about
hi, I am Ieva.
I welcome you
to therapy.
I invite you for an honest look at things as they are.
This process can be uncomfortable. It requires looking right into our blind spots and deep under stories we are used to telling ourselves. We might face things about ourselves that we’d rather not see. We might feel how much what happened to us, hurts. There might be anger, sadness, shame. It might take more time than we think we have.
I am here to support you through it all. When we carefully, at our own pace, acknowledge our reality and allow it to be as it is – no matter how unpleasant and unwanted – something shifts. That’s when true lasting change can actually happen.
I am a psychotherapist under education, currently in my 3rd (out of 4) year of studies at Norwegian Gestalt Institute. While I have just started, I feel well supported to support you. I have teachers I trust, regular supervisions and personal therapy. I rely on the Code of Ethics by the European Association for Gestalt Therapy.
I am a Lithuanian, based in Oslo, born in 1989. A woman, wife, sister, daughter, friend. My academic background is in Japanese language and culture. I worked as a Japanese teacher, until I re-educated and switched to UX design. Today, along with the therapy practice, I run a solo web design studio. Yoga, intuitive movement, writing, traveling are my forms of soul-searching.
the method
gestalt therapy:
you and me,
here and now.
Knowing, reading, thinking and even talking about our psychological difficulties is not always enough for a meaningful lasting change to take place. If we get too caught up in thoughts we think and stories we tell, a vast ocean of information about our experiences might remain out of our awareness.
Gestalt therapy method acknowledges that we, humans, are both minds and bodies. Rather than analyzing and interpreting situations, we focus on how we are actually experiencing them here and now. We pay attention to both thoughts and body sensations. What we say matters as much as how we say it.
During our sessions, I will invite you to get curious about the present moment. I will also invite you to trust that once a theme is ready to be explored, it will find ways to come up in a relationship between us. This way, we get to explore what is alive here and now, expressing itself in real time, real life situation.
"
Change occurs when one becomes what he is, not when he tries to become what he is not.
/ Ardnold Beissar
"
Lose your mind and come to your senses.
/ Fritz Perls
Topics
some themes
we can meet at:
worthiness
If I breathe in fully, will I take too much space? I know how it feels to walk through life on tiptoes. It has been a journey of a lifetime to dare take up space and trust that I am worthy, just as I am.
body image
I used to avoid sitting comfortably, because I could not stand seeing my tights expanded. I’ve come a long way since then. But I still remind myself sometimes that I am in this body to experience life, rather than look a certain way.
perfectionism
Here you can see my inner critics, warning about the mortal danger of doing things imperfectly. When I believe them, I come to total freeze. I am in a continuous process of not letting them take over.
anxiety
The nervous old friend that makes my heart pound, mind dizzy, body tense, future disastrous. I still get visits from time to time. I do my best to greet them with love, stretch and deep breaths.
self expression
I am on a quest of putting my gifts, skills and talents out there to be seen. This makes me come alive. It took time, lots of support and scary leaps to start trusting that what I have to give is valuable.
belonging
I do not feel steadily rooted in any country, city, home. I speak more English than my mother tongue. There is freedom in it, which I need like air. There is also loneliness, which is the price I am paying.
relationships
I had years of adventures, parties, one-nighters. Part of me misses the freedom. But I know I would have easily traded it for this deep sense of safety I have with my husband today. It required compromises, it’s been humbling and it’s been so worth it.
anger
No wonder I had been suppressing this force of nature for so long. It certainly makes me less comfortable to others. But it makes my boundaries clear, needs met, body alive, life more full.
Book a session
an invitation to
trust the process.
I offer individual gestalt therapy for adults in English and Lithuanian. Price per 60 min session: NOK 500 (〜EUR 43). We will meet online. I am planning to invite for in person sessions in central Oslo soon.
Click below to book a time for a session. If you are wondering about something or cannot find times that suit you, feel free to drop me an email to [email protected].
LGBTQ+ welcome.
Please note that paid appointments cancelled later than 24 hours in advance are charged full price, unless we have agreed otherwise.
newsletter
I write to explore those messy middles of my human life. I wish it contributes to you feeling a little bit more OK with yours.
© 2024 Ieva Vera