Therapy approach

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a scientifically recognized therapeutic method that works in a goal- and solution-oriented manner within the framework of "help for self-help." In my therapeutic work with you, I see myself as a kind of joint "team of experts" on equal terms (you are the expert on your own experiences and your own experiences/life events; I, on the other hand, try to provide you with the "tools" to better master or process difficult/stressful situations).

 

The cognitive component of therapy involves working on replacing dysfunctional (= unhelpful/distress-causing) thought patterns with more functional ones (e.g., recognizing and modifying depressive thought patterns/thought distortions).

 

As a behavioral therapy component, we work on positively influencing the mental, emotional and physical levels through targeted behavioral changes (e.g. confronting anxiety situations in order to gain the new learning experience that one can "take fear on a leash", learning that one is not helplessly at mercy of own fears and thus dysfunctional basic assumptions can be corrected), as all levels are closely interrelated.

 

In my treatments, I enjoy working with images and metaphors, which I find to be very effective and helpful therapeutically, and I also like to use so-called third-wave therapy methods (a further development of cognitive behavioral therapy). Among other things, I enjoy working with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which is based on acceptance, values, and mindfulness.

 

In therapy, all therapeutic approaches have so-called universal factors, within which I consider the therapeutic relationship to be an essential core element of my work. Behavioral therapy methods based on learning theories also work in depth on processing stressful life events, for example, through biographical work. In my therapeutic work, I have repeatedly experienced that the term "behavioral therapy" is initially misleading for many people, and they assume that the focus of therapy is exclusively on a person's behavior and that behavioral therapy does not go "into depth", although in practice it’s different.