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Creative Counselling
and Psychoanalysis

Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.

Sigmund Freud

I would like to invite you to a safe space of a co-created relationship, where you can talk without being judged, make meaning of what you have been going through, and co-discover this meaning in free association. 

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It helps you to express inexpressible and contributes to:

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  • becoming healthier

  • coping with your stress related issues and traumatic experiences

  • improving your sleep

  • connecting your body and mind, thoughts and feelings

  • being more and doing less, escaping the hamster wheel

  • becoming aware of your destructive automatic responses to distress and developing new ways to respond

  • enriching your self-expression 

  • developing your self-esteem

  • regaining interest in life and the ability to experience pleasure

  • understanding your whole personality and your relationships patterns 

  • identifying and resolving the underlying issues 

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My work is psychoanalytically/psychodynamically informed. According to the Academy for the Psychoanalytic Arts, psychoanalysis is "a collaborative inquiry, the purpose of which is to further self-discovery and contribute to the greater understanding of one's self, relationships, and life". In in-depth conversations, we will explore your emotions, feelings, relationships, fantasies that constitute your life story to understand possible root issues, which are important to identify in order to change a destructive pattern and develop a new way to respond to yourself and to your environment. Psychoanalysis helps free you from the fetters of past experience to live more fully in the present (Shedler, 2010).

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I am also inform by gestalt, which is an experiential, holistic and relational as well as a profoundly embodied approach. It often leads to stunning and helpful insights. Gestalt is a German word for the sum of parts that makes a whole. You are accepted non-judgmentally in an equal relationship and the interaction is focused on the here-and-now. 

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I have been engaged in expressive arts since the 80s. I was a stage director, performed in a theatre and have been practicing Cuban, African and Afro-Cuban dances for over 20 years along with other embodiment practices. This resulted in the research on dance and well-being I did at the University of Derby, UK. I apply research findings and interventions based on them focusing on the sensory opening activities, developing and enhancing embodied self-awareness, which is pivotal in treatment and prevention of many mental health issues and traumatic experiences. 

 

Talking about interventions, though, Dr. Nancy McWilliams pointedly stresses that therapy or analysis is a healing relationship in the first place, and not a set of techniques. "Psychoanalysis sets the human being in motion rather than at rest," wrote Gaston Bachelard, French philosopher and phenomenologist. I warmly invite you to the slow motion of your self-exploration and growth. Therapeutic relationship, developed together with you gradually, is what unites meaningful approaches as the key healing factor. Being open to diverse concepts and rejecting a dogmatic way, I engage in this unique relationship and follow you with your unique personality, particular case and situation. 

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What not to expect:

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  • that ​I will make you happy: it is the relationship that contributes to becoming a whole, balanced person. This is what constitutes healing and fulfilment, and thus happiness, as Greek philosophers and contemporary psychoanalysts describe this subjective state of well-being (Lear, 2015)

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  • that I will follow any kind of a hype: the waves of the flood of pop psychology and self-help books seldom wash something serious and valuable ashore.

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  • that I will fix you: it is not about fixing one-off issues nor is it just a way to solve a problem. It is rather about a deeper understanding of yourself, of what can and cannot be changed, changing the former and accepting the latter: this means growing (McWilliams, 1999).  

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Please reach out to me via phone +41 78 910 25 73 or email nb@psycounselling.com. I look forward to talking to you

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I have a lot of experience in working online with diverse individuals from around the world. I work in English, German, Russian and Ukrainian, and have a good understanding of French. 

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I engage in my personal analysis, continuing professional education and supervision, and am a professional member in good standing of Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), American Psychological Association (APA)Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology (Division 39 of The American Psychological Association), The British Psychological Society (BPS, MBPsS). I am also CISM Certified (Critical Incident Stress Management) by the ICISF and University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and trained by the ICISF in assisting individuals in crisis and group crisis interventions.

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