Irene Oudyk-Suk, MACS, MSW, RSW, EMDRIA certified:

Education/Certification:

Master of Social Work – University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1992
Master of Arts in Christian Studies, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, 1985
Bachelor of Science in Special Education, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, 1979


Supervised Training Experiences:

Current supervision and training:
Emotionally Focussed Couples Therapy
Sex therapy

Previous supervision and training:
University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI
EMDRIA approved consultants
Christian Counselling Center, Grand Rapids, MI


Professional Experiences:

• Psychotherapist: Couples In Step Counselling, Mississuaga ON (July/06-present). Business owner.
• Counselling : Tory Hoff PhD. Mississuaga ON (Nov/06-present). Trauma counselling with persons affected by motor vehicle accidents, workplace injuries, excessive pain.
• EAP Counsellor : Shepell-fgi, Toronto, ON (Oct/06-present). Assessment, short-term counselling.
• Military Family Life Consultant: Mental Health Network Government Services, San Raphael, CA (Aug/06). Assigned to Weisbaden , Germany to provide short term psychotherapy treatment and psycho education to US Military members and their families
• Consultant Psychotherapist: In Touch Community Services, Manila, Philippines (Jan/04-Apr/06). Individual and couple psychotherapy. Clientele: multi-national. Offered services to people from more than 40 countries.
• Psychotherapist: Christian Counseling Center, Grand Rapids, MI, USA (Sept/96-Sept/02)
• Medical Social Work: Visiting Nurse Services, Grand Rapids, MI, USA (Dec/93-Jan/97) In-home clinical social work on the Home Health and Hospice teams: psycho-social assessments; individual, family and couple brief therapy, community resource linkage.
• Program Manager for Non-Residential Services: Domestic Violence Project/SAFE House, Ann Arbor, MI (Feb/93-Aug/93)
• Medical Social Work: University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA (Jan/92-Dec/92) Assigned services: Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric Liver Transplants.
• Program Coordinator: Livingston County Community Mental Health, Howell, MI, USA (Aug/90-Aug/91) Coordinated 2 day treatment programs for adults with developmental disabilities.
• Vocational Rehabilitation: Ministry of Community and Social Services, Chatham, ON, Canada (Jan/87-Jan/90) Assessed vocational potential, counseling to establish realistic vocational goals, treatment plan development for restoration/training requests.
• Protective Services: Northumberland Family and Children Services, Port Hope, ON, Canada (Sept/79-Sept/81)

Couples In Step therapist Irene Oudyk-Suk is passionate about couple’s counselling. Let Irene tell you why:

“My husband and I lived in Manila, Philippines for 3 years. Away from supportive friends and family, adjusting to a society not our own, managing household staff for the first time, figuring out work environments so different than what we were accustomed to--it all exacted a toll on our marriage, as is the case for many couples who take their marriages abroad. But there’s more to my passion for marital counseling than my own experience.

“Living away from North America changed me from a Canadian citizen to a world citizen. I personally looked into the eyes of women and children caught up in the sex-trade industry. Day-to-day life in the developing world helped me more easily appreciate the aspirations of people from Haiti, Zimbabwe and Thailand. Mudslide, tsunami and typhoon victims were my near neighbors, not distant strangers. I wondered with an urgency I never knew before, “With all this suffering in our global village, how can I really make a difference?”

“A familiar fable tells of someone walking along a starfish littered beach after a storm. She comes upon a beachcomber throwing marooned starfish back into the ocean. The woman out for a stroll is amazed, and asks the beachcomber, “What are you doing?”

“Why? There’s so many! Throwing a few back won’t make a difference.”

“The beachcomber picks up another starfish, throws it back into the ocean and responds, “Makes a difference for that one.”

“And that is how it is for me, too. I can’t single-handedly end HIV in Africa, bring peace to Afghanistan, or rebuild Real, Quezon (mudslides in Philippines that claimed hundreds of lives during the time I lived in the Philippines). I can, however, contribute to the healing of the world by helping one marriage at a time. And there are no shortage of marriages that could use a new lease on life.

“The effort my husband and I expend on our relationship, in the Philippines and in adjusting back to North America, reminds me daily of the challenge of living in a global village.

“When my husband and I are gridlocked in argument, I sometimes succumb to words of contempt and attack. Reflecting on this, afterwards, I realize that I’ve caught a glimpse, in myself, of the divide between, for example, extremist Islam and secular Western values. Every time my husband and I successfully manage some warm but straight talk, or reached out to heal wounds we cause, I catch a glimpse of what our global village needs--and I’m energized with new hope. That hope fuels my passion to contribute to the healing of the world by focusing on both my marriage and my work with couples.”