As a clinical and health psychologist I have specialized in working with children, adolescents and their parents since 2003.
I specifically focus on supporting parents in their individual family situations and with everyday challenges. I developed my personal approach during the many years of practical experience working directly with families, as well as during my university work, where I specialized in developmental and cultural psychology.
Listening to the parents and including them in the planning of how to move forward has proven to be the most valuable aspect of supporting families. Only this way can we together create a therapy plan with interventions methods that work for each individual family in their unique everyday life.
Since 2019 Freelance supervisor in the MIB project of the Austrian Autistic Aid, Vienna
Since 2019 Lecturer at the Sigmund Freud PrivateUniversity, Vienna
2015 – 2018 Therapeutic work with families affected by Autisms Spectrum Disorder – Program Supervisor at the Center for Social Dynamics, San Francisco, CA, USA
2010 – 2015 Scientific staff member and lecturer (in Developmental and Cultural Psychology) at the Sigmund Freud Private University, Vienna
2009 – 2012 Supervisor at a Halfway house for adults with chronic mental illnesses at Psychosoziale Zentren GMBH, Lower Austria
2007 – 2009 Specialized assistance for the Austrian Autism Support Organization: Österreichischen Autistenhilfe, Vienna
2003 – 2004 Private Autism Therapy with a child affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder, London, UK
2014 Approved as Clinical and Health Psychologist: GKPP, Vienna
2011 Dr. phil., (Psychology): University of Vienna
2008 Psychotherapeutic Propaedeutic: ÖAGG, Vienna
2004 M.Sc., (Social Psychology): LSE, London, UK
2003 B.A., (Psychology): Clark University, Massachusetts, USA
Having grown up with an American mother and a German father, I am fluent in both English and German and therefore provide sessions in either language.
Throughout my professional career I have been able to complement my practical work experience with theoretical knowledge and vice versa. While studying for my master’s degree in London in 2003, e.g., I began to work as a therapist with children on the autism spectrum (hereafter abbreviated ASD). Parallel to my training as a Clinical and Health Psychologist in Vienna I was able to further develop my therapy skills by working with ASD children at the Austrian Autism Support Organization (Österreichischen Autistenhilfe). Additionally I gained experience working in a Halfway home for adults with chronic mental illnesses in the Psychosocial Centers (Psychosoziale Zentren GMBH), in Lower Austria, while I was finishing my Ph.D. in Vienna. Lastly, I worked in San Francisco and the Bay Area, California for several years at the Center for Social Dynamics with families and their ASD children as a Program Supervisor. During the time I spent in California (2014-2019) I maintain my ties to the Sigmund Freud Private University in Vienna teaching single specialized units in psychology courses (e.g., on creating intervention plans for families) and participating in scientific projects.
In all of these jobs I came to love the diversity and specific characteristics each person seeking help brings with them. Every family I have worked with has shown incredible strengths and love for their children that deserves to be highlighted. In my work I use these strengths and individual recourses to build on and to create an intervention plan together with the parents that is conducive to the well being all participants (e.g., children, parents and caretakers).
My scientific work in developmental and cultural psychology started with my undergraduate studies at Clark University, Massachusetts, USA. I was able to further develop my knowledge in these fields during my master’s studies at the LSE in London, my doctoral studies at the University of Vienna and my post-doctoral work at the Sigmund Freud Private University in Vienna. My main theoretical focus has been on identity development from a cultural psychological perspective and the interrelatedness of person and environment and how general human interactions with and within their environments are culturally mediated.
A developmental and cultural-psychological approach that focuses on the interrelatedness of the person and their environment in the context of personal development has proven to be especially helpful in supporting parents. Oftentimes small changes in the environment, how certain situations are approached, or in one’s own behavior (for example, in dealing with specific behaviors exhibited by the child) are sufficient to better understand and cope with difficult situations. Throughout my career I was able to observe again and again how little learning moments and small steps of progress in children’s daily accomplishments light up everyday lives of those supporting the child. It is these moments that inspire me to provide the very best support to each individual person and family.
Currently I am working in my own practice providing parent supervision and clinical psychological counseling for families and am working at the Austrian Autism Support Organization Österreichischen Autistenhilfe as Mobile Intensive Supervisor (Mobile Intensivbegleitung). I am also a lecturer in the English Psychology Bachelors Program at the Sigmund Freud Private University, Vienna.