Maja Lyon
I have worked for almost 25 years in the fields of healthcare, communications and psychotherapy. I work with individuals, small analytical groups, and applied groups. I provide a safe space for personal growth and development while working towards desired therapeutic goals and improved interpersonal (partnership, professional, and social) relations.
My areas of expertise include anxiety and depression, stress management, personal growth, recurrent relational difficulties, incapacity for emotional intimacy, problems with work, obsessions and compulsions, self-harm, and anger issues. I also deal with life transitions — moving, leaving home, separation, divorce, mid-life relationships, ageing, and cultural adaptation.
I am Psychologist, MA culturologist, Psychoanalytical Psychotherapist and Group Analytical psychotherapist in education at the Association of Psychoanalytical Psychotherapist and Society for Group Analysis Belgrade, and also a student member of the Group Analytic Society International (GASI) in London.
My family and I have moved frequently, and lived in Greece, Russia, the United States, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while experiencing firsthand the challenges associated with being a diplomat’s wife in a foreign country. I have worked with multi-national companies conducting group training sessions for management, and helped corporations develop external communication strategies. These included companies such as U.S. Steel, L’Oreal, and Gasprom Neft.
My approach:
When life seems complicated, and you feel afraid, challenged, and disconnected from everything familiar – it is a sign that distress is overwhelming your usual way of operating.
Your restlessness and struggles can come from within in the form of anxiety or impulses or from the outside in the form of trauma or life transitions, such as relocation, relationship issues, loss of friendships, cultural differences, birth, divorce, professional and family challenges, etc.
Whatever your life challenges might be, you can overcome them with the right support.
I work gradually by leading you towards awareness of the problem and its causes, at a rhythm and pace that is suitable for you.
Using Applied Psychodynamic Principles, I employ a Three Phase approach.
The goal of the First Phase is to create a safe and supportive environment where you can put yourself first without judgment, shame or guilt.
During the Second Phase, the focus is on helping you adapt more effectively to internal and external stressors. Signs of poor adaptation include anxiety and mood changes, depression, relationship problems, eating and sexual disorders, anger management issues, somatic symptoms, and phobic symptoms. When combined with a subjective feeling of unhappiness and distress, these are sure signs that a person is not constructively dealing with stress. We define ourselves in the interpersonal space through a web of contacts with others. When one feels in distress, it is usually a sign that one is cut off or estranged from his/her network. I will work with you to help re-establish network bonds and connections.
The Third Phase is dedicated to increasing your awareness of the problem and/or practicing new ways of functioning. This translates into helping your way around the thought pattern or behavior and establishing a lasting change.