Eliana Gil

Eliana Gil (born 24 April 1948), is a lecturer, writer, and clinician of marriage, family and child. She is on the board of a number of professional counselling organizations that use play and art therapies, and she is the former president of the Association for Play Therapy (APT).

Gil is the senior partner of the Gil Institute for Trauma Recovery and Education in Fairfax, Virginia. She is also the director of Starbright Training Institute for Child and Family Play Therapy based in northern Virginia.

Early life Eliana Gil is originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Education Gil attended the California Graduate School of Family Psychology in San Rafael where she gained her doctorate in family therapy. Gil worked as a Marriage, Family and Child Counselor (MFCC) in California and then moved to the East Coast where she became a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in Virginia. She went on to work for the San Francisco Child Abuse Council initially as a secretary, then as an Administrative Assistant, an Assistant Director and finally, as a Director of two programs in Contra Costa County: The Costa County Child Abuse Council and Gil and Associates. Her partner in the private practice is Myriam Goldin.

The Institute includes the Starbright Training Institute for Child and Family Play Therapy, where Gil acts as director, provides training sessions on family play therapy and specialized therapy for youths who have experienced childhood trauma. She has also served on the board of directors of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and the National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse. Gil is also a former president of the Association for Play Therapy. and KCET.

Interviews Timothy Dwyer interviewed Gil as part of an article in 2001 for the Journal of Clinical Activities, Assignments & Handouts in Psychotherapy Practice. The article also featured interviews with Richard C. Schwartz and Bill O'Hanlon.

Gil was also interviewed at the end of 2013 by Catherine Ford Sori and Sheryl Schnur for The Family Journal. The interview was printed in two parts, part I in January 2014, and part II in April 2014.

Personal life Gil was born in New York but grew up in the country of Ecuador, moving to the US in her teens. She is fluent in Spanish.

In 2014 Gil announced that she would be relocating to Florida and make use of technology to reduce her clinical work and travel schedule.

Gil has two children, one of which is professional play and drama therapist. Gil has four grandchildren, many proficient in sports and arts, and her hobbies include playing tennis.