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Why did I become a Mental health therapist?

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  • By Berina Kadric
  • 19 November 2024
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Seeing the Person Behind the Therapist: My Journey to Helping Others

I’d like to dedicate this blog post to anyone who is curious about my personal story. As a therapist, I recognize that clients may view us as having all the answers. In some cases, a therapist might come across as robotic or as if we have everything figured out, which can make it difficult to see the human side of someone. While the focus of therapy should always be on you, the client, there is something truly powerful about acknowledging that your therapist is also a person with their own experiences and challenges. Sharing a genuine connection – where both therapist and client can see and understand each other’s humanity – can create a more authentic therapeutic relationship through identification. It’s this shared understanding that often helps build trust and openness, ultimately enhancing the healing process. So here is some of my story and why I became a therapist.

Background

I’m the first generation growing up in Sweden with parents who escaped the war that happened in the Balkan region. I grew up with two cultures, the Bosnian and the Swedish, speaking two languages, learning about two religions and attaining a skill to adapt living in two worlds that were very different. I often traveled as a child and this interest followed into my adult years. When I was very young, I told my parents I wanted to be an adviser. I didn’t know there was a proper name for what I do today, being a therapist. I always knew this would be my path. Beginning my studies at 18 years old and moving away to a city far away from family was the first real step in my experience of life transitions. Close to graduation, I had changed massively as a human and the unhealthy relationship I lived in came to end. I left my relationship and my home to travel to the other side of the world where I would spend months away from everything I knew. And so it all began.

Since then I have traveled extensively, experiencing diverse ways of living, all over the world. My interest for everything unknown has been with me since the start. I would call myself a wordly woman, referring to my experience with different cultures, countries and lifestyles. This has made me open-minded, adaptable and able to see so much beauty in all walks of life. Because I have seen so much, I don’t believe there is one right path in life. There isn’t one way to live, one way to think or one way to be. This has humbled me, widened my perspective and expanded my heart for all I know and don’t know. In therapy, I encounter a diverse range of individuals and somehow, I always find a way to connect with them on a deeply compassionate and human level. My travels have profoundly enriched my life, shaping me into a better therapist for those who seek support in my practice. Through these journeys, I’ve learned how to cultivate safety and trust within myself, navigating various situations with resilience and understanding. This personal growth has become the foundation of the care I offer others. When we find home within, it becomes a place we can carry and allow others to rest within, no matter where we are.

What lead me to become a therapist?

I grew up around someone I loved who struggled with their mental health. This impacted me by creating an urge of wanting to understand and help. My childhood was not filled with regular questions children might ask, instead I was into philosophy, writing poetry and wondering about existential questions, meaning and purpose. I experienced a lot of anxiety, fears and struggled with massive responsibility developing severe OCD at an early age. My beautiful parents didn’t know what was happening and I ended up healing myself free from it all. Having lived in two different cultures, I also grew up understanding that life needed to be nothing of what I was told. Because there were two voices loudly yelling expectations at me. So I became an empty canvas, drawing myself among the noise. This together awoke an interest in human behavior, emotions and thoughts. But it didn’t stay as an interest, it became a passion. I found myself studying people, reading into their actions, tuning into their energies and analysing every detail. I fell in love a few times in my 20ties, endured heartbreaks, survived abuse, betrayals and infidelity. What stayed consistent for me was my committed to growth. This growth allows for life to change, meaning nothing ever has to stay stagnant. While studying, I also became deeply involved in my personal self expansion. My relationship to pain changed. By studying myself at depth, I learned that our identification with our emotions and thoughts can be our biggest path straight into suffering. I realized I had a choice. The revolution of my own growth paved the way to my committment helping others embark the same journey. I vowed before becoming a therapist that I could never free myself from being human, making mistakes and depart from life as it is, but I would not be hypocritical sitting in front of my clients telling them to do something I had not done myself. So that’s what I did, and still do. I believe my own growth is of direct impact to how I show up for my clients. In this promise to myself, I can show up authenthically and guide my clients from heart.

Why do I want to help people heal?

I have chosen this path because I genuinely care about people. Life is often out of our control, as it is in our control. We can’t decide everything that happens but we do have power in our response. Our entire life can transform when we break down the beliefs we’ve been conditioned to hold, heal from past traumas, and uncover who we truly are, beyond the roles we’ve adopted out of pain. We are not meant to stay stuck, we are meant to grow and expand beyond the limits we often place on ourselves. Who we are when living in awareness is our authenticity. I want to help people find this because it gives a new meaning to life itself. We always have choices in the unfolding of life and no pain from anything you’ve walked through has to continue influencing your future. I believe in change, but I also know what is required for it to happen. I’m here to help.

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TESTIMONIALS

What Clients Say: Voices of Change

I’m proud to support a diverse range of clients, from young adults to seniors, representing various ethnicities, backgrounds and life experiences. Their testimonials reflect the powerful outcomes of our work together.

The selected testimonials below are shared anonymously to protect the privacy and confidentiality of my clients. I value your trust and am committed to creating a safe space for all.

I highly recommend Berina when it comes to mental health help. I was lucky enough to have sessions with her and it helped me realize so much and helped me grow as a person. I can now try live a life and be a person that I was before my issues became paralysing my normal life. Thank you
Balled my eyes out as I wrote this.. thank you. Working with Berina is like knowing that the biggest storm of your life is coming… but instead of running away from the storm, running towards the darkness with her by your side, guiding you through it. It was a scary journey going through therapy with her but with her compassion and expertise, I was able to go through the storm and was reborn again. I feel I have finally made it out and into the sunshine. Berina leads you through the storm, but also lets you guide yourself. She lets you drive the sessions when your heart yearns for it and when you feel lost she guides you to the light again with not only logic but her kindness and warmth. She teaches you how to become your own guide in life. She lets you choose your own path, and rebuild your confidence within yourself. Thank you to Berina for being an angel in my life. Berina puts in just as much work as the patient themselves and always held me accountable. You can rely on her to be on time and bring forth her expertise and knowledge into the present situation with compassion and grace. I know I can rely on her again if I ever lose my way. Sometimes life can be too hard… And we all need someone like Berina to remind us of who we really are. Thank you for the journey of a lifetime.
Berina absolutely changed my life… for so long I was living in fight or flight mode as if on autopilot. She brought me back to life, connecting me with my inner child and body once again. I cannot stress enough how amazing (and tough) therapy has been with Berina. She knows when to give you space to feel out your emotions but also knows when to push you to dig deeper. She’ll ask you all the right questions that allow you to come to your own realizations. I think of her as a guiding hand that might make me jump off a cliff (when I’m ready) into a crazy wild adventure but also my security blanket that keeps me safe and brings me comfort without judgement. Not only is she truly passionate & dedicated to her craft, the world will be so much better because of it one person at a time. I’m beyond blessed to have gotten the chance to work with her and cannot brag about my therapist enough to all my friends and family. Trust the process and do the hard work/you’ll wish you did it sooner. It’ll make you cry, smile, laugh, but in the end you’ll be able to self soothe and carry these lessons with you for life. A million thank yous Berina.
I was referred to Berina through a coworker who said she changed her life, and boy was she right. I've worked with other therapists and Berina's therapy methods have pushed me to reflect and act in a way that actually incites changes and targets the goals I've had for years but needed support from. She's like a coach, friend, and therapist all in one, and I'm continuously impressed by how prepared she comes to each session and the work she does after the session to craft home assignments that are most suited to what she thinks will truly benefit me. Any time my friends are struggling with their growth or looking for support, I refer them, and at this point I've referred 10+ friends and they've referred their friends and family members as well because of how incredible her work is. Truly the greatest gift you could give yourself would be working on and expanding yourself with someone like Berina in your corner. I feel like I'm coming home to my authentic self with her support <3
After months of deliberation of whether or not I wanted to get therapy after a bad break up, Berina was referred to me by a friend of mine. From the start, Berina was very patient and let me take my time in explaining the situation, how I felt, how I reacted and more. She always made me feel comfortable, welcome, safe and above all else, heard. Berina helps you work through your mental battles and helps you see other ways of looking at the situation. She gives you homework to help reflect on your beliefs, what you want and where you're trying to go. She helps you understand why you might have reacted one way or what would be a healthier response to some hard habits to break. Thank you, Berina, for helping me during arguably the toughest mental time in my life, I would not be where I am today without all of your contined love and support. If you are looking for the very best, Berina is the one for you!
Berina has helped me to blossom by helping me to understand myself more deeply. I’m able to self reflect more productively, identifying triggers and behaviors while actively working to minimize poor or unhealthy behavior. I’m a more balanced person thanks to Berina’s guidance. Berina is patient, kind, understanding, open minded and above all a deep listener. Engaging in therapy is effortful, but Berina makes the experience a little bit easier with her ability to soothe what can be a painful and difficult experience.