About me

ABOUT ME, SUSAN SCHMEETZ, THE NOMAD PSYCHOLOGIST

Here you can find out more about the therapeutic techniques I am using.

Brief overview

I am Susan Schmeetz. I really enjoy hiking the camino de Santiago, living as a nomad, rockclimbing, surfing, vanlife and practicing yoga & meditation. Professionally: I am a Psychologist, mindfulness & yoga teacher, breathwork facilitator, reiki master and thai-yoga masseuse.

Over the last 16 years I have mainly been working as a psychologist and mindfulness meditation teacher. I apply techniques from acceptance & commitment therapy (ACT), Schematherapy, EMDR, CBT, polyvagal approaches, creative consciousness coaching , breathwork and mindfulness. Both based on wisdom from the West  & the East. I am connected and registered with to the Dutch institute of psychologist as a Registerpsycholoog NIP® .

Since the start of my nomadic lifestyle about a decade ago, I also have gained experience in teaching. I taught yoga & meditation, conscious connected breathwork, reiki, relaxation & psychotherapy workshops in yoga studio’s, retreat centers, in albergues on the camino de Santiago, several mental health institutions and addiction clinics. 

I have a holistic approach and use compassion, mindfulness, my sense of humor, empathy and metaphors and sometimes yoga practices to help my clients to develop more self awareness and break negative or blocked life or energetic patterns. 

Degrees and certified courses

Psychologist

  • Register psychologist NIP
  • Master clinical psychology
  • Master neuropsychology
  • Bachelor biological psychology
  • Course in Acceptance & commitment therapy with Gijs Jansen (ACT)
  • 50 hour Schematherapy course
  • EMDR
  • Intro in Somatic Experiencing (SE™)
  • Training in cue exposure therapy (eating disorders)
  • Courses in MBCT & MBSR (see mindfulness)
  • Course in Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)
  • Creative consciousness coaching long trajectory (master 1,2,3 & mastery of relationships)
  • School of life retreat in Amsterdam ” The journey of your life “
  • Polyvagal approach towards trauma and stress integrating Deb Dana
  • LOGO & BAPD statement (logo verklaring) 
 

Environmental:

  • Permaculture Design course

Yoga Teacher

  • 500 hour Himalayan kundalini kriya yoga teacher
  • 200 hour Hatha yoga teacher training 
  • 200 hour Ashtanga and vinyasa flow yoga teacher training 
  • 60 hour yin Yoga and chinese medicine teacher training with Marieke Vliegen
  • 3 day Workshop in Trauma Sensitive yoga
  • Yoga foundations with Surinder Sing of Swatsi yoga
  • TRE module 1 & 2 

 Body & energy work:

  • 200 hour Umoya breathwork facilitator course (conscious connected breathwork)
  • Modules 1 & 2 : TRE ( Tension & trauma release exercises)
  • Usui Reiki master (level 1,2,3)
  • 120 hours Thai yoga massage
  • Ayurvedic massage

Mindfulness Meditation Teacher

  • Advanced mindfulness teacher training (Long trajectory, See true)
  • Workshop on Mindfulness with Mark Williams (MBCT)
  • Registration with the VMBN category 1 (mindfulness society)
  • Mindful eating, teacher training, Roy Thewissen
  • Mindfulness based compassioned living (MBCL), Frits Koster
  • Many different retreats in (mindfulness) meditation at Plum Village, EIAB, Tushita, New life foundation, Wat Umong, Wat Pah Nanachat, Dhamma Pajjota, Tibetaans instituut Yeunten Ling, Gaia House, Osho Gangadam and at the Osho Om Bodhisatva Commune. I have followed retreats and  classes with Thich Nhat Hahn, Christina Feldman, John Peacock, Mark Williams, Robina Courtin, Anand Mehrotra, S.N. Goenka, Frits Koster, Erik den Brink, Keith Wilson and Satsangs with Mooji. 
  • 3 months “rain retreat” at Plum village mindfulness retreat center in France that Thich Nhat Hahn established

Fields of Experience

Psychologist

I am registered at the Dutch institute for psychologists (NIP). I have a masters in psychology and I have followed education in different forms of therapy over the years. I have graduated as a psychologist in 2007. I have been working 16 years as psychologist and followed courses in the following therapies Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive behaviour therapy, Eye Movement Desentisization and Reprossessing (EMDR), Schematherapy, Polyvagal approach to trauma & stress and Creative consciousness coaching. As I’m also a yoga teacher (for the clients who are open to this) I like to integrate (kriya & breathwork) yoga practices specifically designed to fit my clients needs, to get out of stuckness, to calm the nervous system, breaking bad habits and/or make more life energy available.

When it comes to the kind of problems I have worked with people who were overweight, had addictions, were highly sensitive, had relationship problems, experienced stress, trauma’s, had problems with making decisions, were burned out, depressed or had anxiety in some form. As a psychologist I have worked in a mental health clinic, an eating disorder clinic, addictions clinics and several online mental health care institutions/ practices. Next to my online practice for nomads, I’m also a freelancer for several clinics and addiction care centers. I also teach workshops and offer psychological support in Finisterre to pilgrims on the camino de Santiago. 

Mindfulness meditation

Since 2011 I have been teaching mindfulness courses to groups and on an individual basis, on- and offline. I worked for See True in Maastricht and organised the 8 week MBCT/ MBSR training for them. I also taught mindful eating trainings in an obesity clinic (CO-EUR) where I also worked as a psychologist. I teach mindfulness classes in mental health clinics like U-center and Serenity GGZ. If you like more information about my mindfulness background and my own practice see the yoga & mindfulness section. 

I have been educated as a Mindfulness teacher in 2010 and been registered as a category 1 mindfulness teacher with the VMBN. This is the Dutch and Flamish society for mindfulness teachers. I have been teaching groups and individual courses also as a part of a mental health treatment, online and offline. At CO-EUR I taught courses about mindful eating. I combine yoga and mindfulness approaches in my yoga classes. Mindfulness is also an important part of my online psychotherapy sessions. 

Yoga Teacher

I practice yoga since 2015 and have followed education in Himalayan kundalini kriya and breathwork (integrated yoga), ashtanga and vinyasa flow yoga, hatha yoga (Sivananda sequence), yin yoga and trauma sensitive yoga. I try to go to India every year to practice intensively. I practice yoga not to get better at yoga but to get better at living. I have about 800 hours experience in teaching, however I must say I lost the count at some point. Despite the fact that many people in the West only consider “asana” /physical yoga as “YOGA practice” , I do consider yoga as a way of life in which you give being at peace, practicing compassion and having freedom from your minds unhealthy tendency’s priority. That doesn’t need to involve a physical practice, but it helps. If this interests you I recommend looking into the 8 limbs of yoga and seeing them as 8 aspects not steps. 

I followed a breathwork facilitator training in South Afrika that is focused on conscious connected breathwork. This style of breathwork can create as state of expanded consciousness which can help in processing (subconcious) emotional blocks. Our breathing pattern tells us a lot about how we generally feel. As a breathing coach I help clients get to know themselves better, support them in processing mental and emotional blockages and promote their physical condition.

Body- and Energywork

I am a breathwork facilitator, reiki master and also work with somatic trauma & stress release therapy’s. As a reiki master I have been assisting and learning from my reiki teacher Shanti Rubens in Rishikesh, India.  

Based on the polyvagal theory I like to approach the treatment of stress and trauma. I use tension release therapy, this is a bunch of exercises that create a tremor in the body, which helps to let go of stress and trauma in the body. 

In the breathwork journeys that I offer individually and in groups I offer a method to release trauma and stress on an energetic, physical, mental and emotional level.

One other method I like to work with for relaxation of body and mind is thai yoga massage. This is an ancient healing system combining acupressure, Indian Ayurvedic principles, and assisted yoga postures. I studied thai yoga massage at the Sunshine massage school in Chiang mai for 120 hours.