.jpg)
Michael Röder
Non-medical Practitioner for Psychotherapy & Gestalt Therapist
When life, relationships, or inner struggles become difficult, we explore together what unfolds in the here and now — and how you have become who you are, in relationship with yourself and others.
I specialise in:
About me
I have been working in counselling and psychotherapy since 2014 with individuals, expats, people living between cultures, international students, and academics in Germany and China. My main therapeutic approach is psychodynamically informed Gestalt therapy. Since 2022, I have been working in my own psychotherapy practice in Frankfurt am Main.
I have been interested in psychology since I was young and have long been curious about what moves people, motivates them, and shapes their behaviour. Why and how do we stand in our own way? Why do certain experiences stay with us, sometimes affecting how we relate to ourselves and others? And what makes people seem “difficult” — to others and sometimes to themselves?
I have often felt close to people who were marginalised, ignored, or ridiculed because they were seen as different — and I sought contact with them. During 20 months of community service and my early university years, I supported people with cognitive impairments.
My interest in intercultural communication, psychoanalysis, and human development eventually led me to practical training in humanistic psychotherapy, including a five-year training in Gestalt therapy.
Since 2006, I have lived and worked in China repeatedly — more than twelve years in total. These experiences continue to shape my work with expats, international clients, and people navigating life between cultures.
I speak:
Location:
Media Gallery
Approach
• Are relationships — whether in partnership, family, or work — becoming difficult or repetitive?
• Do you feel stuck, frustrated, or disconnected from yourself?
• Are life changes, loss, or uncertainty difficult to navigate?
• Do you struggle with motivation, emotional ups and downs, stress, or distraction?
“Our opposites fight each other because they do not listen to one another.”
My main therapeutic approach is Gestalt therapy with a psychodynamic and emotion-focused perspective. Together, we explore what unfolds in the here and now — in thoughts, feelings, bodily responses, and relationships. We look at what may be blocking you or keeping you caught in familiar emotional or behavioural patterns.
“Lose your mind and come to your senses.” (Fritz Perls)
I may invite you to pay attention to bodily sensations or suggest experiential exercises, such as role play, to deepen awareness and emotional understanding. Together, we explore how you protect yourself from the challenges of life — and how this may have come about.
I see how much energy you may already have invested in trying to live a fuller life. Together, we explore new perspectives and possibilities for reconnecting with yourself, others, and what truly matters to you.
Experience
Since 03-2022 in own practice (Gestalt & Psyche) as licensed alternative practitioner for psychotherapy in Frankfurt am Main, Bornheim
Since 03-2024 Psychotherapy and Counseling (in English, German) - online and in person - for international students, academics and expats in Beijing and Frankfurt am Main
10-2023 - 07-2025 Teaching and individual, intercultural, and career counseling at Beijing International Studies University
04-2022 - 03-2023 Qi Gong instructor at the Migraine and Headache Clinic Königstein/Ts.
2015 - 2020 DAAD lecturer, teaching and counseling work at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou
2013 - 2015 International Recruitment at the International Office, project assistant (for China) at GRADE Graduate Academy, Goethe University Frankfurt/M.
Education
April 2026 - Certified Systemic Counselor and Coach, BSG Institute for Social and Health Education (163 hrs); certified by the German Society for Systemic Coaching and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CCI)
Nov 2024 - Foundation Certificate in Bereavement Counselling, six weeks course with John Wilson, Temenos UK
May 2024 - Basic Course in Resilience and Attachment-Oriented Trauma Therapy (RebiT®) with Dr. med. Alice Romanus-Ludewig
2013 - 2023 - Certificate Training in Analytical Gestalt Therapy (1384 hrs) - Bonner Institut für Gestalttherapie
2022 - Licensed Heilpraktiker (Psychotherapy), Health Department Frankfurt am Main
July 2022 - Qigong trainer course, kinetics according to Qigong, terramedus Academy for Health, Frankfurt/M.
2019 - 2021 - Heilpraktiker (Psychotherapy) Training, Isolde Richter School
Sept. 2019 - July 2020 - Certified Qi Gong Instructor, trained by Cathrin Müller, Isolde Richter School
2010 - 2011 - Level 4 Diploma in Integrated Therapeutic Counselling (QCF), NCFE (200 GLH)
2002 - 2004 - Postgraduate Diploma in Intercultural Communication, University of Kassel
1988 - 1995 - MA Modern Languages, Cultural Anthropology, Psychoanalysis - Goethe University Frankfurt
Services
Intro Call
Individual Session
Individual Session
Individual Session
Insurances
