Therapist: Blank Screen or Real Person?
How do you prefer your therapist to be?
Karin celebrating Holi, the festival of colours, in Rishikesh - India.
Therapists are "supposed"
To be blank screens,
Revealing nothing of themselves.
Do you agree?
I'm a little different,
As you have figured by now
From these newsletters and
My open sharing on Instagram.
During sessions with my clients,
I don't talk about myself.
That time is for them.
Yet they often tell me,
They'd love to know
A little more about me.
So....
Here's me in a nutshell:
Where do I start?
That I was made in Norway
As in conceived,
Somewhere in nature ;)
(Explains my free spirit I guess).
By my, at that age, quite hippy parents.
Born in Holland,
Eldest of four amazing sisters
Also big sister of a little boy,
Who died when I was five years old
(As you can imagine,
That is an entire story in itself)...
The travel bug started early with me,
Always adventuring out
In the nearby forests,
Building huts, going camping,
And at the age of 19
I told my parents
I was off to Paris.
I remember thinking
"Nobody here knows anything about me,
So I can really be myself,
And find out if I'll make any friends".
I was lonely at times,
But I learned so much about myself.
“It’s nice to read more about you.”
Angéline
“It’s inspiring to read that changing course is always possible.”
Karen
Via a business degree in Amsterdam
And a Sales & Marketing
Career at Heineken (yep, the beer company,
Seems like a different life),
I ended up asking a Coach for help
As I was making myself too stressed
And I feared heading for a burn-out.
She helped me get my confidence back.
I then gathered all my courage
And left the corporate world.
I did not like the woman
I was becoming...
(Too materialistic, too proud,
A workaholic and always busy,
But crucially, struggling
With following bosses orders
Against my own soul).
I dropped everything
And spent a year in India and Nepal,
Falling head over heels in love
With the spirit of country, the people,
The heartfelt wisdom of Buddhism
And a lovely Argentinian guy.
We settled in London
And married a year later.
I did not like the woman
I was becoming...
I decided to re-train as Coach,
As what my Coach back at Heineken
Did for me
Was one of the most meaningful
Experiences of my life so far.
But unfortunately I found
The coaching education super shallow.
I felt unethical working with clients
Who brought such sacred, vulnerable,
Important and meaningful issues to me.
That made me decide to train
As a Counsellor & Psychotherapist.
Not because I saw myself
As a 'therapist'.
But because I wanted my clients
To be in truly capable, caring hands.
It took me five years of study,
Five hundred volunteer hours
(Amongst others in Wormwood Scrubs,
London biggest male prison),
Learning more about mental health
During a hunderd hours
Being next to a psychiatrist at work.
I was in Personal Therapy myself
Every week, for more than four years.
A lot of tears while processing
My own unresolved shitty stuff
(Because as with every story,
My life wasn't all roses and moonlight).
Therapy revealed some old wounds,
Causing a few tough
Relationship moments
While navigating a deeper intimacy
And learning to love more purely,
Equally and fully.
But by 2012 it was official,
I was a qualified psychotherapist
(And happy to read a novel for a change,
After those piles of psychology books!)
We moved out of London
Into the green belt
And my practice kept on thriving.
Facilitating corporate trainings,
Well known within the Dutch community,
Won an Entrepreneur of the Year Award,
Having long term therapy clients,
And short term coaching sessions.
But the travel bug started itching
And my husband and I left
On a two year spiritual sabbatical
To India and Nepal.
And that's where
Inner Pilgrim was born.
A soulful creation
Inspired by some of the most beautiful
And spiritual places in this world.
I hope you'll enjoy browsing the website,
Any questions just drop me a line.
I'd be honoured to work together
And after you now reading
A bit more about me,
I would love to get to know
The wonderful being that you are.
Thank you for journeying with me.
With love, Karin
Photo’s taken in Beatles Ashram, Ladakh, Deer Park and Dharamsala (Photo Credit: Dalai Lama Official Photographer)
“So nice to learn more about you!”
“Looking forward to how your journey continues.”
