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Madis Vainomaa
Gestalt Therapist
Everyone gets stuck at some point in their lives. I will work with you to help you see the underlying issues so you can face and integrate them - and move on in peace with yourself and stronger.
I specialise in:
About me
Hi, I am Madis, an Estonian. I bring to my psychotherapy practice 25-year experience of working in different countries with people from diverse cultural backgrounds, expats and locals, all the way from the Balkans to West Africa, Central Asia and East Asia.
Born in Estonia, I studied psychology, but it seemed so detached from the vibrant transition times of the 90s. So I switched to study law instead majoring in international public law. Worked for several years as a lawyer in Estonia, pulling countless all-nighters and knocking back way too many Red Bulls. I was young, it was fun and I learned a lot. Yet - I struggled seeing myself doing that very same thing 30-40 years down the line.
I switched a job and location. Got a job in human rights protection. I started in Bosnia and continued for more than ten years in Serbia, working on the protection of vulnerabilities in displacement and migration situations, such as refugees and internally displaced persons, with a specific focus on human trafficking and trafficked persons.
I have done that job now for nearly 25 years. It has taken me from Bosnia to Serbia, Sierra Leone, Niger, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, Kyrgyzstan, Eritrea, Sakartvelo, Macedonia, Tunisia, Cote d'Ivoire and many, many, many other places. I think I still can't comprehend fully the many ways this experience and the people I worked with, have shaped me along the way.
Some seven years ago I found myself going back to studies, this time to study Gestalt psychotherapy in Belgrade, Serbia where I was living and working at the time. The driving question - how not to mess up one's own kids, how to bring them up without damaging them from your best intentions and passing on your traumas to them. Since then I have been working with clients in person and online, while still actively working in the field of protection of trafficked persons.
I speak:
Location:
Media Gallery
Approach
I will work with you to help you discover and realize what are you needs and fears, and the ways you are hindering yourself in satisfying these needs and addressing the fears.
The aim of that will be to support you in becoming a whole, whole that is in balance and content with oneself while being aware of and integrating the parts that you have been rejecting or suppressing. I am not saying to be "happy", because happiness has a very broad scope and means so many different things for different people. I am saying - to be content or at peace with yourself, so that you do not evade or fear being with yourself all by yourself, without the need of having external factors and noise (be it extreme devotion to work or community service or being always available to other, or alcohol or drugs or something else) shielding you from yourself,
My approach is rooted in Gestalt psychotherapy, which I find to provide very good framework for therapy. Bit - I do adapt my approach depending on the client integrating techniques and approaches also from other therapy schools, such as cognitive behavioral therapy.
We will start by having the first get-to-know meeting and if you are interested to continue after that, we will define the topic that you want to work on and a certain number of meetings. After that, we will then pause and reflect where we have arrived, and whether you will want to continue.
Experience
25 years of professional experience in protection of vulnerable groups in irregular migration settings, such as victims of trafficking in human beings, refugees and IDPs.
Education
Registered licensed psychotherapist (no. 922), The Serbia Union of Associations of Psychotherapy, May 2024
Certified Gestalt Psychotherapist, 2018-2024, Studio za edukaciju Beograd (EAPTI-SEB), Belgrade, Serbia.
LL.M. in International Business Law (Arbitration), Central European University, Budapest, Aug 98-Jun 99
B.A. in Law, Public International Law, Tartu University, Estonia (1994-1997)
The entry curriculum in psychology, Tartu University, Tartu, Estonia (1993-1994)
Services
Individual Session
Insurances
