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Anxiety disorders are one of the most prevalent mental health issues to date. They can manifest themselves in many different forms and are characterized by prolonged feelings of fear or distress. Ultimately anxiety can take a toll on your physical health. You may suffer from a phobia, which is characterized by an excessive and persistent fear of a particular situation (e.g., flying, heights) or object(s) (e.g., certain animals such as snake, spiders etc., natural environment, seeing blood) and possible escape behaviors which are hard to control.

Or, you may be fearful and anxious about public transportation, being in open or enclosed places, standing in line or in a crowd, or being alone outside home in other situations where you think help may not be readily available (agoraphobia). Some people have an intense fear of public performance where one can be judged, such as public speaking or social interactions (social phobia).

Or, you may feel anxiety when separated form your partner or loved ones. A phobia can but does not have to be accompanied by a panic attack, which is a sudden intense fear with physical symptoms such as shortness of breath, heart palpitations, dizziness, and thoughts of, for example, fear of dying, and/or losing control, reaching a peak within minutes. A panic attack can also occur without a phobia totally unexpected.

It is also possible that your anxiety is more general (generalized anxiety), where you may feel a persistent or excessive anxiety and worry about various areas of your life, such a work, school performance, that are difficult to control, and feel restless, keyed up, or on edge. You may have difficulty concentrating or your mind may go blank, be irritable, have muscle tension, and/or have sleep disturbances.

You may experience persistent, unwanted, or ruminative thoughts and/or engage in repetitive behaviors, either one of which is difficult to control (Obsessive and/or Compulsive Symptoms or Disorder). Such thoughts can be, for example, extreme preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, details, rules, control, aggressive or sexual thoughts, and behaviors can be, for example, counting, checking doors, or hand washing.

Alternatively, you may have experienced an extremely stressful or traumatic event in your life and suffer from flashbacks of the traumatic experience, nightmares, depression, and/or anger (Posttraumatic stress disorder or symptoms). These symptoms can but do not need to occur immediately and can manifest themselves at a later point in life as well.

Stress is part of life, and different from anxiety and it can be positive and negative. However, when negative stress is ongoing it can affect your personal life, job, and physical health. Becoming aware of the triggers of stress and effectively managing stress is highly important for your emotional and physical wellbeing.

Psychotherapy increases one’s self-awareness, offers the ability to address the underlying issues, and manages anxiety and/or stress in a more effective manner. Some people resort to drugs and medication which may blunt the feeling of anxiety and/or stress, but these do not provide a solution for the underlying problem.

Life can ask us to make significant changes and/or adaptations. Sometimes these are expected and planned, at other times a result of unexpected or traumatic events such as an illness, loss of a partner, or one’s job. Some may require us to adapt to a new role such as leaving home, starting one’s career, getting married, being in an intimate relationship, or becoming or being a parent. Or, you may want to change your career, struggle with professional identity, or retirement.

These adaptations involve a loss of the old and a beginning of the new, which can lead to psychological turmoil or simply leave one overwhelmed or at a loss of how to be in that new role or what to do. Thoughts, feelings, or issues may come up that you have not expected and that you may want to come to grips with. Psychotherapy or counseling can help in your transition and help you to overcome your problems, integrate the old and the new, and find answers to questions you may have, helping you to move forward in a more satisfying manner.

Living in a culture other than one’s own as a result of immigration or temporarily as an expatriate is a psychologically difficult process which takes energy. Emotional or other issues that you may not have experienced before can come up. “Culture shock” has been described as “being shocked or feeling disoriented by being in contact with a foreign culture (values, beliefs, expectations etc. different from one’s own) or alternate reality and it can affect you physiologically. Longing for one’s home culture has justifiably been called “feeling homesick.”

You may have grown up in a multi-cultural family or be in a culturally mixed relationship that can bring up various issues of relating, roles, and identity. Cultural issues also often come up in addressing other problems in therapy. Or, you may want to specifically focus on intergenerational conflicts, identity conflicts, work diversity issues, intergenerational trauma transmission, or expatriate adjustment.

Through my own extensive multi-cultural experience and work, I am highly sensitive and attuned to the issues that a multi-cultural background brings to the therapy process. I am multi-lingual and can offer treatment in English, Dutch or German, and have a working knowledge of French and Portuguese.

You may be fluent in English and would like to have therapy in English, but it may be helpful to see a psychotherapist who speaks your native tongues as well as English even though the therapy is conducted in English and who understands your culture. I offer online/ telephone counseling for expatriates overseas.

In today’s rapidly changing business world keeping one’s finger on the pulse of the organization and rapid intervention is a sine qua non. This necessitates effective leadership by the CEO/President and the senior executive team as well as effective cooperation between the various stakeholders. Clarity of direction, corporate and team alignment around the business objectives and the motivation to work together optimally in order to effectively implement the strategic plan to achieve the business goals is required.

Optimal effectiveness is often impeded by the lack of productive dialogue between the senior executive team and their leader, and/or the rest of the organization. Indeed, “hidden” and “unspoken” issues have been found to derail an organization’s success and tuning in to the human side of the organization becomes a focus of utmost importance. There is not one “template” or “quick fix” that can address all business, leadership, and team concerns, in particular, at the higher level of an organization and requires an insight into the challenges, context, and culture of each particular organization.

Through my extensive experience in business consulting, together with my in-depth knowledge of psychology and organizational behavior, I offer an integrative, customized approach to your business issues with a sharp focus on the human of side of the business, such as senior team effectiveness, leadership effectiveness, executive effectiveness, as well as selection assessment for job-task-culture-fit. My approach takes into account my background in psychology, organizational behaviour and psychoanalysis offering more in-depth insight into the organizational dynamics than more superficial models of change.

High performing teams are crucial to business performance. Nowhere is this more important than in the executive suite where high level complexities have to be dealt with, effectively and efficiently responded to, and the direction of the organization decided upon. Lack of clarity around direction and misalignment at the executive team level will create misalignment and ineffective functioning in the rest of the organization.

Team members’ emotional, cognitive, interpersonal, and motivational make-up, together with their knowledge, skills and experiences are the team’s most powerful tools. If team members are able to work in concert, capitalizing on their strengths and overcoming their weaker areas, and move forward in a motivated and aligned manner they will effectively propel the organization forward. On the other hand, unproductive dialogue with “hidden” and “unspoken” areas of concern at the senior executive team level has a high likelihood to derail the organization. No one approach will optimize every team’s effectiveness. I work with CEO/Presidents and executive teams in an integrative customized manner, to help you gain insight into the areas of strengths, weaknesses and potential blind spots of your team, as well as bring into constructive dialogue “hidden” and “unspoken” areas of concern and develop a team development plan, whereby stakeholders have input based on the day-to-day operational challenges.

My work with teams is based on validated organizational behavior methods and tools, as well as my in-depth psychological and psychoanalytic knowledge. I partner with leaders, executives and teams to help them achieve their goals and am happy to meet with you to let you know in more detail how I can be of help to your team and organization.

Even when one functions well as an executive or leader, there is always room for growth, fine-tuning, and expanding one’s capabilities. In fact, ongoing learning helps to prevent stagnation in personal and professional life.

There is not a single approach in the complex world of high level leadership and executive development. It requires a more personalized guidance customized to the unique makeup of the individual and the specific business needs of the organization. Management programs designed for a larger number of participants used at other levels of the organization are not effective at this level. I work with top executives individually to custom design and deliver a development approach that is integrative, taking into account the executive’s leadership personality, capitalizing on strengths, overcoming weaknesses, and bringing blind spots into awareness while taking into account business needs and responsibilities. This integrative approach involves understanding the organizational context, direction of the organization, and executive assessment in order to gain efficient and effective insight that the right areas of strengths can be capitalized on and the right development areas targeted. A development plan is created that is based on the day-to-day operating of the business, feedback and involvement of stakeholders to accelerate growth.