Your therapist and coach trained in systemic therapy with a masters in psychology - Registered Counsellor: Independent Practice / Private Practice

Crisis management, anxiety treatment, depression and burn-out

Your experience and adventures as well as your goals are my top priority

Mental and emotional stress

In the current times of uncertainty, more people are experiencing anxiety and stress, not knowing what to do or where to start to improve their mental health. I offer support through these challenging times, anxiety treatment and specific help to work on your health.

Life is a balancing act and change and challenges are normal for most of us. But sometimes it feels like you're out of balance – like you're sitting in a deep hole with no idea how to get out of it. We all experience such crises in our lives.

From crisis to depression

Crises describe the loss of mental balance and are characterized by the fact that we do not know whether and how we can overcome them. We quickly feel powerless – and all attempts that are made to change something either go wrong or seem to make the situation worse. Crises exceed our practiced change strategies or coping mechanisms – in such moments it is important to find new and creative ways forward.

But it’s not easy to admit that you’re overwhelmed or in a crisis right now – because we often expect ourselves to always function or feel like we’re failing when we’re so stuck. In such moments we quickly become insecure, anxious and often feel not good enough or even ashamed. Therefore, crises quickly lead to us questioning our decisions, our path in life or ourselves.

Crises have a variety of triggers:

Surprising, shocking and sometimes traumatic events: The loss of a loved one – through an unexpected separation or sudden death, an accident or violent crime, an illness or similar.
New stages of life that present us with completely new challenges: such as puberty, the menopause, the beginning of an apprenticeship, entry into working life, separations and deaths, but also new exciting events such as starting a family or a new job.
Situations in which our dreams, plans and life plans lie in front of us like shards: Financial or material losses if we work towards a goal that doesn’t happen for a long time or if we were wrong about a person or an organization.

And all of these events are bad and very difficult – and yet people have an amazing ability to move on and come to terms with the new situation. Therefore, crises are not permanent – overcoming a crisis or dealing with losses are as individual as we humans are. Professional support or therapy can give you a starting point to deal with the change, give your feelings space and regain courage. It is an opportunity to use the crisis as the first step of a new path and your personal development.

This crisis process can be divided into four phases (according to Verena Knast) – these phases describe which topics are important in the processing – this does not mean that all people will or must go through the phases chronologically.

Shock:A situation triggers so much chaos and pain in our lives that we don’t want to or can’t admit it and deny the reality.
Emotions:When we become aware of reality, we experience painful and chaotic emotions – including anger, fear, powerlessness, and threat. Self-doubt, guilt and shame or a feeling of losing control can arise. In part, we also react to these emotions with defence mechanisms.
Editing:The way out of the crisis begins when we increasingly accept the situation and give it a meaning that we can deal with. We are looking for new, creative solutions and trying out which ones will help in this difficult phase. We still experience strong emotions, but we are no longer so helplessly exposed to them and are increasingly finding ways to deal with them.
Reorientation and new beginnings: We accept the change or our loss as a new reality and can then turn our attention back to our environment. In this phase we are also open to redesigning our lives, trying out new behaviour patterns, entering into new relationships and developing a new attitude.

Phases of being overwhelmed are often associated with fears and depressive emotions up to and including burnout.

Take the first step

Book a free 20-minute appointment to get to know each other.

Fears

Fears are part of life – we feel them in relation to certain dangers in our environment, in relation to the future or in relation to possible losses. Fears are often very exhausting – they are worrying when they take up a lot of space in our lives, keep us from valuable experiences or important tasks, limit our quality of life or get out of control. Then they become a burden – even an anxiety disorder. Fears are always a physical reaction – we feel a racing heart, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, nausea, chest tightness or even dizziness.

That is why we always look at both the physical and the emotional level when it comes to fears. Anxiety disorders can be treated with therapy or medication. And the best treatment depends not only on the type of anxiety disorder, but also on the personal preferences of the client.

Depressions

Most people don't even realize they're developing depression – it's actually very hard to see. Because depression develops in the same way as a little sister grows – a little bit every day without really noticing a change, until all of a sudden it's really big. One thing is clear – depression is very advanced by the time you have trouble sleeping, eating, or physical symptoms and pain. Initial signs are a feeling of listlessness and lack of drive and the realization that you haven't been really happy or carefree in a while. If you notice these signs in yourself, it's important to seek help early to break the downward spiral. In the case of severe depression, medication or inpatient stays in clinics are very helpful. Outpatient therapy or counselling sessions are a good way to find out how serious the depression is and what we can do about it.

Burn-Out

Many people actually experience burnout as the name describes – their flame has gone out, they have no drive and no more energy. You often get to a point where nothing works anymore – not even the simplest things, e.g. shopping or filling up the car. In these moments you feel very clearly that you can no longer go on like this. The symptoms of burnout are very similar to those of depression. It is important to understand that burnout is a consequence of our body's ongoing stress response – and therefore a physical reaction – which also explains why nobody is immune to burnout and even a positive attitude, motivation or feeling is to cope, can't arm ourselves.