Resident Therapist

Ruth Hamstra

As poet Robert Frost wrote, “The best way out is always through.”  I believe we each have a unique story and adapt to change in our own way as we navigate life’s challenges.  As a systemic therapist, I view people within the context of their relationships and environment, helping them discover a path toward meaningful and positive change. In this context, my goal is to collaborate with individuals, couples, and families as they find “the way through” that Frost described, moving them toward the meaningful life that they desire.  

I am especially drawn to working with individuals, couples, and families as they move through life’s transition. Working from a systemic perspective, we will explore your significant relationships and how they may impact your current concerns. These relationships may include friends, intimate partners, family members, co-workers, and most importantly, the relationship you have with yourself. Anxiety, depression, trauma, and difficulties with coping can affect both individuals and their relationships. Support is also often helpful during predictable and unpredictable life changes, such as relationship changes, loss and illness, parenting, the transition to college, job changes, as well as experiences of trauma, including death, divorce, or abuse.   

I hold a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) with a concentration in clinical practice.  I bring many years of experience working within a family systems approach in the health care, hospice, and legal worlds to collaborate with individuals, couples, and families during times of their greatest conflicts.  As a mother of 4 and a grandmother to one, I have negotiated many life transitions as such and can meet you both as a human and a professional to help you discover the satisfying life you seek.   Together, we will work to uncover your strengths and explore your concerns so that you can reinvigorate your life with balance, joy, and supportive relationships.   

I am a Licensed Master Social Worker under the supervision of Clifton Fuller, MSW, LCSW-S, LPC-S, LMFT-S.