost the life I knew. In working with Elena, I found a space for grief, fear, and all the things I could not say elsewhere. Over time, I also began to reconnect with hope and with a sense that life could still hold meaning.”

— Javier

ABOUT ELENA

Meet Elena

I am a psychotherapist, researcher, and former mental health nurse. I work with people who are living with health challenges and looking for a more grounded, meaningful, and life-supporting way forward.

My background brings together psychotherapy, mental health care, and academic research in health and well-being. Over the years, I have worked with people in vulnerable and complex life situations, and I have developed a deep respect for how illness, uncertainty, and life change can affect both identity and everyday life.

This work is also personal for me. I have lived with multiple sclerosis for 11 years, and I know from the inside how deeply a health condition can affect hope, self-understanding, and the relationship with the body. That experience shapes the way I meet others with warmth, honesty, and respect for the different ways people try to live with what has changed.

My aim is to create a space where you can feel understood, supported, and less alone, and where new ways of living with your condition may begin to emerge.

Questions many people have

This group may be relevant for you if living with a health condition has affected more than your body. You may recognise feelings such as grief, uncertainty, loneliness, loss of direction, pressure, or the sense that life has changed in ways other people do not fully see. The Health Assessment is there to help you explore whether the group feels like a good and supportive match for you.

The group is especially relevant for people living with chronic, inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, metabolic or hormonal disorders, and acute or life-changing diagnoses. This may include, for example, multiple sclerosis, lupus, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, Hashimoto’s, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic pain conditions, diabetes, thyroid and hormonal disorders, burnout-related syndromes, cancer, stroke, cardiovascular events, or other long-term health challenges. You do not need one specific diagnosis to be welcome - what matters most is whether you recognise the emotional and everyday impact described on this page.

The group meets every Tuesday at 5.30 pm in my practice at Grønnegade 18, 3rd floor, Copenhagen. Each session lasts approximately 2.5 to 3 hours. Please note that there is unfortunately no elevator in the building.

The Health Assessment is an individual first meeting with Elena and a way of exploring whether this group is right for you. It gives you space to talk about your condition, your current challenges, your hopes, and any questions you may have. It is also a chance to get a sense of Elena and the way she works before deciding whether to join.

You can begin by signing up for the first 7-session programme. After that, you have the option to continue in the group on a monthly subscription basis if it still feels meaningful and supportive for you.

That is completely okay. You are welcome to begin quietly and take part at your own pace. No one is expected to share more than feels right. Many people need time to arrive, listen, and build trust before speaking more openly.

That is understood and welcomed as part of the reality of living with health challenges. The group is designed with awareness of different levels of energy, capacity, and daily variation. We work in a respectful way, and there is room to take part as you are.

GETTING STARTED

Start with a Health Assessment

You can begin with a 60-minute Health and Well-being Assessment, where we meet individually and explore what you are living with right now.
Before the session, you will receive a short questionnaire about your health, energy, everyday life, and current challenges. This helps create a clearer starting point and gives Elena a fuller sense of your situation.

In the session, there is space to talk about what feels difficult, what kind of support you are looking for, and whether this group feels like a good match for you.

Pris

~~900 kr.~~ DKK 450

inkl. 50% rabat

Duration:

60 min.

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GROUP SUPPORT WITHIN THE HOPE PROGRAM

Join the 7-session group programme

You can begin by joining the first 7 group sessions, meeting once a week in a steady and supportive format.

Each session lasts 2.5 to 3 hours and offers space for reflection, guided exercises, shared themes, and a gradual process of building trust, self-understanding, and support in the company of others.

The 7-session programme is designed as a clear starting point. If it feels meaningful to continue, you will have the option to remain in the group on a monthly subscription basis and keep meeting weekly.

Pris

~~3.500~~ DKK 2,975

Continuation option: DKK 1,895 per month

Duration:

7 sessions of 2.5–3 hours each

Join the 7-session programme

THE PRACTICE

Calm surroundings in central Copenhagen

The group takes place in my practice in Grønnegade in central Copenhagen, just a few minutes’ walk from Kongens Nytorv.

We meet on the 3rd floor in a beautiful group room with soft natural light and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Please note that there is unfortunately no elevator in the building.

The space is created to support calm, safety, and shared therapeutic work. There is room to take part in the way that feels most comfortable for you, whether that means sitting in a chair or using cushions or floor support during parts of the session.

UNCERTAINTY

You do not need to be sure yet

Many people arrive with both hope and uncertainty.

You do not need to know exactly what you want to say or where to begin.

If you are in acute distress or need urgent medical or psychiatric support, it may be more helpful to contact your doctor or another relevant professional first.

You are very welcome to book a Health Assessment if you would like to explore whether this feels like the right next step for you.

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