About Sydney Gruenhage
Meet Sydney
Sydney Gruenhage is a dedicated counsellor at Achieve Balance Counselling, passionate about walking alongside children, youth, families, parents, and couples as they navigate life’s challenges. Sydney views counselling as a sacred and transformative process, offering clients a safe and open space to explore emotions, relationships, and personal growth. She emphasizes creating an environment where connection, curiosity, and self-discovery can flourish, honoring the unique journey of each individual or family.
With a deep understanding that the body tells our story, Sydney believes that true healing begins from the ground up. Her work integrates embodied practices, allowing clients to experience therapy as more than just verbal exchange. Through creativity, experiential exercises, and attention to the body, Sydney helps clients feel seen, heard, and understood in a holistic way.
Sydney approaches counselling through a systemic and attachment-based lens, recognizing that people are deeply influenced by their families, communities, and cultural contexts. She works to understand each client’s role within these systems and how it impacts their emotional and relational experiences.
Her approach draws upon multiple evidence-informed modalities, including:
Satir and Neuroscience & Satir in the Sand Tray (NSST)
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)
Somatic-Embodiment Work
This integrative approach allows Sydney to tailor therapy to each client’s unique needs, combining cognitive, relational, and bodily experiences to promote healing and growth.
Specializing in Children, Adolescents, and Play Therapy
Sydney has extensive experience working with children and adolescents, as well as their families, through play therapy and Sand Tray Therapy (ages 3 and up). Since 2023, she has trained closely under Dr. Madeleine De Little, founder of NSST, gaining specialized expertise in supporting children through creative and relational therapeutic methods.
Through sand tray and play therapy, Sydney helps young clients express emotions, explore challenges, and develop coping skills in a safe and engaging environment. She partners closely with parents, providing guidance and strategies to support emotional regulation, strengthen family bonds, and foster resilience in everyday life.
Sydney works with a wide range of issues across all ages, including:
Grief and loss
Relationship challenges
Life transitions
Emotional distress (anxiety, depression, shame, anger, stress, emotional exhaustion)
Traumatic experiences
Her practice emphasizes that counselling can be alive, dynamic, and experiential, meeting clients where they are and supporting them in discovering tools, strategies, and insights that foster growth and well-being.
She integrates this understanding into her work, providing experiential and somatic practices alongside traditional talk therapy.
By blending somatic awareness, creative expression, and relational interventions, Sydney helps clients:
Regulate emotions and bodily responses
Build awareness of internal experiences
Develop authentic communication skills
Strengthen relationships and connection
Her holistic approach ensures that clients not only process emotions cognitively but also integrate healing through the body, relationships, and daily life experiences.
Sydney Gruenhage is passionate about supporting children, youth, families, parents, and couples on their journey toward emotional growth, self-discovery, and healing. She brings warmth, creativity, and a relational presence to every session, helping clients feel safe, validated, and empowered.
At Achieve Balance Counselling, Sydney looks forward to walking alongside clients in their personal, relational, and family journeys, providing tools, guidance, and compassionate support that extend beyond the therapy room.
Sydney’s philosophy centers on the belief that “The body is always whispering. Be here, pay attention. We are alive and this is how it feels to be human” – Hillary L. McBride.
Training | Education | Experience
Professional Affiliations
- BC Association of Clinical Counsellors – Registered Clinical Counsellor # 22855
- Canadian Association for Marriage and Family Therapy – Student Member #20171443
Education
- Master of Marriage and Family Therapy – Trinity Western University
Additional Training
- Introduction to Neuroscience and the Satir Model in the Sand Tray Workshop – 2023
- Transforming Trauma in the Sand Tray – 2023
- Grief Group Facilitation Workshop – 2023
- Introduction to Embodiment: Theory & Clinical Practice – 2022
- Neufeld Institute Intensive Level 1: Making Sense of Kids – 2022
Experience
- Registered Clinical Counsellor