About me
I was born in 1980, and these four decades of my journey so far have been witness to an adventurous and often challenging process of continuous change and becoming. Life, ever since my childhood, has given me great ups and downs, significant hardships as well as good opportunities, all allowing me to develop and encouraging me to ask myself some fundamental questions about who I am and how I want to live. I've spent, in particular, the last decade intensively and fiercely searching and living my truth.
The challenges I have faced – family, identity, relationship issues, career, self-employment, and life purpose search, just to name a few – not only gave me the courage and persistence to live my own life with authenticity but also empathy for others and a passion and commitment to serve all people in pursuit of owning their own story and leaving their mark on the world.
My life has been a series of exciting intercultural challenges. I have lived in 5 countries from Central Europe to the Middle East and the USA and have an in-depth understanding of expat-living. Moreover, having worked 10+ years for multinational companies and 6+ years in leadership positions, I also have a good understanding of the business world and am passionate about helping people thrive not only in their personal life but also within their work context.
I live in Berlin since 2017. I read, meditate and dance in my free time. I am thankful every day for the journey that has taken me here and have a whole lot of optimism, hope, and trust in the process. I am also humbled and honored to encourage and to facilitate the process of others who are in the pursuit of reaching their personal and professional goals.
My qualifications
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M.A. in Intercultural Communication
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M.A. in English Language and Literature
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Psychological Counselor (Integral Psychology)
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Certified Systemic Coach (ECA)
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Certified ECA-Expert Coach incl. Leadership, Agile, Intercultural and Health Coaching
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Fairytale Analyst (Jungian fairytale therapy methodology)
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Mindfulness Coach & Relaxation Therapist
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Further courses and training:
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Spiral Dynamics Coaching Level 1
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FranklinCovey Outstanding Leadership Program
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How I work
Our work together, regardless of whether in counseling or coaching, will always start with understanding your current situation and clarifying your objectives. This process in itself – having the space to talk about what's going on, looking at the challenge from different perspectives, observing your own narratives and taking the step of identifying a vision is often a transformational process in itself. Second, much of the process work will be based on identifying your – already present – strengths and resources, activating which will be essential in taking the next steps, overcoming barriers and ultimately, reaching your goals. And more often than not, the process will also include action planning (and in some cases, even mentorship) to ensure that you, in very practical ways, start implementing and creating change in your life.
As a consequence of the above, most of the discussions will be resource- and goal-oriented and will be based on talking about the present moment and of the future. As and when necessary, talking about past experiences and working with the aspects of the past that still have an impact on the present, will naturally find its place in the process. There is a difference between the counseling and coaching sessions in terms of their flow, with more methods, tools and techniques used in coaching than in counseling. As a consequence, ideal coaching sessions are also a bit longer (75-min coaching sessions vs. 60-min counseling sessions).
Both counseling and coaching processes may include, by request, a free bonus of stress and anxiety management tools (recommended especially when the stress relevels are too high to enable the finding of constructive solutions). Finally, homework and fieldwork assignments are recommended as part of the journey, to further enhance the efficiency of the process, but these are not a must and it is up to you whether you would like to do those or not.
My approach and commitment
To live a satisfied, true and authentic life is not just a possibility, but also a responsibility. The freedom to actively shape one's own life requires making decisions and taking actions. In other words: in order to own your story, you are invited to step into your power.
My main responsibility is to facilitate my client's change process. This includes keeping your overall objectives in mind and ensuring that the work that is done during the sittings and as homework is taking you closer to these goals, suggesting methods and exercises when relevant, professionally moderating the chosen methods, providing clarity and transparency on the process. In short: I accompany you on your journey to finding your own solutions.
I naturally cannot offer ready-made solutions (as they would be "right" for me, not for my clients) and so active participation in the process, and taking ownership are important responsibilities of the client. As is implementing the discovered solutions into one's life: positive changes in life happen when we take the necessary steps. I support and encourage my clients, but they remain responsible for taking those steps and hence for the overall result.
Providing the compassionate yet neutral, professional space for you to find your own solutions takes a lot of skill and experience, and is one of my core responsibilities as counselor and coach. This space – along with empathy, unconditional acceptance & respect as well as method-proficiency– is a key factor in facilitating and encouraging your positive change.