Oda Liodden, MSc
I was born and raised in a small city outside Oslo, Norway. After realising the study programme I was following did not suit me, I decided not only to change programmes but also to change countries. This is how my expat journey started when in 2014 I moved to England to study psychology at the University of Essex. In 2017, I moved to the Netherlands where I completed a research master in clinical and developmental psychology at the VU Amsterdam, followed by a master in clinical psychology at Leiden University.
I often describe the expat experience as a life consisting of two bubbles: one bubble contains your life in your current country, and the other bubble encompasses your life in your home country. Rarely do elements from one bubble appear in the other – except you; you travel between the two bubbles all the time. My experience is that this can simultaneously be both an enriching and a lonely experience.
Why did I become a therapist? It is the classic tale of many therapists, I think. From a young age, I have found myself feeling at home in being “the listener”. Moreover, I felt honoured and grateful when people chose to open up to me and share things that burdened – or lightened – them. In personal relationships, this requires trust. Irrespective of the fact that the therapist-client relationship is professional and confidential, still trust remains vital. As such, I place a great emphasis on you feeling safe and understood by me in the sessions.
My therapeutic approach is person-centred; we are equals in the therapy room. I offer psychological expertise but you are inevitably the expert regarding you and your experience. Therefore, the sessions are a collaboration between the two of us, in which we work together to find out what you need and how to achieve that. Embedded in my formal training and life philosophy, I draw on elements from cognitive-behavioural therapy, schema therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mindfulness.
I offer therapy in English, Dutch, and Norwegian.
Registration(s):
Cognitief Gedragstherapeut i.o. (VGCt)