Stations in my life

Social work and psychotherapy

My name is HERMANN Walter. I was born 1963 in Vorarlberg where I grew up and studied social work at the “Akademie für Sozialarbeit” in Bregenz. Later I worked for several years in the L-KH Valduna, a psychiatric hospital as a social worker.

During this time I completed my education as a family therapist according to Virginia Satir with Walther and Sabine Cormann in Lindau am Bodensee. In this psychotherapeutic method one assumes that change is possible and that the desire to change is the first and most important step to a fulfilled live.

Since 1993 I have been a certified psychotherapist with the Ministry for Health in Austria.

Travelling and collecting expeniences

In the same year I set off to discover the world. For 18 months I travelled through Asia and Australia – a time which created a strong imprint on me.

After my return to Vorarlberg I opened a psychotherapeutic practice in Dornbirn where I offered psychotherapy and dreamwork. At the same time I graduated as a NLP Master and later offered vocational NLP Seminars.

Between 2000 and 2006 I worked for “Doctors without Borders” and for “CARE” as a project manager in international aid work. This line of work also led me to Aceh/Indonesia after the Tsunami of 2004. During this time I not only learned a lot about foreign cultures but also about myself.

Psychotherapy for kids, adolescents and families

Between 2006 and 2010 I headed the Child Protection Center “Die Möwe” in Mistelbach near Vienna. There I realised that the work with families and children is especially challenging and satisfying.

I have had my practice in the centre of Vienna since 2012.

What shaped me

Apart from travelling it was the Tibetan Buddhism which shaped my perspective on the world. Over many years I intensely studied, besides my everyday meditation, this “science of being” with Lamas from the Nyingma line (Ngakpa Chögiam Rinpoche).

Since 2003 I have been dancing Tango, this Argentine dance of passion, abandon and close embrace. For me the Tango Argentino is an intense dialogue with my dancing partner, a sensuous whirl of freedom and creativity, a moment of deep stillness in intense movement. Tango is my teacher of mindful communication and alive sojourn in the present.

I have lived in Vienna since 2006. My adult son lives in the United States.