Practice for systemic therapy and supervision
My name is Sandra Kästel
I have worked with individuals, couples and families for more than 15 years. As a result, I have met many courageous and
inspiring people who taught me a lot about life, with all its challenges and the occasional magical moments.
I grew up on the coast in Kiel and later went to London to study. I received my bachelor's degree in psychology there and then moved to Cardiff for my master's degree.
My plans to work in England were miraculously thwarted by the arrival of our daughter who took me to the south-west of Germany. There I completed my family therapy training
at the Institute for Family Therapy in Weinheim (IFW). This degree is recognized by the Systemic Society (SG).
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In 2007 we moved back to London as a family, where I had the pleasure of running and expanding a family therapy service for a charity at Wimbledon for 10 years.
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Working in a multicultural context has shaped my understanding of other cultures and helped me better understand my own roots.
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I have also learned that the longing for a loving relationship is universal, even though we communicate our love so differently that our good intentions are sometimes misunderstood.
Over the years I have clinically trained many trainee family therapists and established therapeutic teams for all clients so that they could benefit from different therapeutic perspectives. In my private practice, I began to work increasingly with couples and became interested in attachment-oriented parenting. As part of my role as a manager I have also given lectures and workshops to varying audiences.
I continued my education in various modalities, such as Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and Internal Family Systems (IFS), both of which I find very helpful in my therapeutic work.
I have also completed supervisor training from the University of Surrey which enables me to provide both group and individual supervision.
After eleven wonderful years in London, during which I have grown as a therapist and as a person, we have decided to move back to the coast.
I have been living with my family in Kiel since mid-2018, where I graduated as an alternative practitioner for psychotherapy (HPP) and set up my private practice. In 2020 our son was born, which was one of those unexpected magical moments for us and which fills us with gratitude.
Qualifications
BSc (Hons) Psychology – Middlesex University, London
MSc Occupational Psychology – Cardiff University, Wales
Systemic therapist and consultant (SG) – Institute for Family Therapy in Weinheim
PC Supervision and Consultation: Psychotherapeutic and Organizational Approaches – University of Surrey, Guildford
Alternative practitioner for psychotherapy – City of Kiel
Advanced training
Continuous professional training through visits to conferences,
workshops and training courses, among others
- Emotion-focused therapy according to Dr Sue Johnson (EFT)
- Internalized family systems according to Dr Richard Schwartz (IFS)
- Attachment theory according to Dr John Bowlby
- Therapeutic work with trauma – various training courses and congresses
- Systemic therapy and supervision – various workshops and conferences
Memberships
Institute for Family Therapy in Weinheim (IF Weinheim) – www.if-weinheim.de
Association for Family Therapy (AFT) – www.aft.org.uk
The International Center for Excellence in Emotionally Focussed Therapy (ICEEFT) – www.iceeft.com
German Society for Systemic Therapy, Counseling and Family Therapy (DGSF) – www.dgsf.org
