About

I am a licensed psychologist in Germany (Psychologischer Psychotherapeut) and have worked in both English and German with a wide variety of patients in both outpatient and inpatient settings. I am a native English speaker and completed my M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology as well as my applied clinical training at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, USA, where I also taught psychology courses and supervised undergraduate research. Duquesne University’s psychology program is accredited by the American Psychological Association and internationally known for its approach to psychology as a human science. I am fluent in German and have worked with numerous German speaking patients, including at the Cologne University Hospital.

Contrary to the trend toward specialization among therapists, who often focus on treating one specific “disorder,” I see myself a as a generalist who works with human beings, for whom psychological distress cannot be reduced to a cluster of symptoms but must be understood and treated holistically in the context of one’s personality and life experience. Accordingly, you can contact me with any form of psychic suffering – for example, anxiety, depression, relationship or sexual problems, psychosis, eating disorders, trauma, difficulties adjusting to a new culture, and any others. I have special experience working with cancer patients and their families (psycho-oncology), university students (including international and exchange students), and people with developmental disabilities. I have completed a training program in psycho-oncology at the Institute for Psychosocial Oncology, Bonn, which is certified by the German Cancer Society.

I offer psychodynamic psychotherapy (officially recognized as an empirically validated form of treatment in Germany under the name “tiefenpsychologisch fundierte Psychotherapie”). This approach to psychotherapy aims to go beyond merely treating symptoms by making connections between current suffering, which often seems arbitrary and meaningless at first glance, and past experiences that have shaped us and become reactivated when facing new life challenges. In this way, psychodynamic psychotherapy offers the chance to work through the underlying causes of symptoms and achieve lasting, sustainable positive changes, such as increased self-acceptance, openness to others and the world, and capacity for giving and receiving love, healthier and more productive relationship to work, and increased sense of creativity, agency, and responsibility.

In addition to the psychodynamic tradition, my general approach is grounded in an existential and humanistic orientation that includes respect for the dignity and worth of every person, which has several concrete implications for my work. First, I believe that every treatment needs to be tailored to the needs, personality, and circumstances of the individual patient. Second, while acknowledging the reality of human limits, I focus on that which is uniquely good in each individual, with an eye in particular toward activating inner strengths and resources that can be useful in negotiating current challenges.

I accept private insurance (including Beihilfe) and payment in cash or by wire transfer. My out-of-pocket fee is 125 EUR per 50-minute session. I exclusively offer individual psychotherapy for adults at least 18 years old. Therapy in a small private practice, which is becoming increasingly rare in Germany due to the trend toward centralization in the form of large practices and medical centers, offers several unique advantages. I take on a limited number of patients, to whom I devote a considerable amount of thought and attention, including making time between sessions to reflect on our work and dialogue (anonymously) with colleagues. Furthermore, while the content of psychotherapy sessions is in principle confidential, as a private practice, I can offer an additional layer of privacy when working with patients on a cash basis; since you do not need to scan your chip card, insurance companies never learn of your diagnosis, which can have implications for insurance (for example, private disability insurance and life insurance policies) and for the process of obtaining the privileges of being a state employee (Verbeamtung), such as a teacher.