Psychotherapy is a science-based, independent treatment in the healthcare sector, with the aim to heal or alleviate mental, psychosocial and psychosomatic conditions, to overcome inner and interpersonal conflicts and to promote personal development and health. The practice of psychotherapy is regulated in the Psychotherapy Act and may only be carried out by suitably trained persons.
Central to the success of psychotherapy is a positive, trusting therapeutic relationship between the client and the psychotherapist.
What does Systemic Psychotherapy mean?
Systemic Therapy considers people as well as their issues in the context of their social environment, such as partnership, family, friends or colleagues. These social systems work differently, each in their own way, with specific behavioural and communication patterns. Symptoms are not understood as an individual characteristic of a single person, but rather as part of a larger context and as an expression of certain relationship dynamics in social systems. The approach in Systemic Psychotherapy supports the process of revealing dysfunctional and stressful interaction dynamics with the aim to develop new perspectives and to find ways for improving quality of life of an individual.
Individual Therapy
We are confronted with different challenges in the course of our lives. Life events are sometimes experienced as difficult and can be distressing; crises seem insurmountable and mental illnesses may burden everyday life significantly. The individual therapy setting facilitates the client’s attempt to reveal unfavourable patterns of interaction, to break down obstructive beliefs and to develop new perspectives. The client is supported to find ways to create alternative solutions and thus reduce mental suffering by activating their personal resources.
Couple Therapy
The relationship of a couple changes over time; it experiences periods of transition and masters various challenges of living together. Different desires and the needs of individuals may cause tensions, which burden the relationship. Repetitive patterns of communication frequently lead to conflicts that become more and more acute and are reinforced by mutual blame and offense – the couple finds itself at an impasse.
Couple therapy offers couples with the opportunity to become aware of these crisis-prone behaviours and communication patterns and to resolve any resulting misunderstandings and offenses. The psychotherapist takes a neutral position and supports the couple to find new ways in order to relive a relationship that is fulfilling for both. Sometimes couple therapy is also about finding out if it makes sense to stay together.
Family Therapy
Families are complex social systems that shape our social image in different constellations – whether “classic” as parents with shared children, as a patchwork family, as a single parent family, as same-sex partner families or as families with separated family members.
Arguments and conflicts are part of family life and are an expression of liveliness and development. However, families may get into trouble, perhaps through personal events, blows of fate or outside influences. There may be conflicting behaviours that severely burden and affect individual family members or even the entire family, making it increasingly difficult to communicate and live with each other.
Family Therapy opens up the opportunity to give room to the views and needs of individuals, by involving family or part of the family and thus making it easier to understand and resolve individual family members’ issues. It aims at strengthening mutual understanding and using resources of each family member to find new ways of communicating and maintaining the family’s balance.