Ruth Christensen has been a social worker for over 30 years, providing individual, family and group therapy services to clients of all ages. She has a Master’s Degree in Social Work. Therapy for her begins from the first moment of contact. She strives to build solid therapeutic relationships based on compassion and positive thinking to help her clients re-establish their sense of identity following traumatic injury. She has lived and worked in Northern Ontario for most of her life, and joined Brainworks in 2014 serving our North Bay and Near North clients. She is well established in the area’s rehabilitation / social services community.

Over the years, Ruth has worked extensively with motor vehicle accident survivors, victims of family violence and trauma, medical social work clients, and Canadian Armed Forces veterans. She utilizes a number of proven therapeutic approaches in her work including cognitive behavioural therapy, solution-focused strategies, systemic and psychodynamic theories and a positive psychology framework to provide hope and motivation. She knows that working collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team for each individual and family provides the most valuable and holistic treatment.

Of primary importance to Ruth is her relationship with each client. Her unique therapeutic style exudes genuine care and compassion, offering emotional safety in a client-centred approach. This allows clients to fully explore their concerns, traumas, losses, and grief. Through her therapy, she endeavours to instill a strong sense of hope, re-adjustment, and a re-established sense of self, all of which facilitate recovery.

Ruth considers it a tremendous privilege to work with survivors of trauma, chronic illness, and serious accidents as they embark on the recovery journeys. She enjoys the process of helping them rediscover life and their own potential. With the compassion she extends and the experience she brings to all those she works with, we are very proud to have her as part of our multidisciplinary team serving our northern clients.