About me – Maria Fedotova

From functioning to feeling alive. The courage to stay true to yourself.

I grew up in a culture whose traumatic past continues to have an impact today. From an early age, I learnt that I had to do better and achieve more in order to be loved, and that other people’s expectations mattered more than my own voice.

After we moved to Germany, I graduated from school with excellent results. But when it came to deciding what to do next, I hardly knew what I wanted for myself. Like many others, I chose a secure career path that promised success.

It was only years later that I realised how disconnected I had been from myself at the time. From the outside, my life seemed to work – but inside, I lacked direction and a sense of meaning.

Then I met someone I would later work with for several years. What I admired was not what he did, but how he related to people: warmly, curiously and with a genuine desire to understand.

For the first time, I felt:

This is where I want to go. This feels meaningful to me.

For the first time, I made a decision that did not simply seem sensible, but felt right. I left my secure job and began a Master’s degree with a focus on education. From then on, step by step, I followed a path that brought me closer to myself – not only professionally, but personally as well.

Gestalt therapy eventually became a natural next step. From the very first meeting with my training group, I knew:

This is where I belong. This is where healing can happen.

I discovered a way of relating to myself and to others that I had long been searching for:

Honest. Mindful. Unhurried. Compassionate.

Through Gestalt therapy, I have experienced that change does not come from trying to improve ourselves. It comes from being allowed to encounter ourselves as we are, with everything that is there – in contact with another person.

My own painful experiences in relationships have also been part of my journey. And I have experienced first-hand that emotional wounds do not heal through understanding alone, but through genuine contact with another person.

Today, I live with my partner from a different cultural background and our son, who is growing up with three languages. Every day, I experience how differently people feel, communicate and express love – and how enriching these differences can be when we remain true to ourselves.

Today, I no longer chase someone else’s ideal, and I know that love does not have to be earned. That is why I do not want to change people. I want to create a space in which they can reconnect with themselves.

That is what I wish for every person who comes to me: to reconnect with themselves.

My qualifications

My therapeutic approach is shaped by my personal story. At the same time, it is grounded in extensive professional training.

• Five-year training in Gestalt Therapy, Das Däumling Institut
• Psychotherapy Practitioner (Heilpraktikerin für Psychotherapie), Cologne Public Health Department (Gesundheitsamt Köln)
• Nine-month training in Systemic Coaching and Change Management, INeKO Institute at the University of Cologne
• Six-month foundation training in Nonviolent Communication according to Marshall Rosenberg, IndiTO Bildung, Training und Beratung
• Master of Science in Business Education, specialising in Human Resources and Business Psychology, University of Cologne
• Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Management, European University of Applied Sciences

Reconnect with yourself

You are welcome to arrange a no-obligation initial consultation to find out whether working with me feels right for you.

As a Gestalt therapist and Psychotherapy Practitioner (Heilpraktikerin für Psychotherapie), I work with people in Cologne, Leverkusen and online.