Group Therapy Associates was founded by Esther Boykin, LMFT and Llouana Harper, LPC, NCC to offer a different kind of therapy service. We began as a practice that specialized in group therapy because the most common issues that people brought to our offices were interpersonal in nature. Relationship problems repeatedly presented difficult situations for the individual, and group therapy offered a unique and effective way to address that.
While in group therapy, members learn from each other and have the chance to work through problems with other people who share similar concerns. Only in a group can you directly work on how you relate to others and get feedback in the moment. Therapists uphold the trust and safety that can help you to build the skills that you need to create close emotional connections with friends, family, and intimate partners. This is what makes group therapy special.
Nonetheless, as wonderful as group is, we knew that everyone didn’t need group therapy and so with our clients’ needs in mind, we began a creative journey to develop a wide range of services to help each person find their own unique path to a happier, more fulfilling life. We now offer individual and group counseling, consultations, assessments, life coaching, and our innovative Uniquely You program {personalized, therapist designed, do-it-yourself therapy}.
Meet Our Therapists
Esther L. Boykin, LMFT
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist | Director of Couples and Coaching Services
A graduate of Virginia Tech, specializing in marriage and family therapy, Esther has been working as a private practitioner in the Haymarket area for several years. While Esther is experienced in working with all types of clients and relationships, her areas of special interest are couple dynamics, pre-marital counseling, relationship maintenance, and working with trauma survivors.
Esther has presented and published on a variety of topics including teen marriage, child abuse, and domestic violence. She has led multi-couple groups as well as conducted pre-marital workshops for military couples at Fort Belvoir.
In addition to her clinical work, Esther is a freelance writer, whose work has been featured in numerous print and online publications, including HitchedMag.Com, Yahoo! Shine and Yahoo!Sports. She is a Yahoo! Featured Contributor in mental health and writes a regular feature for I Am Modern magazine, a lifestyle magazine for modern moms in the DC metro area. Click here to get Esther’s latest articles delivered right to your inbox.
Esther is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with the state of Virginia.
Llouana Harper, LPC, NCC
Licensed Professional Counselor | Director of Adolescent and Group Services
Llouana is a graduate of The Margaret E. Warner Graduate School of Higher Education and Human Development, specializing in individual, family and group therapy. She has been interested in and has worked with adolescents and their families for many years. She has developed and led various adolescent and multi-family groups.
In her experience as a Mental Health Clinician, Llouana has not only provided therapy but also diagnostic assessments, recommendations and service coordination to a wide range of families from many cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.
She has presented on a variety of topics and collaborated with community agencies, schools and large organizations. She is a National Certified Counselor and a Licensed Professional Counselor with the state of Virginia.
Eve Hornstein, MS
Resident in Marriage & Family Therapy
Eve R. Hornstein received her MS from Virginia Tech’s Marriage and Family Therapy program where she worked with a wide range of clients from varied cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Her clinical interests include working with children, couples, and individuals. She also has a great deal of experience in working effectively with children and adults who have experienced trauma. Eve has a keen interest in helping interested clients use mindfulness techniques to better manage stress, mood disorders, and improve their relationships.
While a graduate student at Virginia Tech, Eve worked as a research assistant and pursued a clinical internship at ChildHelp Children’s Center,a family service agency that specializes in providing therapeutic services for families whose lives have been affected by violence and sexual abuse. The focus of Ms. Hornstein’s graduate research was on the effects of mindfulness on parenting; a topic which she finds useful in her clinical work with children and their families.
Originally from Westport, CT, Eve has had a variety of professional experiences prior to becoming a Resident in Marriage and Family Therapy here in Virginia. Always striving for excellence, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for her contributions to the Martha Stewart Living television series in 2001. Following her work in television production, Eve completed a Master’s of Environmental Management at Yale University before deciding to pursue her passion for mental health professionally at Virginia Tech.
As a Resident in Marriage and Family Therapy, Eve is supervised by Dr. Eliana Gil, an internationally known expert and author in the field of childhood trauma, as well as participating in peer group supervision with the clinical directors here at GTA. She has over 500 hours of clinical expertise in addition to her educational background and is currently pursuing a license in marriage and family therapy with the state of Virginia.