Online therapy & video therapy in English and Russian

For most concerns, yes. Studies on the effectiveness of online therapy show that video-based support works comparably well to meeting in person for many emotional difficulties. What matters is not the location, but the trusting relationship between us.

Many people even experience their own familiar space as an extra layer of protection and open up more easily, especially at the beginning. You can read about how I work and what matters to me on the Psychoanalytic psychotherapy page.

Whether online therapy is right for your concern, we find out together in the free first interview.

I bill my services privately, online as well as in the practice. With independent elective therapists, however, a partial refund (subsidy) from your health insurer is often possible: you submit the invoice and receive part of it back.

For an online session the same conditions apply as for an appointment in person. Your respective insurer is responsible, for example the ÖGK, BVAEB or SVS, with the amount and requirements differing from insurer to insurer.

Whether a subsidy applies in your case is best clarified directly with your health insurer. Everything else we discuss in the free first interview.

You need no special therapy app and no technical know-how. A smartphone or a computer with a camera and a stable internet connection are enough.

For the session you have a choice:

• WhatsApp video call, right in the app you already have, with no extra account.
• Jitsi Meet, especially privacy-friendly and entirely without registration, in your browser. You receive a link from me and simply click it.

Which option is most comfortable for you, you can see in the How we meet online section above.

Not much is needed, and that is precisely the advantage. Most important are a quiet place where you can talk undisturbed and some time afterwards when you do not have to rush to your next appointment.

A few things that make the conversation easier:

• Briefly test your camera, sound and internet connection beforehand.
• Have a glass of water ready.
• Headphones help you hear well and feel more undisturbed.
• Mute notifications so you can be fully present with yourself.

Everything else unfolds in the conversation. You do not have to prepare anything or do anything “right”, I guide you step by step.

Yes. Everything you confide in me, I treat in strict confidence, online just as in the practice. This confidentiality is one of the most important foundations of any psychotherapy.

For the sessions I deliberately use options that protect your privacy: Jitsi Meet runs without an account and encrypted in your browser, and the WhatsApp video call is end-to-end encrypted as well. I never make recordings.

As I work in training under supervision, I discuss my work in anonymised form with experienced supervisors, who are likewise bound by confidentiality. Your identity remains protected throughout.

I hear this worry often, and it is quite solvable. You do not need your own study, just a place where you can be by yourself for 50 minutes.

This works, for example:

• in the car, which for many is a surprisingly protected space
• with headphones, so no one overhears, even in smaller flats
• on a walk in a quiet spot, if you prefer to talk while moving
• at a time when the flat is just yours for a while, in the evening for instance

Together we find a setting in which you feel safe. Simply mention it to me in the first interview.

In many cases, yes. Especially for Russian-speaking people worldwide, online therapy is often the most direct route to support in your mother tongue, whether you live in Vienna, elsewhere in Austria or abroad.

A few points are worth considering: the time difference, a stable internet connection and, in some countries, the legal framework for psychotherapy across borders. We clarify this together beforehand, so that everything fits for you.

Write to me telling me where you would be joining from, and in the free first interview we find out whether and how support is possible.

Online therapy is suitable for most of the concerns people come to the practice with: anxiety and panic, depressive moods, stress and exhaustion, life crises, relationship themes and questions of self-worth and meaning. It is especially practical with full schedules, limited mobility or when you are not in Vienna at the moment.

Purely digital support is less suitable in acute crises, for example with suicidal thoughts or a severe acute illness. Here a closer, often medical service on site is needed. In such a situation, please turn to your doctor or the psychiatric emergency service.

I also support couples online, more about that on the Couples therapy page. What suits you, we find out together.

Yes, and for some people that is precisely why it is the first possible step. Anyone suffering from anxiety, panic attacks or inner restlessness sometimes experiences the way into an unfamiliar practice as a hurdle in itself. From familiar surroundings, the beginning is often easier.

In your protected own space you can calmly understand what lies behind the anxiety and have new experiences, without immediately overwhelming yourself. You set the pace.

When an anxiety acutely intensifies, personal or medical help on site is important. Whether online therapy is right for your situation, we clarify in the free first interview.

Neither is better as a blanket rule, it depends on you. Online scores with flexibility: no commute, easier to fit into everyday life, and the familiar own space gives many people extra security.

The session in person in 1170 Vienna, in turn, offers a deliberately separate space that you leave again after the hour, and for some people the immediate presence in the same room is important.

You do not have to commit once and for all: online and in person can alternate as needed. What feels right for you, you sense best in the free first interview.