When I finished my professional education in 1985, with a focus on clinical psychology, I then continuously cared for children and their relatives who had to come to terms with chronic illness, organ failure, major injuries or other kinds of traumatic experiences.

Working with these families, who started to learn how to normalise their day life, taught me a lot, as well. Actually, it really had a great influence on my "philosophy" of care. I would like to summarise this as follows:

• if you have to face external challenges, such as a bad blow, a serious illness, or other kinds of traumatic experiences, most of us aren’t willing to accept or even to notice that there might be an additional problem, labelled ‘emotional’ or ‘psychological’. You aren't ‘mad’, aren't you?! However, there are many challenges in the course of life that may – fortunately, most often temporarily – go beyond your limits. This may in fact not imply that you are psychologically disturbed, although psychological support may well be beneficial, then;
• even people who need support usually still have a lot of energy and options, although this may not be evident to themselves. Re-discovering one's own power and efficacy is one of the most significant steps towards self-healing;
• moving forward in small steps might appear insignificant, but often it is the more effective way;
• problems of a family member usually affect the other members as well. Conversely, other members may as well significantly contribute to the solution or at least to offer significant support;
• there is no such thing as the ‘real’ world. Life always looks different from another pair of eyes. A different view on life and its problems may help to discover a way out of an alleged impasse;
• even if not all family members are able or willing to take part in a session it is mostly beneficial to keep them in mind

If you are interested in further information about my professional career, please click here.