McMaster Divinity College is pleased to welcome Ruth Baah-Gyebi as a new member of our faculty in Counselling and Spiritual Care.
Ruth joins MDC as an Assistant Professor of Counselling and Spiritual Care, bringing more than 26 years of clinical experience across the UK, Europe, Canada, and Africa. She is a Registered Psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO), a CRPO-approved clinical supervisor, and the co-founder and Practice Director of Elpizo Counselling Services, a private group practice in Ontario supporting more than 20 practitioners.
In this video, Ruth introduces herself and shares a little about her professional journey, her passion for counselling and teaching, and what she hopes to bring to her work with students at MDC.
Video Transcript
Introduction
Hi, my name is Ruth Baah-Gyebi and I’m a new faculty here at MDC in the Counselling and Spiritual Care program.
I’m a registered psychotherapist with the CRPO. I’m also a clinical supervisor and the executive director and co-founder of Elpizo Counselling Services in Halton. I co-founded it with my husband, Elvis, who’s also a psychotherapist.
We started the practice back in the UK and established here in 2010. We now run a group practice of about 20-plus independent contractors that work with us.
Teaching at MDC
This year in the fall, I will be teaching Basic Counselling Skills and Ethics, and next year I’ll be teaching Healing Conversations with Children—essentially, working with children.
I’m really looking forward to teaching these courses because I get to bring in the field experience. I’ve been a therapist for over 25 years. I’ve been supervising for about 13 years, and over the years I’ve noticed that an area that we do a lot of work around is helping the interns really integrate the theory into practice.
I’m looking forward to not only bringing information to the students, but helping them to integrate the information into practice and into formation.
I love what I do. I love teaching students. I love counselling, so I want to make sure that we give our best and ensure that students are working within the competencies, within the frameworks, within ethical boundaries, with the practice standards of CRPO.
I’m just looking forward to working with students and this department.
Research and Life Outside of Work
I’m currently finishing off—or in my final stages of—a PhD study in Guidance and Counselling. My dissertation is centered around cultural perspectives on trauma-seeking behaviour, building an African-centered framework.
When I’m not working or studying, I’m having fun with my husband and my family. We love to travel. I also like watching Korean movies, and I love hosting. I’m an introvert, but I am that introvert that loves to have people around, just so that I can live vicariously through them. But yeah, travel is on top of my list.
