Health psychology is about the psychological, social, and existential aspects of living with illness, pain, and other health challenges. When the body changes, the impact often reaches far beyond the physical. It can challenge everyday life, relationships, identity, and one’s picture of the future.
As a specialist in health psychology, I work with patients and their relatives living with, among other things, chronic illness, chronic pain, serious illness, and the life changes that can follow. My work is grounded in an evidence-based approach, drawing especially on ACT, existential psychology, and mindfulness-based methods.
Living with what we cannot change
A large part of health psychology is not about removing illness or suffering, but about supporting people in living a good life despite the circumstances they face.
ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) forms a central foundation of my work. The approach rests on the understanding that we cannot always control or change what has happened, but we can work with the way we relate to it. The aim is not to make difficult thoughts and feelings disappear, but to build greater psychological flexibility – a suppleness in life and mind – so that illness does not come to define one’s whole life.
Among other things, this means being able to hold what is difficult, regain direction, and stay connected to what still matters, even when life has changed.
When illness becomes part of one’s life story
I am particularly interested in how people can find words for what they are going through.
A diagnosis, a loss of function, or long-term pain changes more than the body – it can also change the way we understand ourselves and our lives. That is why I often work with thought patterns, emotions, self-understanding, life stories, writing, and therapeutic metaphors as part of psychological treatment.
I find that this can help people gain clarity, understand their reactions, and discover new perspectives. Even in the midst of the hardest things we cannot change, words, understanding, and new possibilities for action can be decisive.