A life-long fascination with human behavior
I’ve always been fascinated with human behavior. We, humans, are quite an extreme species and capable of both horrible violence and conflict, but also of peace-making and reconciliation. What makes us behave in a certain direction then? I always wanted to understand this fully and interdisciplinary: on a sociological, political and psychological level.
Sociology and conflict resolution
As is often the case, my personal quest informed my professional curiosity. In line with my fascination, I studied in the field of Social and Behavioral Science, namely Sociology (BSc), Political Science (MSc) and specialized in Conflict Resolution. After studying topics like war, genocide, trauma, human cooperation, mediation and reconciliation at universities in Amsterdam, Berlin and Syria, I soon worked for organizations who facilitate peace-talks and inter-cultural dialogue.
I developed three major things:
Firstly, a deep intellectual and intuitive understanding of how a persons’ individual emotions and behavior (incl. struggles) are connected with their psychological disposition, political status ánd social upbringing. It’s all connected.
Secondly, my own social and emotional skill set. I learned how to be less shy and more relaxed among humans. I started trusting people more as I learned how to self-regulate my emotions, listen to my body, express myself in public and gained social agency and resilience.
And thirdly, professional know-how and effective tools on how to help people develop their emotional and relational skills themselves. In trainings, but also in personal sessions which are more therapeutic -as they help people to turn their struggles into personal development.