Since my time as a student and in the decades since, I have accompanied people, groups and organizations on new paths in order to support their development.
- Pedagogue (1st and 2nd State Examination for Teaching at Secondary Schools)
- HR and organizational developer (ret.)
- Graduate of the Ruth Cohn Institute for TCI – international i.R.
- Author of the Trauma Picture Booklets and project manager of the Trauma Aid Project
My attitude is founded on the TCI (Theme-Centered Interaction according to Ruth C. Cohn) and psychoanalysis. My actions are pragmatically oriented towards the needs of my target groups and the respective political framework conditions. I like to use simple representations and texts in this sense:
“Everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler”
Albert Einstein
Since 2013, after a large number of people sought refuge in Germany due to wars, it has become important to me to help children after their escape on a voluntary basis. As a teacher with additional psychological training, I wanted to help reduce their great mental burdens and strengthen their so-called dandelion power. Since then, this has become my contribution to society. In this sense:
“I am not all-powerful, I am not powerless, I am partially powerful”
Ruth C. Cohn
In 2014, after touching encounters in refugee shelters, I wrote, illustrated and published my first Trauma Picture Book for the little survivalists and their parents on my website, initially in three languages (German, English, Arabic). The Arabic translation was financed by “Children for Tomorrow”, the refugee outpatient clinic for children and their families at the UKE in Hamburg.
From this beginning, a large, international project has emerged over the years. The Trauma Picture Book is now available in 16 languages and in Ukrainian-German. Other publications have been added. All materials are available for free download for non-commercial use on this website. Several thousand copies have been printed and sent out. In many training courses, colleagues use the publications for the further training of educators, and in therapeutic practices, parents receive the picture books as accompanying material. Several important institutions have included the booklets in their bibliographies or referred to them in articles.
This development was only possible through the participation of therapists, translators, practical peer support, donations and the voluntary work of two professional graphic designers who created and maintain my website. I am deeply grateful to all of you. They will be mentioned by name on the “A Great Honor” page or in the publication’s respective imprint.
Since 2014 – the year the Trauma Picture Books were first published – this website was visited over 550,000 times. This great interest and the fates of the children motivate me to maintain and further develop the project. I am always happy to receive feedback, a recommendation or a link to my website.