Integrative psychotherapy combines techniques from different approaches of psychotherapy to achieve the best result, i.e.:
Certain events can trigger anxiety and require extra support to go through them smoothly.
Family expansion when we marry with a partner with children, and family shrinking when we divorce or when grown-up kids leave home, these events test our attachment patterns and sometimes bring up old fears and anxiety.
Losses or changes in our abilities, energy level, or body functioning trigger grieving process and drive us through a roller coaster of various feelings.
Changes in our career, such as being fired or being moved to another country or town may initiate grieving and test our self-esteem.
We install and enhance personal and interpersonal support sources, increase resilience and form appropriate expectations.
Frequent heartbeat and sweats, feeling of emptiness in the chest, thoughts which won’t stop, trouble falling asleep and sleeping though the night, teeth clenching, headache, pain and tension in the stomach, skin rash, dizziness, choking, shallow breathing, these symptoms sometimes point to feelings which did not receive enough attention and compassion. These might be “positive” as well as “negative” feelings. Joy, satisfaction, being proud, but also sadness, anger, aversion, and fear can manifest as unclear sensations or physical symptoms.
Anger outbursts and unstoppable sad tears often point to anger and sadness which have not been integrated and accepted.
Burn-out, lack of energy, aversion towards one’s obligations and apathy can point to poor boundary regulation and poor emotion recognition.
Low self-esteem, doubts about yourself, anxiety and fear can point to abusive or unsafe relationships.
We set the link between the unclear signals, physical and emotional, and feelings.
Sometimes we do things which we promised ourselves not to do, we violate our promises and abandon healthy habits. Sometimes we do things which we do not understand, or say things which we later regret.
In therapy we can look at the situation from different perspectives. We study our reaction as well as reactions of other persons involved in our situation. We use Psychodrama or Gestalt Two chair technique to reveal expectations, values and needs of all parties involved.
It is absolutely OK to have conflicting feelings. Conflicting feelings arise from different needs which are not necessarily in conflict. When we let conflicting feelings reveal themselves, we find a way to integrate them.
People with whom we form relationship, be it personal or professional, can sometimes trigger our attachment patterns, violate our boundaries, touch our old traumas, project their feelings and manipulate ours, as well as guilt trip, gaslight, and abuse.
To protect ourselves and form healthy and respectful relations, we learn to recognize these patterns and respond to them constructively.
In principle, saying “yes” might be is as clear and effortless as saying “no.” But sometimes we feel that saying “no” is loaded with fear and guilt, and saying “yes” – with shame and internal criticism.
We learn to say “yes” with pleasure and curiosity and “no” with respect and self-compassion.
I create a place for you to focus on what is important, rest, and connect with your wisdom. We explore your situation together and search for a solution that works for you.
We start with the central vision of client-centered psychotherapy that every human strives to grow and do the best in their situation. When a person perceives their situation, talents and resources adequately, they will act successfully and will take a good care of themselves and their environment. When the perception of the situation or talents is incomplete, people would choose actions which would make them overwhelmed and maladapted to their situation. This view means that a therapist does not need to give advice or concrete plans for action, but rather support client’s perception, let client discover her strengths and talents and support her decision making process.
I integrate the theory of psychoanalysis on the structure of psyche, neuroses and psychological defense mechanisms. We view psyche as a dynamic system which integrates memories, beliefs, and expectations. Some memories can be used for conscious decision making, whereas others, charged with fear, anger, pain, or disgust, may be suppressed. Such suppressed memories influence decision making bypassing conscious reasoning. This means that to understand our motives, we sometimes need to resolve our past fears and pains.
We integrate the view of Gestalt that people’s well-being is a function of their relationship, or quality of contact, with themselves and others. We support our client’s process of discovering their needs and desires, communicating about them to others, and interacting with others to satisfy their needs in a friendly and respectful way.
We use insights of cognitive behavioral therapy on learning. People can be trained to improve recognition of their emotions, make better decisions, update their habits, test their perceptions and emotional reactions. The stable result is best achieved when sessions are held regularly.
We use polyvagal theory, EMDR, and body-oriented techniques to treat psychological trauma. We support innate healing processes by optimizing sensory and emotion regulation.
We integrate knowledge on neurodivergence. Neurodivergent nervous systems can be hyperreactive, producing overly intense sensations, emotions, and actions. Or they can be hyporeactive, producing dull sensations, flat emotions, and sluggish actions. Neurodivergent brains work differently from the brains of neurotypical patients, and for them we use different therapeutic interventions.
We work with blocks of ten sessions. Each session lasts 50 minutes. Each tenth session we evaluate the progress and revise our goals.
I’d like to make sure that we are a good match for each other. Please schedule a 15-minute call to discuss your help request, my relevant expertise, and practicalities such as possible moments for appointments and online sessions.
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