What is systemic therapy and counseling?
External systems
From a systemic point of view, it is not the individual person who has a problem, but the difficulties arise from the interaction of those involved in a system. A system can be a partnership, family or work environment, for example. We all live in many different systems at the same time. The interactions between the affected person and their environment are therefore the focus of systemic therapy.
In systemic therapy, I assume that every disorder also fulfills a certain purpose in the system. In other words, it initially had a purpose, even if it is no longer useful in the here and now. Together we try to uncover and understand the function of the symptoms within the system and to transform them through new experiences.
Internal systems
Every person consists of a multitude of systems with their own subsystems. Body, psyche & for some also mind or soul are such inner systems. We can only be healthy and happy on all levels if these systems work together constructively.
As we are particularly concerned with the inner system of the psyche in therapy and counseling, we look at which subsystems interact within you. The inner team or the inner family system are helpful approaches in systemic therapy to better understand our inner parts and work together with them.
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You are the expert for your world of experience and therefore also for your solution
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We work together in a solution- and resource-oriented way
Directive procedure
Systemic therapy has been a scientifically recognized guideline procedure since 2019, alongside psychoanalysis, depth psychology-based psychotherapy and behavioural therapy.
Guiding principles of the systemic approach
- If you realize that what you’ve been doing so far isn’t working, then do something else
- Recognize the fact that you have ambivalent needs as a human being
- Always thinking about problems and everything that doesn’t work only creates more problems and prevents you from finding a solution
- Focus on what you can already do and what makes you feel good and do more of it
- See your problems or complaints as valuable feedback and not as an enemy that needs to be fought. Every undesirable situation draws our attention to something (e.g. unfulfilled needs or desires, hardened thought patterns, physical warning signals)
Special features of the systemic approach
Use personal skills & resources
Systemic approaches place particular emphasis on (re)discovering individual strengths and potential. It is assumed that all the skills a person needs to overcome their problems already exist within them and simply need to be activated.
View problems as valuable feedback
Problems are generally understood as an important message for an imbalance. For example, the body can send a warning message of overload, non-observance of physical or mental boundaries, suppression of personal desires, etc. through a variety of symptoms, including psychosomatic illnesses. In turn, the psyche can draw attention to the fact that a system is out of balance, for example through feelings of inner emptiness, panic attacks and depression.
Shaping healthy relationships
The ability to recognize and express your own needs forms the basis for healthy relationships – both in a professional and private context. Only those who respect themselves and their own boundaries will also experience respect from other people. Accepting your own personality in all its contradictions is the fundamental prerequisite for self-respect, appreciation and acceptance.
To what extent is my work body-oriented?
Have you ever thought:
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I understood it, but I still can’t change it
Knowledge at the level of the mind is important. But in order for thoughts, feelings or actions to change, we not only need knowledge about what we could change and how, but also corrective experiences.
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Not just understanding, but experiencing how we really feel and what change can feel like
When we land in our body and become aware of our physical sensations, we can access our feelings more easily. The therapy room is a protected place where we can feel everything that we may have repressed for years or decades.
By experiencing it first-hand, we can not only understand possible solutions, but also feel them and translate them into action in a non-therapeutic context.
Feeling is the key to liveliness and a sense of connection.
The aim of integrating the body into the therapy is not only to strengthen the emotional experience, but above all to promote emotionally competent action.
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“The more we engage with the body, the greater the reality we can experience.” Peter Dold
Therapy and counseling take place exclusively without physical touch.
However, I will often invite you to pause and notice your body in the here and now.
Some of my methods may involve us standing up and moving around the room.
You decide whether you want this or not.
You can win…
Self-acceptance / self-development / self-love
Happy, healthy, alive. That’s what we are when we can be authentically ourselves.
When we are honest with ourselves and others. Follow our needs and set our boundaries.
Sometimes this takes a lot of courage. But the result is an enormous increase in lightness, joy and connection with ourselves and others.
How do I communicate with myself?
How can I turn negative self-talk into self-empowerment?
Not everything, but many psychological problems can be broken down to a common denominator: Our relationship with ourselves. If we do not learn to accept and love ourselves as we are, true happiness cannot be found on the outside. If, on the other hand, we can love ourselves, then even storms on the outside cannot so easily shake our basic contentment and love of life.
Accepting and loving yourself as you are does not mean that you are not developing. On the contrary. If you strive for change without having grown up in acceptance and self-love, you can fall into a self-optimization addiction that will not make you happy in the long term.
Healthy change comes almost automatically when we learn to love ourselves.
Self-acceptance / self-development
- It’s not about self-optimization, but about recognizing who you are and that you are right
- Acceptance leads to relaxation and a better way of dealing with yourself
- It’s about discovering your own resources and not becoming someone else
- Deal with yourself in a more relaxed and life-affirming way
Overcoming fears
- Understanding and solving:
- Social anxiety, relationship problems, loneliness, fear of the future, etc.
- False beliefs
- Low self-esteem
Strength & clarity
- Addressing your own needs more confidently
- Learning to set boundaries
- Communicate more clearly
- Feel bigger and more present
New findings
- Understand, find solutions, expand yourself and thus gain more room for maneuver and broaden your horizons
