Beth Gills

Beth Gillis, M.A.Ed., M.S., MHC License Eligible

She/they

Couples Therapist Fellow

“I have always been fascinated by the human experience and how we move through the world in relationship with one another. Making sense of our most intimate relationships invites us to notice how our past and present pull us toward certain patterns and dances that can either deepen our connection(s) or create distance, revealing the delicate balance between closeness and autonomy. These dances reflect not only our personal histories but also the broader cultural narratives and societal structures that shape our interactions and influence our perceptions of love, trust, and vulnerability.”

Beth’s first career was as a middle school humanities teacher and sex educator in the Bay Area. Her belief in the imperative to center and elevate marginalized voices, bodies, histories, and perspectives anchored her work as an educator and continues to do so as a psychotherapist. Ultimately, teaching pulled Beth toward relational work, and she shifted her focus to graduate training in psychotherapy at the California Institute of Integral Studies. After a pandemic-era move to be closer to family in New England, Beth completed her clinical degree at UMass Boston.

Beth brings an integrative lens to couples therapy, leaning heavily on humanistic and transpersonal psychology. She is interested in Internal Family Systems, Gestalt, Somatics, art therapy, and EFT for individuals and couples. She believes all clients have a well of wisdom within them and an inherent capacity for self-awareness, growth, and healing.

Ask me about: Body liberation work. Sensory superpowers and raising neurospicy kids. Art journaling. Queer romance novels. Sourdough baking techniques.

Ever since I was young, I’ve been: Fascinated by place and how where we are intersects with who we are. 

Favorite Quote: “When I feel, truly feel, I leave the room for my identity to be unset, for how I grasp for and obtain power to be unset. And unsettled. Feeling is different than conjuring a set of sensations that reinforce who we would like to be. It is allowance and discovery. Listening. A dance with the unknown.” -Prentis Hemphill

Favorite kind of couples: Relationships that include curious and intentional partners. Relationships where folks desire to explore how they show up with themselves and those they love. Relationships where partners can see a way into each other’s struggles, whether through wide open doors or small, protected cracks and hold a desire to enter into the work with tenderness and mutual respect. Queer and trans relationships. Relationships that consider the complexities of existing in a body. Any relationship where partners dare to love and be loved, where they strive to know and be known. 

Credentials:

M.S. in Mental Health Counseling – University of Massachusetts Boston
M.A. in Literacy Education – University of San Francisco
Gottman Method Couples Therapy – Levels I and II
Emotionally Focused Therapy EFT – Essentials & Consultation, Externship, Core Skills (in process)
Additional training in: IFS for eating disorders and body liberation, Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy, Gestalt Therapy

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