My Personal Background          

About returning home to the flow of life

Some years ago I received this post card on my birthday from a Czech friend I have. 

He knew that I was considering taking the jump into private practise and wanted me to have this testimonial for my web site: 

I was really happy and proud that he experiences these qualities in conversations with me, even though it doesn't even have the character of therapy when he and I talk together. For me, it testifies - without false modesty - that I have succeeded quite well in unfolding my own potentials as a human being, and thereby also as a psychologist.

The long and winding road of personal development

This is not something I've arrived at in my sleep, I can assure you. For many years, I have worked on achieving the best possible mental well-being and thereby the most well-functioning relationships with others. My work on myself has been driven by a sense of necessity from a painful place as well as my natural curiosity about the psyche's twists and turns.

The cookie cutter is a rare engine for psychological development

A supervisor I once had emphasized that very few people go to therapy because they want to "get to know themselves" - most go to therapy because something hurts inside.

As the expression goes: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

However, this approach can also mean that one settles for feeling "moderately satisfied" with life, because there isn't really anything that "bothers" you enough for you to think it's something you should pay special attention to. All areas of life - partner, friends, leisure and work - perhaps feel kind of "good enough"

But - why stop there?

On the mid life crisis and how to dodge it  

I believe that's what often underlies the infamous "midlife crisis:" One day you turn a sharp corner and it dawns on you that your life is on borrowed time.

Maybe you look back at a life that went past in a hurry and think to yourself: "was that it?"

For a long time, when I looked back, I was annoyed that I had such a hard time enjoying life in my early 20s. It seemed like I was missing out on living the dream of being a carefree youth back then. Today I can see that diamonds form under pressure. We have a good analogy to this in nature, where the crown of the tree can only grow in proportion to the roots. 

And as the expression goes: "Never waste a good crisis!"

This means that today I have greater access to feelings of happiness, meaningfulness, love, vitality, joy, creativity, drive and connectedness than I believe I would have achieved, had my inner life back then been easier. 

"It's a wonderful life - if you can find it" (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds)

So - it's my mission to spread the message that your inner life doesn't have to be just "good enough"!

Life can feel magical, lively and meaningful - and I know many paths there, because I have walked them myself.

As part of my developmental journey, I have been in different forms of psychotherapy both individually and in groups and have tried many other modalities such as body therapy, breathwork, dance and inner journeys in expanded states of consciousness.

"Nobody is anybody without a body"

Approaches that acknowledge that our mind is embodied have particularly caught my interest, as I have experienced in myself and others that they can create deeper changes than more mental, "wordy" talk therapies.

When I'm not at work, meeting up with friends and family, or exploring my own inner landscapes, the dance floor is my happy place. Dance is a powerful vitalizing means of strengthening the connection to myself, other people and life itself. The dance floor is also a place where I process strong impressions or exchanges with others.

That's where I best enter a state of "flow" and it feels like a place where inner and outer movements merge into a higher unity.

On flow and how to find it

Flow is defined as a mental state where one is completely absorbed in an activity, so that action, attention and consciousness merge together. The activity feels meaningful in itself and you know exactly what to do.

Flow is increasingly a state I live life from.

It would be a great honor and pleasure for me to help you find your flow.

How I do this, you can read more about under the "Services" tab and it is also elaborated upon in the blog post about "My professional background."