Online Therapy in Berlin

We meet for our therapy sessions via video call. It’s fine to turn off your video if you prefer but usually we will keep the video on. I moved my practice to 100% online during the COVID pandemic and was surprised to find it working just and well and sometimes even better than face-to-face sessions.

Some reasons online therapy can be better that face-to-face:

Convenience: The convenience is a big one. Even though the idea of meeting in person can be nice, the practicalities of day to day life often mean that adding that extra travel time is just not feasible. Having therapy online makes it easier to juggle different commitments and actually make it to therapy regularly.

Neutral space: Many people feel more comfortable opening up in online meetings, it can be much easier to speak feely when in the more neutral space of a Zoom meeting room rather that having to come into a therapists office. The physical distance to the therapist can also help make it easier to feel comfortable to discuss more vulnerable topics.

Fewer missed sessions: it is often possible to keep an online appointment in a situation where an in-person appointment would need to be canceled. For example when visiting family, when stuck in the office or when you have a cold and don’t want to leave the house.

Comfort: it can really help as we get into some of the tough work of therapy to be able to really take care of your needs. Get cosy in a comfortable position, feel free to wear your PJs or grab a blanker. Make yourself your favourite cup of tea.

Transition after session: rather than having to shift gears from being in therapy to dealing with the busy chaos of Berlin public transport, with online therapy you can give yourself the time to do some journaling or reflecting and really get the most out of each therapy session.

Things to think about with online therapy:

Bring your own tissues! It’s normal to get emotional during a therapy session, and you will feel more comfortable if you have tissues to hand.

Put your phone on silent, really on silent - even the vibration of a notification can distract you so it’s best to silence your phone unless you really need it for emergencies.

Turn off any notifications on your computer and be ready to focus on the session.

Use wired headphones to avoid bluetooth connection issues, that way you can be ready to comfortably start the session without a scramble to get the tech working at the start.

Feel free to log into the meeting a few minutes early. Then I will let you into the call right on time and you can feel settled and ready to start.

Feel free to take notes if you like. It can be great to have a reference of insights from our sessions for the future. Some people like to take notes during a session, some make notes after, and some people prefer to just focus on the interaction in the session without taking notes at all, feel free to experiment with what feels right for you.

Remember that sometimes Zoom can need updating, check this before the session or log in a few minutes early to avoid missing any session time while your Zoom is updating

Help with decision-making

Are you trying to work out if you should stay in your relationship or leave it?
Or whether you want to change career?
Or if you want to have a child or not?
Thinking about whether to move back home or stay in Berlin?

Start by booking your free consultation:

Book a session

Sometimes these bigger decisions can leave us feeling paralysed for months, if not years. It can feel like the pros and cons are weighted equally on each side leaving you stuck as to what to do. There can also be a lot of fear around making the wrong decision and regretting it.

I help by getting to know the parts of you on each side of this decision. When we get to know these parts more deeply, we can find out about the underlying motivations and concerns that you may currently be unaware of. This can open up much more clarity on how to move forward while honouring the concerns on either side. If this sounds complicated, don’t worry, I guild you through the whole process step by step. Find out more about therapy for decision-making here.

There's not enough time in the day!

Do you want to work on your stuff but feel really pushed for time as it is?
Are you worried that therapy would involve lots of homework that you wouldn’t end up finding time to do?

It’s so hard to juggle everything and so often we end up pushing our self-care to the bottom of the priority list.

I offer therapy where we do the work in the session itself, so you will get something out of it even if your busy life means you will barely have a chance to think about yourself in between sesssions. And meeting online is a really practical way to save that time it would take to travel. If you can it’s wonderful to take ten minutes to be with yourself before and after each session, but if a busy day takes you by suprise it’s also fine to just jump straight on the call and I will help you settle into the online therapy session and make the most of the time for yourself.

Culture shock in Berlin

Are you finding it a challenge to settle into Berlin or German culture?

So many challenges come up as you build a life in a new country. Two of the most common pain points I help people with are:

German language: how much German should I learn, and how on earth do I find time for that? How do I interact with people without German or with the little bit of German I’m starting to learn? Maybe you feel judged about not speaking German, maybe you judge yourself. It is so hard, learning a language is like a full-time job in itself and for many off us this just isn’t realistic.

German culture: if you are an immigrant to Germany like me, then there’s a good chance you are used to two things: People being much more friendly to strangers and people being less direct (as a British person this was a tough one for me!). In shops, supermarkets, in queues, just on the street, you might be used to getting a friendly smile and polite service. It can feel really uncomfortable and even threatening when this suddenly changes. Berlin is not exactly known for it’s customer service and if you are finding this hard to adapt to you are not alone. We naturally take this personally, it really hurts when we feel like someone is being unfriendly towards us and when it happens a few times a week it can really impact our sense of wellbeing.

I help you to figure out your strategy for navigating all this. This is a tough challenge and the right approach to it will be different for each person. We will map out the different parts of you around it and then find a way forward that’s right for you as a whole.

So for example you might have a part that wants you to learn German intensively for 6 months and another part that says ‘no way, we have a lot of other important projects to focus on, we don’t have time for that’. Or you might have a part that wants to embrace the international climate of Berlin and just stick to using English and another part of you that criticises you for that and thinks you have to speak German at every opportunity.

We’re going to find a way forward that honours all these concerns so that you can feel more balance and ease around the whole thing.

If you would like to talk more about how I can help in your specific situation, book a free first session here.