Why I became a psychotherapist in training under supervision
For two decades I worked in basic genetic research. I saw how small changes can have large effects. In the cell. In development. In behaviour. I learned to look closely.
During that time I worked with people from many countries and cultures. Often far away from family and friends, in the middle of major personal and professional challenges. I listened. I was there. And I felt how much it changes when someone takes a situation seriously and does not shy away from a difficult conversation.
Over time I noticed that good listening reaches its limits when the strain grows. That was my impetus for training in psychotherapy, which quickly became a vocation.
In the course of my training I was able to gain wide-ranging practical and clinical experience: in crisis counselling at Rat auf Draht, at the child and adolescent psychiatry unit in Mistelbach, and at Intakt, a treatment centre for eating disorders. At the Institute for Couple and Family Therapy I also deepened my experience in working with couples and families.
My research perspective has stayed with me. Difficulties do not arise in isolation. Like biological processes, they often only become understandable in their interplay. Each person brings their own story, their relationships, their experiences. Together we look closely: What weighs on you? What sustains you? Which patterns keep creating pressure? Whether we look at the past, the present or the future is secondary. All of it belongs.
Privately, I am married and the mother of three. At home, someone is always busy with music, our shared passion. Painting pictures is not my thing at all, but my strengths lie elsewhere anyway: in attentive listening, in real interest, and in creating a safe space in which change can succeed.