Hey, I'm Teri - an international Dane working with people from across the world to help them overcome their mental obstacles to create healthier and happier lives for themselves by supporting them in rewriting their stories by changing their narratives.
But, who am I to offer this?
The boring details are that I have a bachelors and masters (kandidat) in psychology, a postgraduate diploma in counselling and psychotherapy and a diploma in transformational life coaching. The far more fun way of putting this is that I am a story collector, story sharer and story creator.
However, first I had to figure out my own story...
I grew up on an idyllic island in Denmark in southern Fyn and by all accounts I had a perfectly happy and certainly privileged childhood that included skiing in Norway, Sweden and Austria in the winter and sailing around Sweden in summer. I went to a small, private school and never went to bed hungry or cold.
But behind that story, was the story of a girl who just couldn't figure out how to fit in, who felt incredibly lonely, misunderstood and sad and who was bullied at school as well as having a distant and critical father, making her believe that she wasn't really worth much and wouldn't amount to much. This meant that the little girl, grew up thinking life was a chore and depression her norm.
When I was 21, I'd finished college (gymnasium) and was just about to finish my business diploma (HH) and all my friends were off to university, going into apprenticeships or were making headway in their corporate jobs and I felt panicked. Was this it? After two decades of schooling, was I meant to carry on - all work and no play? And marry my high-school sweetheart, settle down, buy a house in the suburbs, have a couple of kids and just wait for retirement when I could live my life, free from demands and responsibility?
Instead, I gave notice on my flat, put my stuff in storage and moved to London.
The year after, I packed an even smaller bag and moved to Australia, travelling through New Zealand and Australia.
And the year after that, I moved to Scotland to save up to travel through Europe.
And then the 2008/09 recession hit and I found myself without a job, recently single, having burned a lot of bridges and without a roof over my head. I was 26 and no longer enjoying my nomadic life.
However, I was unable to get into my dream degree in psychology in Denmark and felt a bit lost until a friend told me to apply in Scotland and so I did and a few week's later, I'd once again moved to Scotland, found a summer job and had been accepted into the University of Stirling to gain a Bachelors in Science (BSc) in psychology.
In 2014 I carried on studying counselling and psychotherapy at Abertay University in Dundee.
In 2017 I started my private practice as a therapist in Perth, Scotland, and opened a beautiful, small and cosy office in the heart of the city. And in 2018 I started both my diploma in transformational life coaching as well as a Masters of Science (MSc/kandidat) in psychological research, focussing on autism in adults.
I graduated in November 2019 and began to wonder what was next for me and if it was time to leave Scotland but before I'd made up my mind it was March 2020 and I think you know how that went...
I quickly re-launched my practice online and have been working via Zoom ever since, realising the benefits and flexibility of working online for both me and the people I work with who don't have to spend extra time on travelling to my office, nor having to leave and drive away while, potentially, crying and feeling very vulnerable.
In the autumn of 2021 I decided it was time to return home to Denmark and reconnect with my native country.
Which, quite frankly, wasn't as easy as I'd thought it'd be.
I felt like a stranger in my own country and had to start over in terms of building a home and life, finding friends and starting a new business under Danish law.
In the summer of 2022 I launched my new, international, Danish-based, one-stop-shop business The Manual of You™ dealing with all things mental health - from lacking it, to wanting to increase its strength - including one-to-one talk therapy, workshops and courses in living a healthier and happier life, group support programmes, as well as corporate training, to ensure we carry on the mental health conversation in the workplace, as well as many free offerings like my daily blog, my podcast and my e-book.
If you want to know more or have any questions, feel free to get in touch using my contact page.
But, who am I to offer this?
The boring details are that I have a bachelors and masters (kandidat) in psychology, a postgraduate diploma in counselling and psychotherapy and a diploma in transformational life coaching. The far more fun way of putting this is that I am a story collector, story sharer and story creator.
However, first I had to figure out my own story...
I grew up on an idyllic island in Denmark in southern Fyn and by all accounts I had a perfectly happy and certainly privileged childhood that included skiing in Norway, Sweden and Austria in the winter and sailing around Sweden in summer. I went to a small, private school and never went to bed hungry or cold.
But behind that story, was the story of a girl who just couldn't figure out how to fit in, who felt incredibly lonely, misunderstood and sad and who was bullied at school as well as having a distant and critical father, making her believe that she wasn't really worth much and wouldn't amount to much. This meant that the little girl, grew up thinking life was a chore and depression her norm.
When I was 21, I'd finished college (gymnasium) and was just about to finish my business diploma (HH) and all my friends were off to university, going into apprenticeships or were making headway in their corporate jobs and I felt panicked. Was this it? After two decades of schooling, was I meant to carry on - all work and no play? And marry my high-school sweetheart, settle down, buy a house in the suburbs, have a couple of kids and just wait for retirement when I could live my life, free from demands and responsibility?
Instead, I gave notice on my flat, put my stuff in storage and moved to London.
The year after, I packed an even smaller bag and moved to Australia, travelling through New Zealand and Australia.
And the year after that, I moved to Scotland to save up to travel through Europe.
And then the 2008/09 recession hit and I found myself without a job, recently single, having burned a lot of bridges and without a roof over my head. I was 26 and no longer enjoying my nomadic life.
However, I was unable to get into my dream degree in psychology in Denmark and felt a bit lost until a friend told me to apply in Scotland and so I did and a few week's later, I'd once again moved to Scotland, found a summer job and had been accepted into the University of Stirling to gain a Bachelors in Science (BSc) in psychology.
In 2014 I carried on studying counselling and psychotherapy at Abertay University in Dundee.
In 2017 I started my private practice as a therapist in Perth, Scotland, and opened a beautiful, small and cosy office in the heart of the city. And in 2018 I started both my diploma in transformational life coaching as well as a Masters of Science (MSc/kandidat) in psychological research, focussing on autism in adults.
I graduated in November 2019 and began to wonder what was next for me and if it was time to leave Scotland but before I'd made up my mind it was March 2020 and I think you know how that went...
I quickly re-launched my practice online and have been working via Zoom ever since, realising the benefits and flexibility of working online for both me and the people I work with who don't have to spend extra time on travelling to my office, nor having to leave and drive away while, potentially, crying and feeling very vulnerable.
In the autumn of 2021 I decided it was time to return home to Denmark and reconnect with my native country.
Which, quite frankly, wasn't as easy as I'd thought it'd be.
I felt like a stranger in my own country and had to start over in terms of building a home and life, finding friends and starting a new business under Danish law.
In the summer of 2022 I launched my new, international, Danish-based, one-stop-shop business The Manual of You™ dealing with all things mental health - from lacking it, to wanting to increase its strength - including one-to-one talk therapy, workshops and courses in living a healthier and happier life, group support programmes, as well as corporate training, to ensure we carry on the mental health conversation in the workplace, as well as many free offerings like my daily blog, my podcast and my e-book.
If you want to know more or have any questions, feel free to get in touch using my contact page.
* Disclaimer:
I hold a BSc in Psychology and a MSc (kandidat) in Psychological Research (focussing on autism in adults) - which is what's required in Denmark to call yourself a psychologist (protected title). I also hold a Postgraduate Diploma (3 year university degree) in counselling and psychotherapy and a diploma in coaching and coaching supervision, as well as hundreds of hours of further training within my field and nearly a thousand client hours under my belt. However, this has not been enough for the Danish Ministry of Education to approve my qualifications in Denmark (another known problem in the Danish system of not acknowledging foreign qualifications). Their decision is based on me not having enough HR and pedagogical educational hours, despite also having worked in the corporate world for 13 years before setting up my own private practice in 2017, so I can't call myself a 'psychologist' in Denmark as that's a protected title and, therefore, can't get a job as a psychologist here either. As someone who's never felt I belonged here and been used to following her own path, I've decided not to fight this decision, nor to walk away, but rather to walk around this obstacle - hence why I call myself a 'psychology coach and psychotherapist' (not protected titles).
I hold a BSc in Psychology and a MSc (kandidat) in Psychological Research (focussing on autism in adults) - which is what's required in Denmark to call yourself a psychologist (protected title). I also hold a Postgraduate Diploma (3 year university degree) in counselling and psychotherapy and a diploma in coaching and coaching supervision, as well as hundreds of hours of further training within my field and nearly a thousand client hours under my belt. However, this has not been enough for the Danish Ministry of Education to approve my qualifications in Denmark (another known problem in the Danish system of not acknowledging foreign qualifications). Their decision is based on me not having enough HR and pedagogical educational hours, despite also having worked in the corporate world for 13 years before setting up my own private practice in 2017, so I can't call myself a 'psychologist' in Denmark as that's a protected title and, therefore, can't get a job as a psychologist here either. As someone who's never felt I belonged here and been used to following her own path, I've decided not to fight this decision, nor to walk away, but rather to walk around this obstacle - hence why I call myself a 'psychology coach and psychotherapist' (not protected titles).
