What does one try to achieve in the context of psychological counseling? Here are some possibilities:
- Understanding dynamics and patterns in interpersonal relationships
- Learning and adapting compensation strategies
- Connecting with one’s own drive and learning to harness it despite external resistance
- Setting priorities or recognizing where they currently lie
- Trying out and discontinuing psychoactive substances
- Making and discarding plans
- Understanding one’s own sexuality and finding ways to navigate it
- Reducing anxiety and aggression
Methodologically, I apply all conversational techniques and suggest any intervention I consider effective. Empathetic understanding and reliable solidarity are the foundational pillars on which the counseling stands. Here are some approaches that have proven effective:
- Verbally articulating life situations (creative use of language ≈ creative approach to the problem?)
- Contextualizing experiences from other support services
- Leaving the comfort zone to find new stability
- Expanding the comfort zone to create space for experiments
- Taking sleep seriously as a psychological marker and improving sleep quality
- Taking digital hygiene seriously and developing appropriate strategies
- Simply discussing stressful topics again and again
Depending on the situation, I can take on different roles, for example:
A professional (a psychologist) who provides information about clinical disorders and neural processes Someone to be accountable to (accountability) An interested observer who asks questions and provides feedback A reliable companion on your journey
In any case, I always try to be open and empathetic and not to judge without understanding. When everything works well, a feedback loop emerges between us, similar to what exists in most close interpersonal relationships, except that we consciously engage in this process.
In many life crises, multiple changes are necessary simultaneously to achieve new stability. However, these changes can rarely all be implemented at once, as we only have limited energy each day and therefore initially remain dependent on old patterns and compensation strategies, often against our better knowledge and conscience. But one can gradually try out changes and thereby expand one’s repertoire, until eventually a new stable state emerges from a combination of new and old patterns - one that couldn’t have been planned in advance. Even though sustainable changes take time and truly quick successes are the exception, my expectation is that each of our meetings is immediately beneficial. This is achieved in walk-and-talk sessions by moving in nature and always leaving the familiar behind to some extent. It may take some time until we really understand each other well and our dynamic gains momentum, but it should feel good from the beginning to talk about anything and everything. As we get to know each other better over time, the counseling should tend to become increasingly effective, although the change processes themselves are naturally not so linear.