HELLO AND WELCOME TO MY WEBSITE

If you have found your way to my website, chances are you are searching for a professional who can guide you through personal matters in a safe and comforting environment. But how to you find the right person?

Let me tell you a bit about my life and why I am deeply passionate about my profession:

My name is Claire Müller-Suhre. I am married and mother of two. When I first moved from Germany to France almost 30 years ago, I was surprised to realize how different cultures are, not only when it comes to communication styles and ways of life, but also parenting and education. This made me start reading on fascinating topics such as migration, identity, culture, intercultural communication, and human behaviour. I completed a PhD program during which I explored a topic that had fascinated me for quite a while: how we perceive strangers in intercultural settings.
 

I began giving workshops on migration and culture-related topics at various volunteer organizations such as the "Bavarian Refugee Council", "Cafe 104 - Support for Undocumented Migrants", "Caritas" and the "Doctors of the World" whom I joined for five years. While providing psycho-social counselling and patient care at their local drop-in clinic, I was often amazed by how incredibly courageous and resourceful patients were. I loved to listen when clients spoke about their lives, to support them and to help them reactivate their own often forgotten inner resources. Motivated by this, I trained as a counsellor and obtained my licence as “Non-Medial Practitioner for Psychotherapy” (Heilpraktiker für Psychotherapie) from the “Department of Health” in Munich.

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Living between cultures & culture-sensitive work
 

Being a "professional foreigner" myself and interacting daily with people from many different cultures has made me aware of the long-lasting effects of colonialism, as well as the profound implications of discrimination, xenophobia, racism, colourism and white privilege. It has also taught me how much the Western approach I learned during my training often does not fit the needs of persons from e.g. Muslim or Asian background. Even counselling and psychotherapy theories and practises are culture-bound. Therefore, I joined a CPCAB-accredited faith-based counselling course, where I trained with the pioneers of Islamic Counselling trainings in the UK. My relocation to London felt like the perfect opportunity to also learn “the British way” by enrolling on a BACP-accredited integrative counselling training at CPPD London.

In the UK, I have worked with both British as well as foreign adult clients at “Sangam - Association of Asian Women”, “Barnet Refugee Service” (BRS) and “CPPD Counselling Services” in North London.