'The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.' |
Marcel Proust |
I was born and raised in Northern Germany and moved to the French part of Switzerland in 2006. I am married with three grown-up children.
Motivation
Privately and professionally I have repeatedly
crossed geographical and cultural borders. Wherever
I went I encountered people who were facing hard
times. These encounters and experiences resulted in
the desire to do further training in order to work
as psychotherapeutic counsellor. I did my
logotherapeutic training in Tübingen, Germany
(www.logotherapie.net) and supplemented it with a
course in couple therapy in Münsingen, Germany.
Education
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Nursing studies
Christian-Albrechts-Universitätsklinikum, Kiel |
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Qualification in
‘Palliative Care’ Elisabeth Krankenhaus,
Recklinghausen |
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Qualification in
‘Logotherapy and Existential Analysis’, Tübingen |
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Qualification in ‘Couple
Counselling based on Logotherapy’, Dr. Renate
Mrusek |
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Qualification in ‘PITT –
Psychodynamic- Imaginative-Traumatherapy’, Prof.
Dr. Luise Reddemann |
Tanzania
Being on the move, parting and recommencement have
always been part of my life and I have found this to
have enriching aspects as well as downsides. Many of
the most defining experiences in my life happened
when we lived in Tanzania, East-Africa, at the onset
of the AIDS epidemic, when the impact of the disease
was changing the lives of many very rapidly. On the
one side I was confronted with poverty and other
difficult living conditions, and on the other, I
experienced a tremendous cultural richness, a strong
will to cope with daily difficulties and, what
impressed me most, an enormous zest for life. In
retrospect I think that living in Tanzania has
taught me to handle my own problems more easily.
Rwanda
Over the past few years, a collaboration between the
German, French, and Rwandan Logotherapeutic
Associations has developed in which I am involved
and contribute from my various experiences. Frankl’s
core statements that the spiritual person of man
cannot be destroyed has encouraged many people to
process the experiences of the genocide in 1995 more
in depth. In this, Frankl’s own experiences during
and after the Holocaust are essential and are
experienced as a hopeful approach.
Palliative Care
After having finished my Nursing Studies in Germany
I was very much interested in Oncology and got some
work experience in Palliative Care in Great Britain
and the States. Following up on this I worked for
many years as Palliative Care Nurse in a Home Care
Team (Tübinger Projekt: Häusliche Betreuung
Schwerkranker) in Tübingen. The comprehensive care
consisting of pain and symptom control as well as
nursing and social care including counselling was
challenging and at the same time very rewarding. I
was impressed to see that in seemingly hopeless
situations patients struggled for answers and many
of them eventually were able to cope with and accept
their situation. Being accompanied and cared for in
this way in their last period in life enabled many
to die peacefully and with dignity.
Family
Another integral part of my life is my family. The
common wish to support people who live in less
privileged parts of the world, led my husband and
me, and later the whole family, to live in various
places abroad. Frequent relocations and being
exposed to various different cultures have enriched
the lives of our children and have caused our
nuclear family to become a very important foundation
in their lives. On the other hand they have been
challenged considerably by frequent farewells from
dear friends and places they loved. Back home in
Germany they found that they could not share their
experiences with many of their peers. This resulted
in a feeling of being different and hampered their
feeling of belonging. Getting to know the ‘Third
Culture Kid’ theory was an excellent resource for
them to understand what had caused their
difficulties to reintegrate and settle. |
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