Counseling:

Counseling can be useful whenever we feel overwhelmed by situations we don't know how to emotionally deal with – e.g. our children, birth, a new or the loss of a job, our health or the loss of a loved one.
Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but of self-responsible empowerment.
Sometimes, all we need is someone to talk to, someone who can compassionately listen without any judgments and simply be present, can put a spotlight onto a situation and make us see a situation in a different light

Even if we are generally blessed with supportive friends and family members, they're often part of the story themselves, having to deal with their own issues and agendas.
The counselor, in general, is not involved in the situation, and can support by reflecting it back to us from a different perspective, facilitating new insights and understandings without the need to “fix” us.
The counselor is there for us - and only for us - in the given time, making sure we deal with our own issues only without interference of others.

As a method of dealing with overwhelming emotions and obsessive thoughts, counseling is not about changing the situation (which often is impossible) but the respond to it. The counselor facilitates a change which empowers us the clients, and therefore gives the credits to whom they belong: the client!
The counselor is not there to point out weaknesses that need a therapist to heal them.
The counselor looks for the strengths in the client and tabs into them; this technique empowers the client to do the healing and changing,

Though, we can face most of our challenges alone, a little help can sometimes make a big difference.
Through a variety of techniques and gentle interventions the counselor can help release limiting beliefs about our self or the world and transform unhelpful mental, emotional and behavioral patterns that might restrict our development.
While uncovering and identifying our conscious and unconscious abilities we will become more of who we really are.

Each client demands a specific approach which is individual and unique. It is the counselor’s responsibility to listen carefully and recognize the need of each client
There is no perfect model or system that works for all.

I am able to use a quantity of different methods in the counseling session which may all have their advantages and disadvantages. Usually the clients themselves dictate the method that works best for them in their particular situation. I believe that the methods should adapt to the client and not the client to the method.
My respect for the uniqueness of every client alone demands that this kind of work is driven by people rather then by techniques.
You do not have to have a "problem" to benefit from counseling, merely the desire to improve our sense of well-being and particularly our "well-doing" – be it in our personal life (e.g. relationship skills) or in a business context (e.g. presentation skills, time management, optimizing workflow or artistic performance).

The counselor can guide us through an assessment process that clarifies where we are now, where we want to go and what is realistically needed to get there.
As a counselor, my job is not to have all the right answers but to have the right questions. I'll keep you on track through negotiated feedback, helping you to become better in the areas you may have previously neglected and to become even better where you already excel.

As an outcome-oriented approach, counseling is mostly directed towards the future.
I do not believe in wallowing in childhood traumas or an endless re-telling of one's "story", however, I do find it sometimes necessary to also consider the past and throw some light onto how it might influence the present.
If there is something holding us back – we better deal with it! Besides, the past doesn’t only contain traumatic experiences but also a lot of strengths and insights.
Once we've learned how to access those hidden inner resources, they can greatly support our future.


Finally, I would like to point out that I am neither a psychotherapist nor a psychologist, though it might look like it when I am in a session with a client. I have no degree in either profession yet!