Sylvie Tappert - the ID

“I am a social scientist and have been working for 15 years now with people in the form of coaching, therapy and counselling. My studies are in systemic therapy. I have also completed advisory studies and physical psychotherapeutic studies. This is a particular form of therapy, where physical expression is involved in the process, for example breathing.” She speaks German, English and some French.
Sylvie Tappert was appointed the MDC coach for a pilot phase until June when the demand for therapy will be assessed and matched with a permanent solution.

Who should seek therapy?

According to Sylvie, a person should look for therapy when they “notice that their well-being has changed, they are not happy anymore, they are going unwillingly to work or they notice that they don’t have time anymore for other things because of their stress load.” Anything from sleeping problems or other physical problems, worsening of social relationships, loss of interest in hobbies or conflicts at work can be signs that they could benefit from some help. “When the problem is so big that it cannot be overcome over a coffee with friends then it is ok to seek for support. You don’t have to start hurting yourself or become a drug addict to seek help.”

So, how could Sylvie help?

For the test phase, Sylvie allocated 8-10 hours per person, in the form of counselling and coaching. All sessions take one hour and are completely confidential, as it is part of the therapists’ work regulations.
For the first session you should “simply come!” and Sylvie will check a couple of life areas and assess together with you “what is going well and what is not. Where the concerns are, is where the person leads me.” Then, the client and Sylvie together define some goals and work towards this direction over several weeks.

“I don’t know exactly what is happening but all these stories about PhD students are coming to light now. This is causing bigger and bigger waves now. There are always some classic topics: conflicts with seniors, supervision problems, isolation is also a very big issue. People are coming in a new city and they have certain thoughts about it - ‘I am now fulfilling my dream here’ - and after this pink cloud phase the landing is often a crash.”

PhD- The Identity search

“The time during which people are doing their PhD, it is very commonly also a period of adolescence crisis”, the second one in our lives, says Sylvie. The search for one’s identity, the answer to the “Who am I?” question, “comes at the same time as the massive workload, this is sometimes an excessive demand”. It gets worse when combined with the career decisions, family planning and problematic work environment. At the same time, personal problems such as break ups, long-distance relationships or sick family members add up to the already high stress level.

PhD- How to deal with supervisor

When there are conflicts with hierarchy it is important to recognize that “The problem belongs to everyone in the system.” In therapy, Sylvie is not focused in mediating the two disagreeing parties, but rather “working together with this person to work out how they can keep distance from this, in order to not constantly experience stress.”
Establishing boundaries with the supervisor is also recognizably hard. Sylvie addresses it by, for instance, role playing- creating what could be reality. With that, one finds “What are actually my own barriers, where do I stop so that I take good care of myself.” For this, it is helpful to address it in a stress-free environment.

Navigating the German system- what happens after Sylvie?

When clients want and/or need to continue therapy further, Sylvie guides the process of finding a therapist in Berlin that is paid by the health insurances, in several languages - “usually it is better to work on this in the language of heart, in the language of feelings”. She mentions colleagues of different backgrounds-“ There are options, one has to look for them.”
Additionally, “when I notice psychiatric disorders or significant suicidal thoughts, then of course I have to take people to get emergency/immediate help.”

Sexual harassment is unfortunately common

For Sylvie this is a common topic. “It can actually be described as a chronic situation because the boundaries are degraded further and further by the perpetrator.” However, her focus is fully on the victim: “Of course I always wish that the offenders are held accountable. But this can make the victim unstable or lead to retraumatization and therefore as a therapist this is not my first priority.” In institutions, for example, the accountability of the perpetrators should not be the responsibility of the victim. There should be defined procedures for it.