BACKGROUND
I hold a Bachelors degree in Psychology and a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy from the Technical University in Dresden (Germany), supplemented with two semesters abroad at the Peter the Great Polytechnical University in Saint Petersburg (Russia). My university education was mainly focused on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), with elements from psychoanalysis and systemic therapy.
I worked several years in research with chronic pain patients, and in crisis intervention counseling with teenagers. Currently I am undergoing further education in systemic and family therapy at the “ISTB – Therapy and Organizational Development GmbH” in Berlin (Germany).
I was born in Russia and moved to Germany early in my life. Since then I have traveled and lived in several countries over longer periods of time, including Russia and India, before coming to Denmark. Being a multiple expat myself, I understand the challenges that come with walking between cultures, languages, worldviews, and identities.
Besides working with more general therapy topics, I have a special interest in neurodiversity-related topics. This could be relevant for you who have been diagnosed with or suspect to have a diagnosis around autism (ASD), ADHD, or are a Highly Sensitivitive Person (HSP). Therapy with me is aimed at understanding your diagnosis better, how knowing about your neurodivergent traits can, and how it cannot, change your life. We will work on finding the best coping stategies for you to deal with everyday life and other struggles. And of course we can work on any other topics that are relevant for you with awareness of your neurodivergence in both, individual, and couples setting.
Besides that I am working with LGBTQI+ and polyamory-related topics. Luckily in Denmark it has become accepted to live a life that is not defined by the general idea of normality. However, while these topics are becoming more visible and part of the general dialogue, there is still little professional help available around the challenges coming along with being LGBTQI+ or polyamorous. In our therapy sessions we will look at your life and identity, how you can discover yourself, what is good for you, what is not, and how to deepen your relationships. Be it one or many.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THERAPY?
The main approach I use for psychological treatment is systemic therapy. Here the individual is understood not as a separated entity independent from their surrounding, but as embedded in their social environment. We all are affected and are affecting others through our emotions, actions, values and choices. This can bring both, balance and tension into the connection with ourselves, others, and stressful or challenging life situations.
This interdependency is considered in therapy when trying to understand where your symptoms arise from, or which of your needs are not satisfied. Based on those needs and values the final therapy goal is to empower you to make clear choices, help you take action on how to build a nourishing life environment as well as a resilient self to meet it. You will learn how to proactively create constructive and balanced relationships with yourself and others, and take care of your needs, instead of letting your life be defined by outside circumstances.
The systemic perspective and methodology are augmented with methods from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
EVIDENCE-BASED TREATMENT AND INDIVIDUALITY
Having worked in both research and clinical practice I learned how important it is to make sure that therapeutic approaches are supported by evidence, since they have a crucial influence on people’s lives. However, I also learned very quickly that practice differs from books and therapy needs to be adapted to the person and not the person to the therapy approach. My goal is therefore to always find that balance between offering you up-to-date evidence-based treatment, and at the same time building the therapy around you as a person and your specific needs and experiences.
This involves a certain amount of creativity and spirit for innovation, especially when working with topics like neurodiversity, LGBTQI+ and polyamory where there is still much we do not know from a scientific and societal perspective. Anyway, also with every other challenge it can be of great value to look at the issue with openness, curiosity, and goodwill to find a unique way for dealing with your situation.
CONTACT
You are welcome to contact me via the contact form if you have further questions or want to schedule a first appointment.
