Elssa Martinez, Montreal social worker & psychotherapist
Elssa Martinez is a licensed Montreal psychotherapist with a private practice at Ho-Ma Thérapie. She specializes in working with women around a variety of issues, including: trauma, loss, anger management, and depression. She is a member of the Ordre professionnel des travailleurs sociaux du Québec (OPTSQ) and the Acadamy of Naturopaths and Naturotherapists (ANN). Elssa Martinez completed her Masters Thesis at Université de Montréal in the school of Social Work.
Prior to commencing graduate studies and her private practice, Elssa Martinez worked for the Portage Rehabilitation Center, Quebec's largest addictions treatment network. She participated in launching their new therapeutic community in the West Island of Montreal in Beaconsfield offering specialized services to adolescents with addictions and behavior problems and their families. At Portage, she was responsible for a variety of counselling modalities including individual, family, and group intervention as well as for the development and implementation of diverse programs in this newly launched facility.
Following her work at Portage, Elssa Martinez established her private pratice and coordinated services for Francophone women at the Montreal Anger Management Center. Her responsibiliites included assessment, intake, referral and facilitation of a weekly group to help women manage anger and aggression. Over the years, she has collaborated with a range of health and social service organizations and professionals (Youth Protection Services, CLSCs and hospitals, courts, women's shelters, and other auxiliary services) and has acquired a strong working knowledge of the resources available and how to navigate them.
At the Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire sur la violence familiale et la violence faite aux femmes (CRI-VIFF) www.criviff.qc.ca and the Alliance des cinq centres de recherche sur la violence, Elssa Martinez worked on several research projects and co-published divers scientific articles on social work with young women from diverse communities across Canada and with women from around the world.
At the Montreal Psychotherapy Center, she began her private practice as a psychotherapist. In addition, she coordinated the services for Francophone women at Montreal's Anger Management Center, where she led a weekly group. Through her years of clinical experience, she has collaborated with various health organizations and professionals (Batshaw, Montreal Youth Center, several CLSCs and Hospitals in the greater Montreal region) and has acquired a good knowledge of the resources available for health and mental health.
In 2008, Elssa Martinez participated in the opening of a new psychotherapy clinic in Montreal. The goal of the Nicolet Clinic was to offer professional, confidential and accessible psychotherapy services to individuals, couples and families who are going through a difficult period in their life and who needed support.
In 2012, Elssa Martinez participated the opening of HOMAThérapie, which she co-directs, and she now has her private practice. The Center's mission is to bring together the services of different health professionals under one roof to provide comprehensive and holistic health care. To date, HOMAThérapie brings together the services of some thirty healthcare professionals, including psychotherapists, sexologists, massage therapists, acupuncturists, osteopaths, naturopaths, in addition to offering therapeutic yoga and meditation classes.
