Carmen Norde

Openness, empathy and really being there for someone else, are important values for me that I also learned as a child as a matter of course. I grew up in a safe and warm environment where everything was discussable and I now often hear from people that they quickly feel at ease with me and trust me. I do not judge, try to put myself in the other persons place so that difficult feelings such as shame and guilt can be overcome. The great diversity of people and their different ways of life fascinated me from an early age. I am always curious about how every unique person can experience things in a different way. Clients often describe me as open-minded, understanding, supportive and also professional, honest and direct.

My approach and style

Central to my way of working is that the person sitting opposite me feels that he is seen and heard as a total person, so that we can get to the core of the problem. Together we try to gain new insights into why you get stuck and we look for what you can change to deal with yourself and life in a more constructive way. I offer you a safe place to discover and work on these things, at your pace and according to what you can handle and what works for you. It is always nice to see how people (again) come closer to themselves and in their own strength, so that life goes more ‘automatically’ again.

I use different forms of therapy based on cognitive behavioral therapy. In doing so, I look at your personal talents, strengths and possibilities to connect as closely as possible (solution focused approach) and I make extensive use of techniques from the IPT and the insight-providing therapy. Since I have retrained in this, I also give EMDR treatments when appropriate.

Background and work experience

After graduating as a remedial educationalist, I worked for 11 years at the Psychological Pedagogical Institute where I treated youth and young people and also guided and supported their parents. Here I have gained a lot of experience with, and learned a lot about, family systems, parenting relationships and the great effect this has on people’s further lives. Twice a year’s ‘foray’ into living and working in a different culture on projects for traumatized and neglected children and their families – both in the Philippines and in Sri Lanka – has certainly also given me many valuable insights. I was fascinated… and in the years that followed I continued to study system-oriented treatments and family therapy. In the meantime, I completed the Postgraduate Study for remedial educationalist (PDBO) and I registered for a GZ psychologist, after which I started in the basic GGZ (mental health care) as a GZ psychologist, both individually and in relationship interviews. How people shape, interpret and deal with their (love) relationships continues to fascinate me. I will soon be following the EFT relationship therapist course to further specialize.

BIG-registration Carmen Norde: 59057698925.