Crises - Learn to accompany yourself well in difficult moments

Has a difficult change occurred in your life or is it urgently necessary?

You know there's no going back, but you don't know what to do next.
Perhaps you need to adapt to new circumstances. Self-doubt keeps cropping up. You brood over supposed mistakes you have made. This makes you feel insecure, you are afraid of making the wrong decisions and you don't know where to start. So, you are going through a momento of crisis.

Feeling blocked or paralyzed in the crisis is not only down to you

Crises are part of life: loss of a loved one, serious accident or serious illness, separation, abandonment, infidelity, losing your job. These are situations that will happen to most people at some point of their lives. They often hit you out of the blue and shake up everything that has worked well until then.

That's why it's completely normal that you don't know what to do at first. After all, you weren't prepared. You need time to process moments of shock and don't yet have a way of dealing with situations that have never happened to you before. A block in the form of stress, anxiety, perhaps even episodes of depression and insomnia are to be expected. It is important that they do not become chronic, and that’s what we want to prevent.

Where do we start in a crisis intervention?

We don't have to work on change immediately. Most of my clients who find themselves in crisis situations first have the need to talk and be heard. They want to unload what's on their mind. I'm then there to make sure they don't lose sight of the big picture.

Together we look at where we want to start. What should the first steps be? It's not about tidying up quickly, but about examining what is most important to you. What result are you hoping for? What would be a good start in this case?

Crises and the inner judge

In crisis intervention, I noticed how many people are very hard on themselves. They often feel guilty and think that they could have somehow prevented the event. Some feel punished and ashamed. Others punish themselves further by despising themselves because of their alleged incompetence. This is extremely damaging to your self-esteem and doubles the pain. You suffer not only because of the change, but also because you interpret it in such a way that you are the perpetrator or the victim.

An important part of crisis support is therefore practicing self-compassion

If the crisis were a difficult journey, who would you want on board? A strict judge who constantly nags you and tells you what you are doing wrong, or a good friend who encourages you, gives you recognition and spurs you on?

Self-compassion is not self-pity. It means learning to be a good companion to yourself. In other words, asking the loud inner judge to be quiet and take a seat and to say something to yourself like: "This is a difficult moment for me, I´m struggling. What would I say to a friend if they were in a situation like this?"

How does that sound to you?

Crises as a possibility

The Chinese character for crisis, "Wéijī", is made up of two words:
Wéi = danger/risk, Jī= chance or opportunity. In Chinese, it is therefore very clear that strokes of fate are always also opportunities.

At the moment of crisis, you often cannot yet see this because the fear and pain are too great. It is still difficult to imagine what could ideally arise from this situation. Depending on how you deal with the situation, you can come out of it stronger.

So, you can use the crisis as an opportunity. Which doesn´t mean to do it on your own. You always can get help.

How long does it take to overcome a crisis?

This varies greatly and also depends on how much experience you have had with crisis intervention before. We get better at overcoming difficult moments every time. At least when we have emerged from them stronger.

It's important to me that you take something away from every conversation with me. We don't want to take too long, but we don't want to leave out anything important either. Maybe you just need an hour to talk to someone and get a clearer perspective. But it could also be that you've been going round in circles for a long time and would like more long-term support.

Crises can drive very strong feelings

The level of suffering in a crisis situation varies. It is therefore important to determine whether you need psychotherapeutic support offline in your situation. For example, if your despair is so great that you are thinking about harming yourself, if you are experiencing severe panic attacks or if you have been suffering from sleep disorders for several weeks.

We can get an overview during the free initial consultation

During a free initial consultation, we can determine which course of treatment is right for you. We will review your symptoms and possible risk factors. If you decide to work with me, we will find out what you hope to get out of the process, what your desires and goals are to come out of this situation stronger. It would be a pleasure for me to meet you.