Louise Van Der Eijk

Louise van der Eijk is a licensed mental health counselor in Idaho and Washington and has held licenses in Oregon and Florida. She has maintained an active license in her field since 2010 and has been working steadily in the mental health field for over 20 years.

Dr. van der Eijk comes from a wide range of experiences and has worked in many different types of settings within mental health. She has worked as an outpatient clinician for adults and children, in a residential program for teenage girls with mental health issues, the Oregon Department of Corrections at Snake River Correctional Institution (Oregon’s largest prison), and in community mental health working with individuals with SPMI (Severe and Persistent Mental Illness). In addition, she has been on call as a crisis counselor, with many late night stays in the ER triaging clients with suicidal ideation. She has also run mental health groups in a residential substance abuse program. Louise van der Eijk is currently in private practice in Boise, Idaho where she runs all aspects of her business: admin, scheduling, billing, and of course clinical services. She also likes to keep things lighthearted. her business name, GYST Wellness, which is trademarked, stands for Get Your Shit Together! (Because isn’t that ultimately what people come in for?)

Dr. van der Eijk has a Bachelors degree in Psychology and Philosophy, a Masters degree in Mental Health Counseling, and a Ph.D. in Consciousness Studies. She has also taken certifications in Clinical Hypnotherapy, and is trained in EMDR. She has also taught Dialectical Behavior Therapy in both corrections as well as at the graduate level. She has been a registered supervisor in the states of Idaho, Oregon and Washington, providing supervision to fellow clinicians working toward their licensure.

In addition to providing clinical services, Dr. van der Eijk enjoys doing speaking engagements. She has spoken at several conferences, including the annual Idaho Counseling Association Conference where she has always received positive feedback regarding her seminars. In 2021 she was a speaker at the Virtual Global Confluence of Excellence Through Wellness, a 24-hour live global conference featuring speakers from all around the world. In addition, she was chosen as a featured speaker as well as the featured musician for Boise’s “Story Story Night,” sharing her experiences with a sold out audience of 500 listeners. She has also been interviewed by Radio Empire to talk about her experiences with clinical hypnotherapy.

Dr. van der Eijk has a wealth of knowledge regarding mental health, in particular in clinical services and is ready to share her experiences and clinical knowledge with the world. She loves engaging with audiences and she connects easily with others. She has many more book topics she plans to write about, hoping to benefit people curious about mental health, individuals already on their healing journey, or providers working in the field.

Dr. van der Eijk is in the process of writing her second book: "Shut Up and Listen: The Art of Listening without Defensiveness", which is about communication but with a specific focus on listening as opposed to communicating.

When she is not working in mental health, Dr. van der Eijk has two other passions: music and fitness. She currently plays the harp and is the principal harpist with the Meridian Symphony in Idaho. She has also played with many other musical groups around the valley including with Opera Idaho and musical theater. Her harp-career highlight was getting to play in Josh Groban’s concert during his "Bridges" tour in 2019! She is also an enthusiastic Orangetheory Fitness member and loves participating in Spartan races. She even completed the Spartan Ultra (30 mile obstacle course) in September 2023.