About me

ABOUT ME, SUSAN SCHMEETZ, THE NOMAD PSYCHOLOGIST

Here you can find out more about the fields I am working in and the therapeutic techniques I am using.

I gained experience by working within many different contexts with people with a wide range of problems...

Brief overview

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

Over the last 14 years I have mainly been working as a psychologist and mindfulness meditation teacher. I apply techniques from acceptance & commitment therapy (ACT), Schematherapy, EMDR, CBT, creative consciousness coaching and mindfulness. Both based on wisdom from the West  & the East.

The last 7 years I also have gained experience in teaching yoga & meditation, breathwork, reiki and other 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 to help my clients to develop more self awareness and break negative or blocked life patterns. 

Fields of Experience

Psychologist

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 14 years as psychologist and followed courses in the following therapies Acceptatie & Commitment Therapie (ACT), Cognitive behaviour therapy, Eye Movement Desentisization and Reprossessing (EMDR), Schematherapy and Creative consciousness coaching.

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 Beek 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 also taught 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 am registered as a category 1 mindfulness teacher with the VMBN. This is the Dutch and Flamish society for mindfulness teachers. Because of this some of the Dutch health insurances cover the fees for a mindfulness course. 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. 

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 600 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.

Body- and Energywork

I am a reiki master, give thai yoga massage and trauma release therapy. As a reiki master I have been assisting and learning from my reiki teacher Shanti in India. I give reiki treatments and thai yoga massages and tension release therapy to pilgrims. 

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. However this also has a positive effect on an emotional and mind level. Trauma is an unfinished impression from the past. Your body has not been able to complete the fight/flight/freeze response and the impression of the event is stuck in your body. As a result, you continue to live partly in the past. Trauma Release Therapy is one of the methods I use to help people shake off the past. Quite literally in this case. Without all that weight in your backpack you are more able to correctly asses what is happening in the here and now (am I safe or is there a real tread?). Instead of going strait into a survival state you can enjoy the here and now in a state of relaxation.

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 and can give a massage on request. However this is not my highest specialisation

Degrees and certified courses

Psychologist

  • Master clinical psychology
  • Master neuropsychology
  • Bachelor biological psychology
  • Course in Acceptance & commitment therapy with Gijs Jansen (ACT)
  • Course in Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)
  • 50 hour Schematherapy course
  • EMDR basic level
  • Training in cue exposure therapy (eating disorders)
  • Courses in MBCT & MBSR (see mindfulness)
  • Creative consciousness coaching lang traject (master 1,2,3 & mastery of relationships)
  • School of life retreat in Amsterdam ” De reis van je leven “
  • Polyvagal approach towards trauma and stress integrating Deb Dana

Mindfulness Meditation Teacher

  • Advanced mindfulness teacher training (Long trajetory, 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 Christina Feldman, John Peacock, Mark Williams, Robina Courtin, Thich Nhat Hahn, Frits Koster, Erik den Brink, Keith Wilson and Satsangs with Mooji. 
  • 3 months rain retreat at Plum village mindfulness retreat center in France

Yoga Teacher

  • 200 hour Sattva yoga (Himalayan kundalini kriya, integrated yoga journey’s, breathwork, mantra and more) 
  • 200 hour Yoga teacher training (Hatha yoga)
  • 60 hour Chinese medicine and yin yoga teacher training with Marieke vliegen
  • 200 hour Yoga teacher training (Ashtanga & Vinyasa)
  • 3 day Workshop in Trauma Sensitive yoga
  • Yoga foundations with Surinder Sing
  • TRE module 1 & 2

Body & energy work:

  • Usui Reiki master (level 1,2,3)
  • 120 hours Thai yoga massage
  • Module 1 & 2 : TRE ( Tension & trauma release exercises)
  • Ayurvedic massage