Psychotherapy
according to the Alternative Practitioners Act ("Heilpraktikergesetz")
"What you took as yourself begins to look like a prison-house far away in the valley beneath you."
G.I. Gurdjieff
In my practice I create a safe space in which one's own life reality can be explored with appreciation and curiosity and impulses for change can be set. In my therapeutic approach I combine psychoanalytic, systemic and humanistic approaches.
A common belief when a person experiences psychological distress is:
"Something is wrong with me".
In contrast, psychological distress and extreme states can be understood as an initiation process.
An initiation into the deeper structures of the self.
A call to question what was previously considered unchallenged.
An invitation to shed old skins and identities.
An initiation has always been a prerequisite to access higher wisdoms and initiation processes have always been challenging, painful or even deadly.
The initiation processes of our psyche can also take on these dimensions and lead to the well-known psychological symptoms.
A person who understands psychological stress as an opportunity and meets himself/herself with respect and curiosity in times of greatest stress can develop freely and shape his/her life in accordance with his/her goals and desires.
How I work
Conditions I treat
Traumatic experiences
The word "trauma" comes from the Greek and means wound. Psychological trauma can always occur when a person gets into a situation in which she*he experiences the greatest helplessness and the usual compensation mechanisms for stressful situations (flee or fight) offer no way out. These processes take place in the developmentally oldest parts of our brain, which leads to the fact that the effects of a traumatic experience are difficult to grasp with the mind.
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In my practice, I create space to integrate traumatic experiences on a physical and mental level.
Depression and the Dark Night of the Soul
Depression refers to a state of intense sadness. The experience of a depressive state is characterized by feelings of meaninglessness and worthlessness.
St. John of the Cross was a saint and mystic, he coined the term "dark night of the soul". This describes a phase of passive purification of the soul in mysthic development which is accompanied by emotional states similar to those known from depressive states. The dark night of the soul offers the possibility of a reconceptualization of the experience of depression.
In my practice we explore the darkness of the soul and set healing impulses for the transformation of these states.
Fears
Fear is an adaptive mechanism of the living system that ensures survival. Without the ability to feel fear, a living being could not perceive threats and react to them. Fear, however, which is caused by internal or external events that do not pose an actual threat to survival, no longer serves the purpose of protection but becomes in itself a threat to the health of the affected.
In my practice we explore the structures that lead to maladaptive anxiety and create new spaces for action.
Feelings of guilt
Feeling guilty is, like fear, an adaptive mechanism of the human system, which ensures survival in social structures. If a perpetrator shows honest remorse after his deed, it is easier for us to forgive and to return to a harmonious social coexistence. Thus, feelings of guilt and the resulting feeling of remorse help a healthy organism to ensure social survival. If feelings of guilt become a persistent emotion in social interaction, they lose their adaptivity and lead to immense inner stress.
In my practice, we explore the underlying beliefs ("not being enough") and work to resolve them.
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Lack of self-confidence & Self-esteem
(Self-)worth does not have to be earned, but is the birthright of the living organism. The (self-)awareness of our worth or value is deeply rooted in us, but access to this awareness is often blocked by dysfunctional thought patterns and beliefs that people adapt in the course of their development. Lack of awareness of one's own value leads to self-doubt/imposter syndrome, insecurity in decision-making and "making oneself small".
In my practice we explore the blockages that prevent the individual from becoming aware of their value and work to resolve them.
