15 years of professional experience, 3 continents - worldwide experience and competence
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I have always been interested in humans in general and in the question of why people respond to their work in such fundamentally different ways. For some, work is just a drain and retirement is the only thing they are focussed on and for others, work is their passion and truly gives them purpose, zest and vitality. Work is unavoidably a central part of human life, so how can we bridge and find a balance between these extremes? These questions led me to study work and organisational psychology at the University of Innsbruck.
I also became fascinated by the scientific health and wellbeing benefits of meditation and mindfulness, so during and after my studies I regularly travelled to Nepal and India to learn about the subject in-depth. For this purpose I lived and worked for many months in Buddhist monasteries and Indian ashrams. These were unique and life-changing experiences for me and have strongly influenced my personal and professional journey.​
After completing my studies in Europe, I worked for many years as a coach and psychologist in Sydney, Australia. During this time I co-developed health and wellbeing programs and trained teams at global companies such as PricewaterhouseCoopers International, Lendlease, KPMG, Siemens, Citibank and Coca-Cola. I also regularly coached several leaders and CEO's of these companies, working with them individually on how to maximise their psychological, physiological and mental wellbeing so as to positively impact the quality of their lives and their work. I also co-founded the international consulting firm, Frontier Wellbeing, with Christie Little. Our motto was 'New Science. New Choices. New Possibilities' and we focused on distilling the latest scientific research to create simple and practical programs to improve individual and collective health and wellbeing.
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I believe that each person is unique, complex and multifaceted. In order to be able to support people both professionally and privately, a holistic approach is required. That's why I've completed many additional international training courses over the years. These include certifications in biofeedback, nutritional coaching, nature and forest therapy (ANFT), Positive Neuroplasticity Training with Rick Hanson and permaculture design with David Holmgren.
After my return to Europe in 2017, I began to include mindfulness based nature practices in my professional work with people. As a nature and forest therapy leader, I have developed a number of forest bathing certification courses in Italy, Austria and Germany. I am currently collaborating with the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich and the Medical Society for Preventive Medicine and Traditional Naturopathic Treatments, Kneippärztebund e. v.
Recently, I conducted a clinical study together with Paracelsus Medical Private University, Salzburg to investigate the health effects of mindful experiences in nature. The results were promising. My latest book "Wald tut gut - Stress abbauen, Wohlbefinden und Gesundheit stärken" has been published by AT Verlag.
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For my continued personal and professional development, I have begun a multi-year Gestalt training to become a Counsellor at the Institute for Integrative Gestalt Therapy Würzburg (IGW).
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