WHO AM I?

My name is Olga De. I am 48 years old. I am a Russian and English speaking psychologist in the Netherlands, family therapist, existential psychologist, Gestalt therapist, art therapist, coach, group therapist.

WHO I WORK WITH

 

* with adults from the age of 18 upwards.

* with individual clients, couples and groups.

 

WHO I DON'T WORK WITH

 

* with suicidal clients;

* people with chemical dependencies;

* people with psychiatric diagnoses without the support of a psychiatrist.

 

WHY WORK WITH ME WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY PSYCHOLOGISTS AROUND?

 

Most psychologists work in one approach. And every approach, if it is the only working tool, has a weak side. Sometimes clients get lost in conversations and do not feel the effectiveness of therapy. Or, on the contrary, a psychologist or coach pushes them forward towards their goals, without taking into account the starting point, personal history, resistance and objective difficulties.

 

My holistic approach combines various modalities, tailored to each individual and aimed at both awareness and action. I received education both in Russia and in European countries; I have helped and continue to help clients with different mentalities and diverse requests from different countries.

 

WHAT RESULTS DO I GUARANTEE?

 

Because of my experience and variety of tools, I can guarantee that you'll feel RELIEF at the end of your FIRST session - no matter what is bothering you.

 

My job is to help you see your resources that you don't feel, don't realise, or never knew you had.

 

Already after the first session, my clients gain clarity, a better understanding of themselves, a foothold, and a plan of action. 

 

And if clients decide to continue therapy.....
 

During 15 years in psychology, I have accumulated a large portfolio of cases where the difference between “before” and “after” is significant, with the fantastic results at the end.  The most common situation is that clients come to me sobbing, desperate, or with a strong inner feeling that all is lost.
 

And after a few months and sometimes even sessions, they take on a proud posture and gain a strong sense that they are the authors of their lives. I am immensely proud of them (and myself at the same time)! Soon I will get around to publish my cases on a separate page of my website.

 

HOW DO I WORK?

 

First we get to know each other. Then I listen carefully to your problem, your request, what you struggle with and what you would like to get in life.

Obviously we also analyse your starting point, where you are now.
 

If you need to achieve certain goals, self-organise, discipline yourself, then coaching tools are the most appropriate.
 

But everything would be too simple if only coaching worked for everyone! :) Usually we get stuck in one way or another without even realising it. And we are going to explore these blockages from the point of view of the Gestalt approach - how you build contact with the world, with those around you, when and how you put spokes in your own wheel. What outdated attitudes and prescriptions you use that create hinders in your life and belong to a garbage can all along.
 

However, these two approaches together are not always effective, because we still have an unknown unconscious, which has its own opinion about everything (it is, so to speak, the lower part of the iceberg). To touch it and hear it, I use art methods (drawings and other creative tools). Clients get the most unexpected results and realisations in the art approach.
 

And of course, I pay a lot of attention to the cognitive-behavioural aspect. What is our prism of perception, why do we mark certain events as problems rather than challenging tasks. What's brewing in our heads and how we make conclusions about the world, and then make our choices in life, and act upon them (as you realise, not always effectively for ourselves).
 

PS I work in 2 languages - RUSSIAN and ENGLISH. For some clients it is important, for example, for international couples.

 

WHY I WORK

 

I'm no different from most people in that I want to feel meaning in my life, do good for people and leave some kind of mark after me. What speeches will be made at my funeral procession (which I hope won’t be very soon). What will be carved on my grave stone?
 

"Here lies Olga De, who ate, prayed, loved, watched a bunch of soap operas and sat a hole in the couch."

 

Or should they say the following:

 

Olga De was my guide to a better life.

 

She saved our marriage, the marriage of John and Maria and Peter and Anna.

 

I became happier and more wholesome, realised my choices, became free in my decisions.

 

I finally began to appreciate myself, and miraculously I was appreciated by those around me.

 

We learnt communication skills and built happy relationship.

 

I started earning enough - it was long overdue!

 

***

As you may have guessed, my heart's desire is for the latter. Luckily, I'm pretty good at it.

 

WHY I TREAT SUCH A WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES

 

Our problems and stuckness in different areas of life have common mechanisms. Like the laws of physics, they apply to everyone. But the "prescription” I write is individual. It's like a GP - they know the general rules of the organism's work, but they give different medications and prescriptions.

And by the way, I have my favourite topics!

* Immigration and building your own life from scratch (I went through it myself);

* Effectiveness in life, striving for goals;

* Searching for meaning (why I need to change something. What my life is all about);

* I also love working with couples. It is encouraging to see how people overcome the difficulties of communication and start to see, feel each other and treat each other in a gentler way, having acquired the right tools.

 

WHAT IF IT DOESN’T CLICK BETWEEN US?

 

There's a small chance that we're not a match at all. You feel that I'm too fast, or too slow, or too assertive, or on the contrary, I don't show much initiative. In the end, I remind you too much of a darned mother-in-law with my curls, and it is absolutely unbearable!
 

By the way, it can be useful to keep on the therapy, as it’s your working material and you will understand quite much about yourself and will be able to tackle it.
 

The worst thing is when you enter a session in a certain state and leave in the same state, and nothing has changed. No fluctuations in feelings, no new ideas, no insights.

 

To tell you the truth, this has never happened with my clients, but when I was a client myself (during my psychotherapy training), I met one such specialist - cold, indifferent, detached and acting from the position of an expert. I had 5 sessions with her, while I should have run away after the first one, and I will remember her for a long time. This is my anti-example: how not to lead sessions, and how important it is to be gentle, empathic and sensitive to the client. It's my 10 Commandments.

 

Long story short. If you feel that there is no spark between us and to continue the therapy with me is unbearable for you for whatever reason, after the first or second session I will find you a more suitable specialist, which I have a lot of different approaches.

But you will have to risk coming to the first session :)

 

AND FINALLY, WHERE'S THE GUARANTEE THAT WE'RE GOING TO DO WHAT YOU NEED?

 

We will constantly be checking to see if we are going in the right direction. Unlike some other directive psychological approaches, in my approach we manage the process together. We dance, figuratively speaking, a couples dance. And at any moment you can correct me, direct me to a more relevant, important topic. For some of you it will also be a point of growth ;)
 

PS By practising this skill with a therapist - to hear yourself and regulate relationships, you will transfer this same valuable skill into your life. You can't imagine how much flavour it gives to life, and how much easier life becomes with this skill!

 

BTW-ID (VAT number): NL004784791B07
KVK number (Dutch Chamber of Commerce): 90046161