Facing a New or Chronic Diagnosis Can Be Overwhelming
I enjoy supporting clients with chronic or newly diagnosed health conditions. Through my practice here in Munich and my years of work in the NHS in England, I’ve learned much about both emotional and physical pain — and also about the incredible resilience of the human spirit.
Even though it is usually overwhelming to have to face a diagnosis, human beings are often incredibly flexible at adjusting to new circumstances and at coping with sudden, perhaps even permanent changes in life.
Therapy Can Support You
A helping hand to navigate the thoughts and feelings can make a big difference. And I feel glad and privileged to be part of my clients’ journeys, using my expertise and understanding to provide emotional and practical support.
What kind of chronic illnesses or recently diagnosed health conditions can I support you with?
I have a specialisation in neurological conditions such as:
- stroke
- dementia
- traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- multiple sclerosis (MS)
- motor neurone disease (MND)
- Parkinsons disease (PD)
and I also have extensive experience supporting people with other conditions, such as:
- cancer,
- headaches,
- chronic pain,
- Crohn’s disease and
- ulcerative colitis amongst others.
Emotional Challenges You May Be Facing
What challenges do clients with chronic or recently diagnosed health conditions face? My clients often experience shock, various fears and anxieties, fatigue, stress, sadness, grief, depression, adjustment difficulties, cognitive changes, and other stressors that may be very individual depending on life circumstances and pre-existing strengths and weaknesses.
How We Work Together
Each client is different. I listen with care and tailor therapy to your individual experience and needs.
Some clients first need space to freely express what they’re going through when one possible future life is either suddenly or gradually replaced by another possible future life.
So I give space to all the fears, uncertainties and worries that come up such as:
“Will I survive?”
“What changes do I have to make?”
“What will happen to my body?”
“How will I deal with that?”
“Will I experience pain?”
“How will my family be impacted?”
“How will they cope?”
“What is life going to be like for my kids as a result of all this?”
There may also be guilt or grief, even if it’s hard to acknowledge or allow space for these feelings. There may be anger that comes up as a result of being diagnosed with a life altering or life shortening condition. It’s ok. I can accompany you with the emotional process that you need to go through, gradually acknowledging and patiently accepting all the feelings.
Together, we’ll make sense of what you’re going through.
Some changes are permanent. Some are just temporary. Some we don’t even know or they may fluctuate a lot over time.
When appropriate and welcome we look at the pragmatic changes you need to make in your life to adjust to your new circumstances. We stay curious about what all this means for you, and what emotions arise. And we work on accepting the parts that we cannot change, including any difficult feelings, and discovering the parts of your experience that you can change in order to empower you to live as well as possible.
Involving Your Family and Loved Ones
We may include your relationships with your loved ones in our discussions to support you with being as independent as possible while helping your family’s wish to support you become focused in a useful way. We may also consider how you communicate about it with your children in an age-appropriate manner.
What You Might Gain from Therapy
As a result of your work with me, we can reasonably hope for a reduction in the pain of your loss, a sense of being equipped to make the necessary adjustments to your new life circumstances and a new sense of meaning and purpose in life with the condition.
Feel free to get in touch — I’m happy to talk and see how I can support you.