Meet the Therapist: Julia Söllner, Psychologist and Personal Coach
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to Shanghai.
I’m from Hamburg, Germany. My boyfriend and I moved to Shanghai in late 2017. For me, it was a wonderful opportunity to explore living in a new place and yet return somewhere familiar, as my parents lived in Shanghai several years ago. I had visited several times and was familiar with Body & Soul. So, I was excited about the chance to work with the team here while my partner pursues his professional opportunity.
Could you tell us more about your professional background?
I have a master’s degree in Psychology and I’m a certified personal and business coach and trainer. I started my career doing psychological counseling, including short and long-term counseling and crisis intervention. I primarily helped people with concerns such as stress, depression, and marital and family issues. I then transitioned into an organizational psychology role, working in HR. I performed a wide variety of tasks, but I particularly feel I benefitted from the experience in workplace conflict resolution.
After a couple years in HR management, I decided I wanted to return to more directly helping individuals. So, I pursued training in personal and business coaching, which included an experiential component. I found I loved using a combination of deepening and solutions-based coaching techniques and models to assist clients with sustainable development of their personal and professional path. I then decided to take this a step further and got certified as a team moderator to facilitate group trainings. I learned about workshop conception, team building processes, group dynamics and specific types of training.
How do you envision using this combination of training and skills to assist clients in Shanghai?
With personal and professional coaching, the emphasis is on solutions for clients who desire change, who are struggling with finding their path or dealing with personal crisis. We can go deep into their underlying issues and uncover resources and different ways of thinking to create new opportunities. Shanghai is such an ideal environment for this, as there’s a special opportunity for reinvention. When expats move here they face a fresh start, which can be a wonderful chance but can also be quite overwhelming. You have to sort yourself to determine what you want and be able to embrace the possibilities. Through my combination of counseling and coaching experience, I can guide clients through this process. Additionally, I can help individuals and couples to overcome conflicts and personal crises. These may be exacerbated by the change of adjusting to the new environment in Shanghai as well as various personal and professional stressors.
Additionally, I will be offering talks and workshops to help groups of people. Some example topics include “Communication and Feedback”, “Stress and Self-Management”, “Emotional Luggage”, “Dealing with Your Inner Critic”, “Slowing Down to Find Your Own Path” and for families, “Dealing with School/Exam Pressure”.
If you need support finding your personal and/or professional path with the help of innovative solution based models, contact Body & Soul to make a consultation appointment with Julia. Julia focuses on German speaking patients and offers consultations at the Downtown Clinic – Xintiandi, Hongmei Road Clinic – Hongqiao and Century Park Clinic – Pudong.