I am from the Netherlands originally, am married to my German husband for more than 15 years now, and have lived in 5 different countries across 4 different continents. I personally know the challenges of living in a country that is not your own (not sure which one is my own anymore!), of living in an intercultural relationship and trying to raise my daughter as well as I can (or good enough), also multilingually. I definitely feel like I made sacrifices (coming to Germany for one!), but I also feel these experiences have given me so many opportunities. Understanding the importance of relationships and feeling connected to others around me, and truly appreciating differences in strengths and values, are among the most important ones for me.

Over the last 15 years, I have worked as a psychologist with families, couples, (adult) individuals and children in a range of settings and cultural contexts, incl. family therapy at not for profit organisations in Vancouver (Canada) and London (UK), play and creative therapy with children in Guatemala, and, in Germany apart from my private practice for many years by now, I have also worked as a psychologist at a German psychiatric clinic for adults with mood disorders (Vivantes Humboldt Klinikum).

Through my personal experiences as well as working with people from so many different cultural backgrounds within different cultural contexts, connecting and valuing difference have become central to my therapeutic approach: not to persuade one another to comply with our own values, but to become more curious again about our differences and your specific personal journey in life, distinguishing between what you would like to change and what others would like you to change into. My work is heavily influenced by the systemic psychotherapy approach, mindfulness-based approaches and emotion-focussed therapy by Susan Johnson.

In addition to my therapeutic work, I also facilitate training to other mental health professionals in the area of culture, race, migration and mental health.