My offer
Therapy types
Individual therapy
Individual therapy is a dialogue with the psychotherapist in which all kinds of personal difficulties, psychological symptoms and disorders can be worked on, such as: depression, burnout, anxiety, fears, trauma, grief, relationship problems, workplace suffering, addictions, existential crises
This is about identifying the difficulties and subsequently developing new ways of seeing, approaching and comprehending these problems. Understanding the origins of the difficulties can already provide relief, but as a systemic therapist I consider it also important to look concretely at how to change, together with others and as an individual.
Couples therapy
Most couples that seek therapy do so because they are going through a major crisis, because they find themselves in intractable conflicts, as a result of an adultery or because they feel they have emotionally moved away from each other, and they want to reconnect. But a couple can also consult when they want to separate but don't manage to or when they fear to cause significant damage by separating.
All studies show that single partner consultations during a relationship crisis carry with them an increased risk of separation, while couples therapy increases the chance to continue on living together.
The systemic approach to couples therapy avoids viewing the couple as a defective machine that just needs to be repaired. It's an approach that instead focuses on the relational dynamics, and on what makes the relationship unique and valuable. It's not unusual for the therapist to make use of so-called "floating objects", that is to say, imaginary objects, in order to facilitate and enrich the process.
To put it like Siegi Hirsch: "In couples therapy, it is not about denouncing the couple, but about discerning the difficulties the couple is facing"
Family therapy
A family can consult, just like a couple, as a human system that is living through significant difficulties. After a bereavement, a painful event or even after a happy event, a family may find itself in crisis. Nowadays many families are in a "state of recomposition", that is to say that both partners have children from previous unions and together they form a new family. This is also a situation that's not always easy to live in for everyone concerned. It may thus be extremely helpful to hire a therapist to put things into words and to continue living together more peacefully.
But sometimes, family therapy is also an appropriate response to address the difficulties or symptoms of one of its members, especially when it's a child or adolescent. For example, in the case of eating disorders, learning disabilities or behavioral problems, sometimes working with the entire family can remove a pervasive symptom.
In such cases family therapy often works because symptoms arise as responses to a specific family situation, and these symptoms just represent reactions to or give meaning to certain family issues. So it is by addressing the entire family that these symptoms may be resolved.
How I work
Each person is different, and that is exactly the challenge of psychotherapy. This means that I will not try to fit you into a model, but we will search together to find what you need to change.
Psychotherapy works by telling one's story, by introspection, and by reflection and analysis in conjunction with a professional. In this work, the relationship with the psychotherapist is paramount. It is the foremost tool of the psychologist and psychotherapist.
The particular importance I attach to this relationship is also reflected in the choice of my training as a psychotherapist. I'm a systemic therapist and for me this means that I consider every person in their social and relational context. I address personal difficulties by appealing to the person's resources, whether they be internal or relational. As much as the past is important in the forming of a person, the individualized systemic approach focuses on the here and now, on the current relational situation and allows to experiment with new modes of being with others and with oneself.
So being a systemic psychotherapist means being interested primarily in relationships and in working on those relationships, whether in the presence of various members of the relational nexus (couples or families) or on an individual basis.
More recently I have done training in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), which is a very effective approach for treating people's work injuries, both old and new. It includes relaxation techniques as well as techniques that employ the patient's imagination.
Furthermore, since I have worked extensively with migrants and people in exile, I gained extensive proficiency of working with people from "elsewhere", whether it be identity issues in intercultural settings or mixed couples, or situations of expatriation and feeling uprooted etc. In an increasingly mixed world, such issues of cultural compatibility and of living together challenge and deeply interest me. I also work as a supervisor in collaboration with several groups of interpreters in the medical and psychosocial fields.
As a systemic therapist, it is often natural and fruitful to work with networks of doctors and other specialists. When I don't feel proficient enough to address the problems that lead you to my practice I will redirect you to a colleague.
To guarantee a high standard in my practice of psychotherapy I am committed to continuous training, as well as taking part in individual and group supervisions. I find it particularly important in my work as a psychologist to continue to challenge myself as a professional.