Leoniek van der Maarel

Leoniek van der Maarel is a trainer and mentor for coaches and other mental health professionals. She still practices as an international therapist and has a clear mission: “Creating a world where grief is no longer a silent struggle – but a supported path forward.”

With over 25 years of experience and a deeply personal connection to her work, Leoniek has become one of the leading voices in the field of loss and transition. Her understanding of grief is shaped not only by her clinical expertise but also by her own experience: the death of her first husband, which left her grieving both a deep love and the future they had planned with their young daughter. This loss became the foundation of her life’s work – educating, training, and speaking openly about what it means to truly accompany someone through grief.

Leoniek is the founder of the Academie voor Verlies (Grief Training Centre), where she trains coaches, counselors, and mental health professionals in trauma-informed, integrative grief work. Her vision extends beyond death and divorce, addressing hidden forms of loss such as infertility, illness, estrangement, and the physiological impact of grief.

As an author, she has written several influential books in Dutch with respect to grieving children over death and divorce and grieving adults. She also co-developed the SCHIP Method, a groundbreaking grief-informed approach to post-divorce counseling that transforms conflict into constructive co-parenting.

Through innovative tools like Lutographics and the CIRCLE Method, her books, and international speaking engagements, Leoniek continues to change how grief is understood and supported. Her mission remains clear: creating a world where no one has to navigate loss in silence.

In 2025, she was honored with the Benelux Enterprise Award recognizing her outstanding contribution to mental health education and grief literacy.

When not working she is enjoying running, playing golf and being with her (grand)children.