My Services
I offer systemic psychotherapy, schema therapy and job-related coaching.
In psychotherapy, the experience of and dealing with current life issues and conflicts is placed in their biographical context. Working through past experiences that explain why you experience the current situation this way and not another is often the key to solving problems. In other words: You know what is right for you; psychotherapy can help you to trust yourself more and to listen more to your inner voice. I will gladly be with you on this path!
In coaching, the focus is on reflection and coping with current professional challenges, i.e. the focus is on dealing with professional issues. The methods I use in coaching are the same as in psychotherapy; they are clarification-oriented, experience-activating and resource-oriented:
This means that the analysis and discussion of a problem is an important part of problem solving, but that other components need to be added. Research shows that the more you activate the emotions associated with your problem in a protected setting, the more effectively you can solve your problems. This is a particular focus of my schema-therapeutic work. A further step is to increase the awareness of personal strengths and resources; this is a central component of systemic therapeutic work.
More information about schema therapy and systemic therapy can be found below.
Schema Therapy
The term "schema" means that we store information in memory in a thematically ordered manner. Even autobiographical memories are coded in the form of such schemata from early childhood on. A schema comprises the sensory perceptions belonging to a memory, experienced emotions and the meaning attributed to this memory. Over time, these schemata begin to function as "glasses" through which an individual views and interprets himself, others and the world around him or her. According to Young, Klosko & Weishaar (2003) negative experiences (e.g. neglect, various forms of abuse, trauma, or lack of autonomy) during childhood can prevent the individual from developing healthy inner models of security, safety, and bonding. In adulthood, the activation of these maladaptive patterns can impair a person's ability to develop close interpersonal relationships, pursue academic or professional goals, regulate emotions, and develop healthy self-confidence (Yalcin, Lee & Correia, 2020). Schema therapy focuses on the "healing" of these maladaptive schemata; it was developed at the end of the 20th century for patients who did not benefit from traditional forms of treatment such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, and it has a proven track record of success in the treatment of complex and chronic mental disorders.
Systemic Therapy
Systemic therapy differs from other forms of psychotherapeutic therapy in that it recognizes that people live and work in social systems; social or psychological abnormalities are, in principle, understandable reactions to problems or demands of the system, which is occasionally problematic itself. Consequently, the patient is not seen as ill, but as an indicator of a problem within the system as a whole. Disorders are expressed through conflicts between system members; healing occurs through a change in communication within the overall system.
Systemic approaches developed in the mid-20th century from the practical work of various psychologists; the approach was initially strongly psychoanalytic, and the work focused on families with schizophrenic children. Systemic therapy has also been shown to be very successful in treating depression, eating disorders, addiction, and psychological sequelae of somatic illness. It can be applied in individual therapy as well as in couple and family therapy.