About me

I have always been fascinated with the way we think, feel and act as well as how psychological processes are connected to philosophical questions about our human existence. Part of this fascination may originate from my upbringing in a family that fled the Communist East of Germany, in which expressing emotions like sadness, grief or anger was regarded as weak, and spiritual questions were incompatible with communist ideology.

As an undergraduate student at St. Gallen University, I was fascinated by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s ‘Flow Theory’, and, as part of my thesis, I developed an approach that non-profit initiative leaders could apply to create a motivating environment for their volunteers. As a McCloy Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, I deepened my understanding of psychological processes in the realm of leadership and group dynamics.

However, it was also during this time that I was diagnosed with depression. Dealing with my own inner demons and experiencing the potential and limitations of different psychotherapeutic approaches shifted my interest to psychology at the individual level. So after graduation, I worked (among other roles) as a counsellor for unemployed youth from disadvantaged backgrounds, and I led a team that worked with college dropouts before I eventually became the division head of a public employment agency.

I then decided to follow my passion for one-on-one coaching and began training to become a nonmedical practitioner of psychotherapy. Today, I have my own practice in Berlin, and I am a member of the German Association for Free Psychotherapists.

I am also married and have four children between the ages of 9 and 14.

Methods

I follow an integrated approach of various psychotherapeutic methods, including:

Meaning-oriented psychotherapy (Prof. Viktor Frankl)
According to Frankl, human existence rests on three pillars: spirituality, freedom and responsibility. In Frankl’s view, the spiritual dimension is the very core of our humanness, the essence of humanity, which gives us the capacity to transcend the detrimental effects of stressful situations, illnesses and past influences. Frankl asserts that the human spirit is our healthy core. It may be blocked by biological or psychological sickness, but it will always remain intact and be the compass for change.

Cognitive therapy (Prof. Aaron T. Beck)
Cognitive therapy is based on the observation that thoughts, feelings and behaviour are all connected. Your thoughts influence how you feel and behave as well as how you react to your environment. Therefore, cognitive therapy can help you to overcome psychological difficulties by identifying and changing unhelpful, distorted thinking about yourself and others.

Mindfulness training (Prof. John Kabat-Zinn)
Inspired by Buddhist meditation, mindfulness training through breathing and other techniques aims to bring your attention to the present moment without evaluating or judging what you think, feel or experience. Mindfulness-based therapy has been shown to reduce negative mood states such as stress, anxiety and depression by increasing self-control, self-regulation and metacognitive awareness.

Imaginative therapy (Prof. Uwe Böschemeyer)
The imaginative approach by Prof. Böschemeyer brings together C. G. Jung’s analytical psychology and Prof. Frankl’s meaning-oriented approach. Mental images and journeys provide intuitive access to subconscious sources of strength, freedom and meaning as well as relief for inner wounds, conflicts and resistance.