Crisis, a life change? Feeling stuck?
The wish for change is natural, yet in Gestalt psychotherapy the deepest transformation begins with… a pause.
As a psychotherapist I offer a safe place where you do not have to meet anyone’s expectations. Together we look at your emotions and at how you find your place in the world around you. Developing self-awareness – learning to name and express what you really feel – becomes the starting point for moving through a crisis and building a life that finally has room for your authentic boundaries and needs.
What I can help you with
You do not have to face a life crisis alone. Below are the issues clients most often bring to me.
Emotions
- Persistent sadness, quickness to anger, guilt, anxiety
- A sense that life lacks meaning, indifference, apathy
- Relational and developmental trauma, PTSD
Relationships
- Difficulties in relationships with loved ones, children or co-workers
- Difficulties with sexuality and the body
- The need to be heard, the need for support
Loss and change
- Difficult life decisions
- Fears and worries around major life events (pregnancy, birth, parenthood, a wedding)
- Grief after a loss: of a loved one, a miscarriage, a divorce, a job
Identity and growth
- Searching for an answer to the question “who am I”, an identity crisis
- Issues faced by LGBTQ+ people
- The need to grow, to discover your potential, self-actualisation
How I work as a Gestalt psychotherapist
There are several main approaches in psychotherapy. One of them is Gestalt therapy, whose principles most fully reflect what I myself believe in. The principles below show what work in my practice looks like.
The therapist is not the expert on the client’s life
Many people associate therapy with cool assessment, having their mind “X-rayed” and advice handed down from above. In Gestalt, the meeting rests on a relationship between two equal people. There is no room in the therapy room for authoritarian diagnoses or for assuming that the therapist knows better what is good for someone. The person who comes to the session is the greatest expert on their own life. My task, in turn, is to create a safe frame and to guide the process in a way that lets the client hear their own voice.
Change begins where the fight with yourself ends
We often come to therapy with a ready list of traits to “fix”. We want to cut off difficult emotions or uncomfortable behaviours. The paradox is that real, lasting change is rarely the result of wrestling with ourselves. It comes naturally only when we pause and fully accept who we are – with all our life’s baggage, in the “here and now”. Instead of judging, in the therapy room we widen awareness. It is awareness that makes authentic choices possible, rather than just replaying old patterns.
The body knows more than words can tell
The past has shaped us, but all the pain, fear and tension are felt today – in the present. That is why we do not analyse old stories endlessly, but focus on what is happening right now. Signals from the body matter enormously – breath, tension, posture. The body is an extremely sensitive compass that cannot lie, and it often leads us to emotions the mind has been skilfully avoiding for years.
Sometimes talking is not enough
Gestalt is not only a talking therapy. Sometimes what is most difficult needs to be experienced in safe conditions. During a session I will often suggest trying out a new way of acting: standing within your own boundaries, saying held-back words out loud, or finding out what it is like “not to have to do anything” at all. Each such experiment is only ever an invitation – nothing happens in the therapy room without clear consent, and the client’s pace is fully respected.
Where do we start?
Deciding to talk about your difficulties can be stressful, which is why the first meetings (usually around three) are introductory. They are a time to get to know each other without pressure. They help us understand the situation the client is coming with and check whether this way of working will be supportive for them. Only after this stage do we decide together whether to begin longer-term work.
Qualifications
I am a member of the Polish Society for Gestalt Psychotherapy (PTPG) and work according to its code of ethics, as well as the standards of the European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT). To offer clients the highest quality of support, my work is under regular group and individual supervision.