In 2011, shortly after completing bilingual A-Levels, I moved to the UK from Germany. I am comfortable offering counselling in both languages, although my psychology training was exclusively in English.
Having lived since early adulthood in southwest London, I no longer feel able to fully identify as German, but instead, resonate with the concept of biculturalism. The importance of openness and curiosity about culture has always interested me. As a teenager, I have participated in several international youth exchanges and am lucky to have friends all over the world. In my years of practice, I was fortunate enough to work with people from various backgrounds and am always intrigued to learn about the unique personal experiences and implications connecting culture, language and identity.
EXPERIENCE
My identity as a counselling psychologist has been developing since 2014. I graduated with honours in Counselling and Psychology in 2017 and set up a wellbeing service at a local primary school, where I had worked as a TA during my studies. Whilst I continue to be passionate about my work with children and young people, and my approach has been influenced by the creativity and curiosity that this work brings, I have mostly been working with adults in recent years.
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Alongside beginning a doctorate in counselling psychology in 2019, I have continued to develop my portfolio, gaining experience working 'behind the scenes' of counselling organisations. This means I have been involved in the training of volunteer therapists, day-to-day management of facilities and administrative duties. These experiences have given me the confidence to set up this private practice in 2021. Since then, I have supported counselling services in a consultancy role to support staff wellbeing as well as service-related administrative processes, with a particular focus on risk management.
As well as my private clients, I have supported people in various counselling settings, which included the private, NHS, and non-profit sectors. Due to the nature of these different settings, I have learned to work flexibly and in different time frames. Click here to learn more about my approach.
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RESEARCH INTERESTS
Mentalising
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My doctoral research is concerned with mentalising in the therapeutic relationship. Mentalising is the ability to understand ones own and other's mental states, their intentions and affect. Mentalising, sometimes described as reflective functioning, is a capacity that is developed in the context of our attachment relationships and has been theorised to impact our personality development.
I am interested in exploring how attachment and mentalising unfold in the therapeutic process.
Wellbeing in the Workplace
My BSc project on social workers' experiences of secondary trauma when working with unaccompanied migrant children in Germany received the University's award for best qualitative study. I found the roles of the professional culture and especially the individual's capacity for self-reflection and self-care within and outside of their professional environment were essential.
I am interested in the impact of secondary trauma on broader employment sectors which includes the social and care sectors, however, it extends to, for instance, teaching and customer service roles. I feel passionate about psychoeducation and supervision to support wellbeing support in the workplace.
