Margret, we discovered you as a psychotherapy practitioner with your own practice on Instagram - psychotherapy, a word that is familiar to many today - unfortunately, more and more people need it. If you were to describe your work in practice and on Instagram, what would you say is your particular concern?
With pleasure, Sebastian - I have had my own practice for psychotherapy and trauma therapy in the Westerwald for 8 years now. You are right, more and more people need psychological help. When I started the practice, it didn't feel as acute as it does today.
In my practice, I work with people of all ages who are in acute crises or who have long suffered from the effects of trauma and other old issues, after working in the field of tax and finance for more than 20 years.
Almost parallel to starting the practice, I started posting small posts with psychological content for those interested in my WhatsApp status. I felt how much good these little posts with traces of hope did for many people. Then when Corona came with a multitude of social media options, I expanded my posts via stories on Instagram.
I hope that my contributions encourage people not to give up in times of crisis, but to rediscover their own strengths and try new things. Learning to understand the psychological background helps you to understand yourself better and accept yourself more.
This makes life easier again.
In my practice, I work with people of all ages who are in acute crises or who have long suffered from the effects of trauma and other old issues, after working in the field of tax and finance for more than 20 years.
Almost parallel to starting the practice, I started posting small posts with psychological content for those interested in my WhatsApp status. I felt how much good these little posts with traces of hope did for many people. Then when Corona came with a multitude of social media options, I expanded my posts via stories on Instagram.
I hope that my contributions encourage people not to give up in times of crisis, but to rediscover their own strengths and try new things. Learning to understand the psychological background helps you to understand yourself better and accept yourself more.
This makes life easier again.
We noticed your great videos on psychological topics with our system board on Instagram. How did you come to post them here?
Yoursystem board is simply a great tool. Before I discovered it, I had always used random objects in conversations to represent problems. What you see visually is remembered in a completely different way and is often easier to solve.
I heard about your system board from colleagues. When I found it on the Internet, I was completely impressed. Starting with the material: wood.
Wood is a natural product and very valuable, which feels pleasant when you hold it in your hand. In addition, the figures come in different sizes and colors, which can be used to represent many psychological themes.
The first thing that comes to mind is the “inner child”. This model, which is explained in great detail by Stefanie Stahl in her books, can easily be represented using the figures and colors of your system board .
How often do YOU use the family board in practice?
Every DAY! The family board is the perfect way to represent relationships with their closeness/distance difficulties, attachment problems, entanglements and dependencies. A constellation is actually always a picture of the feelings that are most preoccupying the client at the time. Everyone lives in relationships and almost all conversations are about relationships. It often helps to be aware of: Where am I? Which place would be better? What do I need to get there? What would change in real life as a result? It often helps to set things up on the family board in the right relationships and look at them... and find solutions.
What inspired you to switch from accounting to psychotherapy and coaching?
When I completed a commercial apprenticeship after graduating from high school, I honestly had no idea about life at all. I knew I was good at maths - and just started an apprenticeship. At some point, however, I felt that there was more than just numbers and facts. There are feelings and topics that move people and do something to them. I was very interested in this and so, during my parental leave, I delved deeper and deeper into the depths of life and the psyche in many conversations in women's circles, which I had already designed with questions about personality development. But I noticed that I lacked the specialist knowledge, which is why I actually started studying psychology again in Cologne in 2012 when I was in my early 40s. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish it for health reasons. So I took the exam to become a non-medical practitioner for psychotherapy instead. The greatest inspiration and confirmation every day is how fulfilling and grateful I am when I work with people on their personal issues and how many people I can help with it. If I meet someone after years and sense during the conversation that HE is much more self-confident today, lives an easier and happier life, then my work was really profitable and meaningful.
What challenges did you face during the career change and how did you overcome them?
During my career change, I struggled with major health challenges. The physical strain of working in a tax office while studying was too much for me.
At that time, I made the decision to give up my studies and choose training as a naturopath as an alternative. I am very happy with this decision.
How has your experience in the financial industry influenced your therapeutic work?
I believe that this experience is a great help to me in my work in practice. I was able to draw on my knowledge for many tax questions relating to setting up a practice. I sense that clients take me seriously because I come from “real life”. I have gained experience in business and I know what makes people tick.
Managers from large companies with burnout often sit in front of me and I can clearly sense how rationally they approach issues. Since I come from this area, I meet them on exactly this level and reach out to them. In the further therapeutic process, once trust has been built up, you usually arrive at the emotional level. Psychological problems almost always have to do with feelings. It is important to be able to talk about them too.
Your advice for aspiring coaches:
It is always important to find out WHY I am doing something? Is it the WAY of my heart or why am I doing something? Does it fulfill me and can I imagine doing it in the long term? Anyone who works with people does so with all their heart. But you must not forget that you have to take good care of yourself. You can only do this work if you can set boundaries, deal with difficult topics and have a good balance. And that is where my love of music comes into play. Anyone who knows me knows that my love of music has been with me since childhood, which is why I play the piano as a musician, compose my own pieces and songs and combine these passions not only in my “Psychology in concert” format. By the way, I really liked your definition of music in our conversation: Music is the embodiment of feelings or inner life. It was actually always a bridge between my inside and the outside. Music reaches people and very often helps them to feel feelings and express them... and if you want to visualize all of this for yourself, yoursystem board will help.
Margret, what do you want from the company ideen.kollektiv and is there something new that you haven't used yet but would like to use personally?
Sebastian, I suspect that you offer so much more than I have used so far... I heard about theFröbel tower from you. I would love to take a closer look at it and would also like to use it in my "Psychology in Concert" format. This format involves public evening events where I accompany a psychological lecture with music, but which are particularly about the personal experience of the individual. Here, or in seminars lasting several days, which I offer from time to time, I can well imagine your valuable tools, which I would like to incorporate into the process.
You suggest that people can see you live. Where and when is that?
Unfortunately, I can't give you any specific dates at the moment. But you can always find them on my homepage. In addition to Psychology in Concert, there are also regular live family board constellations, sometimes even at my home. I'm also planning new seminars and breaks on topics such as: "Discover your self-worth" and "Wounds become miracles".
