What is psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy is a professional and collaborative process that supports people in exploring emotional challenges, improving mental wellbeing, and gaining deeper self-understanding. It provides a safe, confidential space to talk about what’s difficult - whether that’s painful emotions, relationship and family problems, inner conflicts, or patterns that feel hard to change.

At its core, psychotherapy is about making meaning and increasing understanding. Together with a trained psychotherapist, you look at how your experiences, thoughts, emotions, and relationships fit together - and how they might be influencing your life today. This understanding can open the door to new perspectives, greater self-compassion, and the possibility of change.

Psychotherapy is not about giving advice or fixing someone. Instead, it’s a process of shared exploration, where the therapist brings professional knowledge and the client brings lived experience. Both are equally important in shaping the direction of the work.

There are many different approaches to psychotherapy and in Austria there are four main schools of psychotherapy: psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioural, humanistic and systemic family therapy. Each school offers different tools and ways of understanding human experience. What they all share is a commitment to creating a space where healing, growth, and transformation can take place over time.

You don’t need to have a mental health diagnosis to benefit from psychotherapy. People seek therapy for many reasons: to manage stress, process past experiences, navigate life transitions, build healthier relationships, or simply to get to know themselves better.

What’s the difference between psychotherapy and counselling?

The terms psychotherapy and counselling are often used interchangeably, and indeed, they share many similarities. Both involve talking with a trained professional in a safe, confidential space, and both aim to support emotional wellbeing and personal development. However, there are some differences in focus and depth that may help clarify which is right for you.

Counselling often focuses on helping clients manage current difficulties, such as stress, relationship issues, work challenges, or grief. It tends to be shorter-term and more solution-oriented, supporting people in developing coping strategies and gaining clarity in a specific area of life.

Psychotherapy typically goes deeper. In addition to addressing present concerns, it explores the underlying patterns, experiences, and relational dynamics that shape how we think, feel, and relate to others. It can be especially helpful for long-standing emotional difficulties, repeated patterns, trauma, or questions of identity and self-worth.

Psychotherapy is usually a longer-term process, although this can vary depending on the client’s goals. In reality, the boundary between the two is often fluid. Many therapists draw on techniques from both counselling and psychotherapy, and what matters most is not the label, but the quality of the relationship and the fit between your needs and the therapist’s approach.

I offer both counselling and psychotherapy to clients under the umbrella term psychotherapy.

What is Systemic Family Therapy?

Systemic Family Therapy is an evidence-based psychotherapeutic approach which focuses on working together with clients to find suitable solutions to their problems and to gain deeper and a new understanding of their context and themselves. Going to therapy can be a big and daunting step and it is important that clients feel comfortable, respected and have room to feel heard.

Systemic therapy helps clients to find their inner strengths, resources, alternative ways of thinking and acting and to create new narratives about themselves. There is a focus on change, autonomy and building a deeper connection to oneself and one’s story as the client is always the expert on their own life.

When can psychotherapy help?

Most of us will face moments in life when things feel overwhelming, confusing, or painful - times when we struggle to make sense of our experiences or to find a way forward. Psychotherapy offers a structured, supportive space to reflect, process, and grow in the face of such challenges. People come to therapy for many reasons:

• To cope with anxiety, depression, or stress
• To navigate life transitions or losses
• To better understand recurring relational patterns
• To explore identity or past experiences
• To work through past trauma
• To work through addiction
• Or simply to deepen self-awareness and personal growth

You don’t need to be in crisis to benefit from therapy. Research shows that psychotherapy can be an effective support at various stages of life, for a wide range of issues - both acute and ongoing.

What does the research say?

Psychotherapy is a well-established, evidence-based method for improving mental and emotional wellbeing. Numerous scientific studies in recent decades have consistently shown that:

• Psychotherapy works: Meta-analyses have demonstrated that psychotherapy is effective for most people, with outcomes significantly better than no treatment.
• The relationship matters: A strong therapeutic alliance - the sense of trust, safety, and collaboration between therapist and client - is one of the most important predictors of positive outcomes.
• Different methods work: While approaches may differ, many are equally effective. What matters most is that the method fits the client’s needs and goals.
• It promotes lasting change: Therapy doesn’t just help manage symptoms - it can also lead to long-term shifts in how people understand themselves, relate to others, and respond to life’s challenges. Psychotherapy has also been shown to reduce the risk of relapse in depression, improve coping skills, support emotional regulation, and even bring measurable changes in brain activity related to stress and emotion processing.

Is It the right time?

There’s no “right” moment to start therapy - but if you find yourself stuck in certain patterns, overwhelmed by emotions, or simply longing for change or clarity, it might be worth exploring. Therapy offers a space to slow down, listen inward, and begin making sense of your experience with someone trained to help. Whether you’re facing a specific difficulty or looking for deeper self-understanding, psychotherapy can provide meaningful support - grounded in empathy, collaboration, and evidence-based practice.