Camilla Lyse

My therapeutic approach

My focus is process-oriented and relational. My work rests on the belief that people are always changing and growing, even when it doesn't look or feel like it, and that we change and grow through our relationships: to others, to ourselves and to the world. If you're into self-development, or if you struggle with loneliness or feeling stuck, this kind of approach can be especially meaningful.

It also means that my approach, especially as a young psychologist, doesn't rely on either of us knowing all the answers all the time. In fact, I believe that no amount of wisdom, experience or training can lead to full certainty about life as it unfolds, let alone about the lived experience of other people. Full certainty, however desirable it may seem to us both, is not the end goal. On the contrary, learning to live with, deal with and make the most of the inevitable uncertainties of life is central to what we'll be working toward together. This is where lasting change can grow, along with the possibility of a deeper sense of self and security.

Importantly, I rely on trauma-informed methods to make sure these changes can take place. Many of us carry trauma with us, sometimes felt in the body all the time, sometimes returning in specific or random moments. Trauma can make the world feel unsafe in ways that affect our well-being and our ability to feel connected to others. I work towards building a safer space with you, based on what's important to you and what helps you feel at ease. This space is where we work and explore together.

I use tools from established, evidence-based psychological methods. Large studies comparing the main forms of psychotherapy find only small differences between them, and there is no one-size-fits-all (Cuijpers et al., 2021). The integrative approach I am trained in combines different methods and uses the tools and knowledge most helpful for the specific questions and challenges in your process.

Three ways to meet

In the clinic

Here, counselling takes place in the traditional way. The setting is a calm, relaxed and closed office. We sit across from each other, each in our own comfortable chair, with water, tea and, if needed, tissues at hand. The clinic is centrally located and easy to reach. This can be a good option if you find it helpful to work in a dedicated space, if you would like a safe, undisturbed place to open up, or if you tend to zone out or go on autopilot during video calls.

Online sessions

Sessions take place over real-time, encrypted video calls. I sit alone in a closed room with no risk of interruption, and your confidentiality is protected. This can be a good option if you find it difficult to leave your home, if an office setting makes you a little uneasy, or if you travel a lot.

Walk-and-talk counselling

Walking and talking together is an old human practice, found in many cultures across the world. Walk-and-talk counselling combines psychotherapy with the natural regulation of body and nervous system that walking in nature can offer. We meet at an agreed point by the Marselisborg forests, and I take you along a planned route through the forest while we talk. This can be a good option if your days are spent sitting indoors, if eye contact or closed rooms can feel a bit much, or if you tend to feel tense in or detached from your body. Read more about ecotherapy.

You don't have to stick to one. Over the course of therapy we can move between the three, from one session to the next, as your needs change.

Okay, but what does this mean in practice? As fluffy as it may sound, the framework we work within is pretty straightforward and usually follows these steps:

  1. We get to know each other and set a goal

    First, we focus mainly on getting to know each other and what you want from therapy: your goals, hopes and expectations, and where you want to be by the end of our process.

  2. We agree on an approach

    As we learn about your goals and hopes, and about how we work together, we choose a direction and a format that move you toward them.

  3. We check in along the way

    Life happens during a course of therapy, and needs, wishes and hopes can change. To make sure we stay on the right track, we regularly pause to look at what helps and what doesn't, and adjust the process together.

  4. You set the pace

    Safety, respect and agency are the ground we stand on throughout. You can always question what we do, and you can pause or stop whenever you choose.

Methods and training

No two courses of therapy look the same. Some people come for a single advisory session, some for a short course around a specific challenge, and others for a longer course where the work needs time to grow. We shape it around what you need, and that is also why I draw on several methods rather than one.

My training has involved close supervision by senior psychologists whose teaching builds on many years of experience with individuals, couples, families and groups. My mentors trained me in using tools and knowledge from the methods listed here. As a psychologist, there is always more to learn, and to give my clients the best possible care, I continue to receive clinical and peer supervision.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

Practical tools for working with the links between thoughts, feelings and actions. Well documented for anxiety, low mood and much more.

Mentalisation-based therapy (MBT)

Strengthens the ability to understand your own and other people's inner lives, especially in close relationships.

Psychodynamic therapy

Explores how earlier experiences and patterns, often outside awareness, shape how you feel and relate to others today.

Existential therapy

Makes room for the big questions about meaning, freedom, loneliness and finitude.